Summary: <p>Is it a distraction to expect climate protesters to be whiter than white, and not drive, and not wear clothes made from plastic, as we’re all currently locked into the same systems aren't we? Isn’t it time to grow up and to move beyond these arguments? </p> <p>How do we know whether these clothes they are wearing are brand new or have maybe been passed along many times, and reused many times?</p> <p>Debs, from Didcot, Oxfordshire, England, got a really interesting conversation going just by sending in this question below.</p> <p>“Heard your episode about fast fashion earlier and you recommend buying secondhand clothes to extend the lifespan of oil and plastic based clothes, which avoids them going to landfill or recycling when they are still in good condition. I also see images of climate protesters on social media who have purchased second hand clothes, often get the criticism that people won’t listen to them as they are wearing oil based and polluting clothing (the production process) so are hypocrites. Are they hypocrites or helping reduce the carbon footprint of the garments by purchasing second hand? There's a ton of snobbery around buying second hand clothes, but that's down to peoples ego, not a reflection that the clothes are soiled or dirty”.</p> <p>Your co-hosts Stuart and William discuss many things in this episode including that a lot of people get clothes from the sales, and then never wear them, and give them to charity, so often these second hand items have never been worn. </p> <p>There’s even a scheme that logs who has owned particular clothing, similar to car log books. So instead of throwing something out, the scheme is maybe prolonging the life of these items. It’s all about extending the lifespan of these clothes.</p> <p>There is a snobbery when it comes to owning second hand clothes. Why is there a stigma around charity shop clothes? They're not charity for you, but sold to support good causes. You can choose the shops and charities you want to support, often in your local area too. So donate unused items to local charity shops.</p> <p>Also plastic/oil in clothing isn’t the only material that is bad for the environment. How about cotton for example and the amount of water that is used in its production for the clothing industry?</p> <p>If we do away with oil based clothing, there will be people who will lose their jobs. We need to offer these people guided pathways to help them change, and not be left behind if we transition too fast. There is an urgency to make changes, but there are also the practicalities to transitioning real lives, and we may have to accept we could have left it too long to quickly reverse the effects we’ve had on the climate. You need to take people with you, so do we really need to be categorical when it comes to banning? It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it?</p> <p>Is being dictatorial really a way to get someone on your side, and to a place where they feel they can make a change? There are people who want to ban the Grand National horse race overnight, but will happen to the 50,000+ racing horses? What will happen to all the people who are currently working within the industry as well? We need a way to properly transform our societal structures that takes people with us on guided pathways.</p> <p>What do you make of this discussion? Do you have a question that you'd like us to discuss? Let us know by sending an email to thepeoplescountryside@gmail.com, or record us a message in your own voice by going to<a href="https://anchor.fm/thepeoplescountryside/message"> https://bit.ly/425GXat</a></p> <p>This podcast's overall themes are nature, philosophy, climate, the human condition, sustainability, and social justice. </p> <p> Help us to spread the impact of the podcast by sharing this link with 5 friends<a href="https://podfollow.com/the-peoples-countryside-environmental-debate-podcast/view"> https://podfollow.com/the-peoples-countryside-environmental-debate-podcast/view</a> , support our work through Patreon<a href="https://www.patreon.com/thepeoplescountryside"> https://www.patreon.com/thepeoplescountryside</a> or just 'follow' to avoid missing any public posts. Find out all about the podcast via this one simple link:<a href="https://linktr.ee/thepeoplescountryside"> https://linktr.ee/thepeoplescountryside</a></p> --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thepeoplescountryside/message
