A review by dragongirl271
Consumed: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change, and Consumerism by Aja Barber

challenging informative medium-paced

5.0

“Who else is going to change this system other than you and me?”

Consumed: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change, and Consumerism by Aja Barber

I've been a big fan of Aja Barber for a hot minute now so when I saw that she was writing a book about sustainability and fashion, I was so excited. I finally got the time to listen to the audiobook and I'm so upset I didn't read it sooner. There's a lot of books that everybody “needs to read” but everyone truly should take the time to read this one.

Barber educates the reader on sustainability in fashion, the environmental and intersectional issues of fast fashion and hyperconsumerism, and shares her own journey in discovering sustainable fashion in a way that is truly so accessible and easy to understand. She explained a lot of these issues better than my own professors when I was formally studying this (cue me sending this book to every prof I had that teaches anything about sustainable fashion). Also, her narration of the audiobook is such a treat. It sounds like she's having a conversation with you and I loved it.

If you've ever at all started to dive into sustainable fashion or intersectional environmentalism, there will be things in this book you already know. But there will also be plenty of new information and probably some shocking stuff as well. If you've never heard the terms “intersectionality" or “Global South" when talking about fashion, no worries! Barber walks you through each topic and provides a list of action items to help tackle the issues.

Seriously I could rave about this book until I'm talking in circles (already almost am) because it's something I needed when I first started my sustainability journey in college. I hadn't come across a lot of things that helped connect the dots as well as Barber’s book does and I'm just so excited that a resource like this exists now for people also on their own journeys.