France vs. SHEIN, environmental racism, record heat
The Earth heats up and climate change advocates hold polluters' feet to the fire.
In the vein of “Real Talk” posts past, here are the worms that have burrowed through the fertile soil of my brain and the collective consciousness recently.
꩜ I’m most happy to see France taking Shein to task.
TRIGGER WARNING: ED MENTION
France’s lower parliament has passed a “kill bill” for fast fashion retailers, demanding that they bump up clothing costs by 10 euros (about $11) per article of clothing, by 2030. Fast fashion giants, like Shein and Temu, have to include repair, reuse, recycling instructions and environmental impact front and center on the item listing.
As the fashion epicenter of the world, France has a responsibility to shake the girls up. For example, while haute couture still struggles with fatphobia — and colorism, and ableism, and classism, but alas — I’ll never forget being a teenager and reading about France’s ban on ultra-thin models.
The bar is in hell, as we Gen Zers say, so people, companies and nation-states reap “halo effect” rewards for doing the bare minimum.
But we’ve got to start somewhere. In the thick of my eating disorder, hearing that France banned skinny models — and that Miley Cyrus proclaimed that your thighs need some jiggle — started eroding the shackles of my disordered approach to food and my body.
I hope that France hammering down on SHEIN inspires other governments to crack down some on fast fashion giants.
꩜ As we enter Earth Month, sustainability and climate justice conversations reach a fever pitch.
Labor Department maintained that it’s not illegal to for companies to factor in environmental and social governance (ESG) when creating retirement plans
Evidence shows that some Latinos are being disproportionately affected by a toxic pesticide, a weedkiller called paraquat
United Nations dropped a report that suggests almost 1 billion meals go to waste
A U.S. appeals court held that even the Environmental Protection Agency can’t crack down on plastic packaging reinforcement processes that create per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS — not even under the Toxic Substances Control Act
꩜ Re: fever pitch: The heat is literal, too.
I’m still thinking about the fact that February 2024 was the hottest February on record. I mean, think back. Especially if you live in the Northeastern United States, I’m sure you felt a little weird twinge1 in your psyche as you enjoyed a happy hour marg on some patio — or spread your picnic blanket over grass just swaddled by snow not a month ago.
And if the erratic waves of chilled rain and “suns out, buns out” didn’t give it away, lemme contextualize ya: February 2024 averaged 56.37°F. In the 1800s, Februaries on average were 3.19°F cooler. (Thank you Copernicus for getting the ball rolling here.)
When it comes to the Earth's warming, I can’t help but feel a pit in my stomach; the urgency is most apparent when I start thinking quantitatively.
But in trying to explain to my new mentor (!!!) what Swimming Home means to me, I realized that the way I combat my eco-anxiety — and hopefully yours! — is to center climate optimism2.
But the Urban Green Lab said regarding climate optimism, “It’s important to note that we can’t let the good news stop us, either. We must use the excitement and hope of the recent strides in climate change mitigation to inspire continued work toward a world we know is possible.”
Check out Urban Green Labs resources here.
꩜ Future Earth recently put out a post about climate anxiety solutions, which draws from this article: “Anxious about climate change? You’re not alone.” by Allie Volpe for Vox.com
Read more about my rationale around and Swimming Home’s approach to climate optimism here: