angela, the conundrum about whether to keep stuff for the future or simplify by getting rid of things is something that i find difficult, too. we haven’t moved recently, but it’s in our not super-distant future, and that realization has definitely made me much more conscious about what we’re keeping and what we bring home. like you, we’ve pretty much settled on continuing to purge as needed and being thoughtful about what we buy or bring home. i’ve also found that halfway purging can be helpful…being ruthless with taking what we don’t use out of our living space, but then moving it to a box in a closet or garage to think about for a month or two. occasionally i’ve pulled a few things back out and been glad i didn’t get rid of everything right away, but i generally find that i’m happy to get rid of the majority of the box after a few months! it is a tricky situation even still, though.

blair, i agree that it’s important to not blindly jump on bandwagons, and also that the issues involved in consumer ethics are extremely complex. just as the solution isn’t as simple as buying secondhand, it also isn’t as simple as boycotting unethical brands in favor of fair-trade ones. there has to be an industry-wide shift to eradicate the problems, and that won’t happen just by boycotting.

that being said, if it’s a choice between supporting a sweatshop-based industry with my money, or supporting a company that tries, although imperfectly, to provide a living wage and good conditions for women whose other alternative would be prostitution, i’d prefer the latter. of course that isn’t the total answer; but when it comes to buying this t-shirt or that t-shirt, it is a helpful perspective. i’m still wrestling with what the rest of the answer should look like…and also the realization that the problem doesn’t end with fast fashion, but rather is being fed by so many of our consumerist industries. furniture, towels, toys, dishes, silverware…it’s overwhelming and honestly, it’s hard to know where to start.

with that in mind, i think it is also important to avoid bandwagons. ethical fashion proponents (and fair trade, for that matter) do, i think, have the best intentions, but from the very little research i have done, the issues at hand (poverty and working conditions in third-world countries, etc.) may not be as simple as they are made out. i agree that working conditions are deplorable in the countries that make the majority of clothes for more developed nations. however, i also read an article which pointed out that if the (non-ethical) clothing factory in one city (i can’t find the article again, so i don’t remember the details) did not employ women–even for as low a wage as they recieve–the only other occupation for these women would be prostitution. for fair trade, there are concerns about it not being a sustainable economic system because of its lack of flexibility. i have not done as much research on this as i would like–and plan to in the future–but i wanted to point out that the matter may be more complex than first seems.

for the dilemma of buying all second-hand…and then balking at paying more to support a good cause… maybe a good way to think about it is we buy some things second-hand so that we can afford to pay more for that special, expensive clutch to support a good cause. financially, it may be slightly unrealistic to try to buy only ethical clothing. again, the question of financial stewardship can be brought up, as clothing is not the only expense at hand. =P

i completely agree with you that not participating in fast fashion does not equal active participation in ethical fashion. in the context of our faith, our pursuit of Christ in all areas of our life is to be ACTIVE rather than passive. i suppose our ability to participate in ethical fashion just needs to be balanced with realistic, personalized, informed, financial decisions. you probably already know most of this, but these are just my thoughts. =)

I want to ‘simplify’ and live ‘consciously’, to be a good stewart of our resources and our earth, but sometimes that morphs into filling bags to donate to “get rid of stuff”. Some of the things we have ended up with, maybe without much thought in the first place, might be truly useful or needed in the future and I might be a poor steward of what we have already by getting rid of it willy-nilly!

My current plan is to continue to purge as needed, and to try to be more thoughtful about what we bring home in the first place.

As we’ve just moved all our earthly possessions across the county and are now trying to organize them this is feeling very relevant to me–thanks for sharing your thoughts.

and yes, to feel that the world itself is too small a place…

:-)