Who's to blame?

Many issues have been caused by the production of apparel, including pesticides, soil erosion, and water pollution. Price Environmental Impacts states that six percent of the total pesticides used in the United States are used just on cotton fields. Another issue that Fashioning Sustainability talks about is the overuse of water in dye houses. Having enough clean water has become an issue in countries with a lot of dye labs. I think that the apparel industry must take responsibility for the issues it is creating by practices that can be altered in order to conserve natural resources. Also in Fashioning Sustainability, a simple change that would impact the amount of energy use is washing full loads of laundry at the lowest temperature. Just taking a little initiative can go a long way and if the apparel industry put some of these approaches into action, the ecosystem’s well-being would definitely see progression.

History Repeated?

The environmental problems we face today are not new. However, according to Ecosystems and Human Well-Being, our ecosystem has changed more rapidly in the past fifty years than any other period. These changes are caused by the need of natural recourses necessary for our survival, such as food and water. While these changes have assisted in our well being, if the diminishing of our ecosystem continues, it will negatively affect the generations to come.

         In the article Fingerprints of Global Warming on Wild Animals and Plants, it is stated that over the past one hundred years the temperature has steadily increased and will continue to do so quickly. If the earth continues to experience these changes in temperature, all species will be affected, especially animals and plants.

         In Lessons of Easter Island, the people of the island experienced depletion of natural recourses to the point of cannibalism. Ecological issues have been encountered all throughout history, for example the scarcity of trees in the 1500s caused the people of Easter Island to live in caves until eventually building houses made out of stone. By the 1600s, the island was almost completely barren of trees. If these issues are ignored, our limited natural resources will run out and we will see a day without certain necessities of life, like the people of Easter Island.