This post is written by CRC Volunteer Rylee Boyles.
My Girl Scout Gold Award Project aims to address the issue of fast fashion in my community and globally. Fast fashion is the mass production of cheap clothing quickly for the public to buy. With so many new trends in the Fashion industry companies scramble to recreate their versions and mass-produce them which is the common yet unethical business scheme. Companies that follow this pattern include, H&M, SHIEN, Victoria’s Secret, Urban Outfitters, GAP, and many more well-known clothing companies. However, what is happening behind the scenes is young girls are put to work in unsafe factory conditions with long hours and little pay. Not only that, The Fast Fashion industry is responsible for 10% of the CO2 emissions yearly. Meaning that much of the mass-produced clothing that Fast Fashion companies produce ends up in landfills and becomes waste. The average t-shirt takes about 200+ years to decompose. About 20 million pounds of clothing were thrown away by the end of 2020. Imagine how much more if this continues. To solve this issue, I have begun to create a foundation and learning center for my community to have access to resources educating about ways to prevent fast fashion, support eco-friendly clothing options, and give to those in need. Through my project, I have created a long-lasting club and multiple events like clothing drives at my high school, to continue to educate on the ways to support eco-friendly/ethical clothing options while reducing one’s carbon footprint, helping support our local community, and with informational videos and websites which will be accessible to the public once I complete my project this fall.
I have been volunteering at my local CRC Resale Store in San Marcos for the past 6 Months and I have made some of the best memories in my high school career with some of the most amazing people: Ms. Mary and Ms. Diane. I always look forward to seeing them and getting to sing, sort, hang and tag the donated clothing. I have enjoyed every second of it and wanted to connect my Gold Award project to help support and promote the CRC cause. Volunteering has introduced me to the amount of work that goes into maintaining a resale store and the potential that second-hand clothing has for those in my community and globally. I wanted to help my community to become more familiar with the idea of donating clothing instead of trashing it. I continue to educate myself and influence others through my Girl Scout Gold Award to volunteer, donate, and support a local CRC to help the cycle of giving clothing a new life continue!
