City of Plainsboro
Through the Rustic Pathways Climate Leaders Fellowship, Amita Akshinthala of Plainsboro created a project focused on the problems associated with cheap and fast fashion. It is also addressing broader issues, including labor practices.
The fellowship, offered free of charge by the Rustic Pathways Foundation and Stanford University’s Deliberative Democracy Lab, challenged students like Akshinthala to design a project tailored to the needs of their community and then join online sessions with other participants to share the ideas.
“I wanted to do something that would impact the youth in my community — meaning people my age and people in my class,” Akshinthala said.
“When I chose to make a website about fast fashion, I thought about how many people in my generation and other generations buy from fast fashion brands and how harmful this can be not only environmentally, but also economically and of human rights. “
She gave a presentation at school and created a website that was fed into the environmental club to spread the word about the problems with fast fashion.
Akshinthala admits it’s a tough sell with teenagers as fast fashion is cheap and often allows youngsters to follow certain fashion trends.
However, she plans to continue her efforts in the fall, including writing for the school newspaper.
She also hopes to spread the word beyond her local community.
The next round of the scholarship program will start soon for another group of high school students, which will run from October 10th to December 9th.
The application deadline is September 25: https://rusticpathways.com/young-climate-leaders-fellowship
Photo by Rustic Pathways
