Week Six: Shut up and Write session (Part 1)

Mikayla, Johanna and myself have put together a survey and will distribute it on social media this week to gather some data to help with our projects.
This survey received 861 responses, some of which were double up so we have removed them. You can see the responses here:
Survey
(It will open in a new window)



I started to think about the reasons why people want to make a change in their life and decided to ask a friend about her change to becoming vegan. 

What was it that made you want to be vegan?

• My sister became vegetarian 1 year before I did.
• I didn't have a love of animals so for me it was more of an environmental direction. 

• If I knew that an animal had suffered for me to eat this food then I would not agree with that.  

• I went vegan after watching videos about how calves were treated so it's also an ethical reason too
• People ask me "If you don't eat this and that, what do you eat?" This could probably translate easily into fashion. 
• I watched a movie called Cowspiracy and it made me ask, "How have I not known about this?"

What do you know about fast fashion?

• Fast fashion is made badly, in terms of the people who make it. 
• I feel bad if I buy something and I know the person who made it was treated unfairly.
• Financially easier - but I know it is better to have smaller number of garments that are sustainable than it is to have a wardrobe full of badly made clothing that falls apart.

What would make you look at more ethical and sustainable fashion rather than fast fashion?

• I think you need to tell people why they should change, and show them how to make the change.
• It's such a large area to cover and looks daunting to people so show them how to do so they are more likely to change their ways. 

• You need to show people the different angles of why they need to change. Show them the environmental impacts, the human rights impacts and the social impacts. Most people care about people so have a focus on the human rights impacts.
• People ask vegans what they do eat? This helps them to understand. This can work the same way for people wearing ethical and sustainable clothing. People ask, "If you don't wear clothing made from this or that, what clothing can you wear?" They are curious, it's our job to teach them so they can understand.

These answers are similar to what I think would be of those interested in sustainable fashion. They want to protect the environment, but need to be shown how. They already know the why.