Trying to Shop Sustainably? Good On You Can Help
Image Courtesy: Facebook
Shein, Princess Polly, and Pretty Little Thing are the Big Three of most college girls wardrobes. Their clothes are trendy, affordable, and just casual enough to be worn out to a packed frat house with wet floors while still looking hot. For a broke college student, this is the dream.
The only issue with these brands? They’re terrible- or at best not great for the environment, humans, animals, and everyone in between.
The question is- where else are we supposed to shop? Once again, college students don’t generally have the biggest budgets to shop ethically and fashionably. I find it infuriating when people preach that those who buy from harmful brands are committing some kind of sin without giving alternatives, especially when capitalism produces so many brands that leave lots to be desired.
In my quest for sustainability (also known as “my quest to feel even slightly less guilty when buying clothes”), I came across the website Good On You. It is a website and app that rates fashion brands on their ethical business or lack thereof. The rating is based on three factors that have been a hot topic of discussion for the past few years: people, the planet, and animals. Brands are rated on a 5-point scale from “We avoid,” which means that the brands disclose no information on sustainability or ethics and may have shady business practices to “Great,” which means that the brand consciously addresses any issues throughout production and consumption. Brands like Shein and Boohoo are typically deemed necessary to avoid, while smaller (albeit more expensive) brands like Boyish get a rating of “Great.” The platform even reports the brand's cost on a scale of one to four dollar signs, similar to Yelp.
Image Courtesy: 4tify
I have found Good On You extremely helpful as I learn to navigate the difficult task of shopping sustainably in a very unsustainable world. I do have a word of caution to anyone thinking of checking out the site: it will ruin your favorite brands for you.
Even pricey brands pushed on us by influencers can have less than ideal impacts on people, the environment, and animals. Revolve, for example, is a brand that influencers are constantly working with to create the next best line or influence followers to buy; the tag “revolve” has nearly 555 million views on its own on TikTok. On the Good On You directory, Revolve has an overall score of “We Avoid” due to its lack of environmental and labor regulations. Similarly, Zara and Abercrombie & Fitch both have poor ratings on Good On You’s scale.
Image Courtesy: Good On You
The good news is, Good On You also gives you brand recommendations that have a similar style without the negative impacts. Revolve, for example, is similar to Girlfriend Collective, Left Edit, and many, many more.
It is really difficult to be a responsible shopper today, and I will be the first to admit it. Apps like Good On You make it a bit easier to be a conscious consumer. Try shopping a little bit more sustainably, or even just start doing some more research. Sustainability looks good on you!
Strike Out,
Writer: Lydia Coddington
Editor: Addy Crosby
Graphic Designer:
Tallahassee