With the rise in fast fashion brands like Fashion Nova and Shein, it’s never been easier or more affordable to buy a new wardrobe every season. Historically trends take years to come into popularity and then fade away, but social media platforms like TikTok have caused that trend cycle to shorten. Microtrends may flare up and be discarded in months, and fast fashion is the third largest polluting industry. Recycling clothing doesn’t really get rid of the problem either, with 57% of all discarded clothing still ending up in landfills.

In the face of this crisis, Uprising Magazine decided to dedicate their 13th issue, the Earth Edit, to sustainability, and they celebrated Earth Day with a secondhand clothing sale. Co-Editors in Chief Mia Rampton and Ireland Frisch wanted to raise awareness about the possible solutions to this pressing issue using their platform through the magazine.

“With Earth Edit, we wanted it to be a halt in your regularly scheduled programming… we wanted to pause and address the climate crisis… deeper than just don’t shop fast fashion, we wanted it to be how do we sustain communities, how do we sustain life,” Rampton said about the goals for their 13th issue.

The clothing sale took place Friday, April 23, in the Maucker Union Ballroom. Rampton and Frisch collected clothing, advertised and found people to help run the sale. Both avid thrifters, they wanted to bring sustainable shopping to campus.

“Fast fashion is one of the biggest polluters in the world, so that’s why, with our theme of Earth Edit for the magazine for this semester, we wanted to do something for the earth, and that was our small way in the Cedar Valley of doing that,” Mia said.

Uprising is donating the proceeds from the clothing sale to Friends of the Family, an Iowa nonprofit that provides shelter and other services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking.

Although at times it may seem daunting to even think about the impact fast fashion has on our planet, Mia and Ireland hope to show the UNI community that there are ways we can all combat the industry and be sustainably fashionable.