This post is a bit like my mission statement for this blog, as in what does it mean to be “fairly curated.” And these are the goals I’m setting for myself and for this blog. I will try my best to adhere to these curation guidelines whenever I purchase something or review it on my blog. Of course I will mess up from time to time (or who knows, maybe a lot), but I promise to keep trying and I plan to use this post as my North Star, so to speak. So to be fairly curated, items must check at least one of these requirements (but preferably more):

Quality: This is important to me because quality items last. They are usually built better leading to less waste and turnover. Of course, quality means different things to everyone so I’ll try to be specific on how I think something is a quality item (or not). I will also talk about things that I don’t think are of great quality since that’s a way I can warn you guys and prevent you from wasting money and resources. But my goal here is to promote only quality items.

Low-waste: Even though individual actions are a drop in the bucket, I think collectively we can make a difference. We probably can’t get to zero-waste any time soon (heck I can’t even do it and I’ve tried). But I think low-waste is an attainable goal, and something that needs to be addressed because our landfills are not endless.

Secondhand: In that vein, I think it’s important to participate in and help grow the circular economy. Buying thrift/pre-owned/secondhand as much as possible prevents things from ending up in landfills (and someone needs to buy all the stuff that people donate/sell).

Ethically-made in terms of people and the planet: Slow-fashion clothing brands are the ideal for me in that items are made to order (thus minimizing waste) and the businesses are small enough to take care of their workers all along the supply chain (usually). But slow-fashion is expensive so at the very minimum I would want my brands taking care of most of their workers as well as keeping an eye on how to continue to grow sustainably.

BIPOC-owned/led: We live in a very white-orientated world in the US and so I do think BIPOC people don’t get the opportunities that their white counterparts do. As a POC myself, it’s important to support BIPOC businesses with my time and money.

Women-owned/led: We also live in a patriarchy that tbh needs to change asap. It won’t happen overnight, but I want to support my fellow women on the path to change. And as a woman it’s important I support other women with my time and money.

Support local: Buying local not only supports the community you live in but also reduces your carbon footprint from shipping. Even though you might not be able to go out into the community to buy something right now, there’s also giftcards from local businesses that you can give as gifts. I personally like to go farmer’s markets since you’re not only reducing waste and your carbon footprint but shopping in an outdoor space feels good (in both pandemic times and not).

Disposable in a responsible fashion: We are also on the hook for things that we want to get rid of, and donating it to Goodwill is not good enough (it should be of second-to-last resort, with the last being to simply dump it). If it’s a quality item you might be able to resell it (my preferred way of letting go of a great item). Or if it’s a consumable item (hello beauty products), they should be recyclable or find a way of disposing them responsibly (terra cycle or Nordstroms beauty cycle).

Donate regularly to organizations that align with my values and work for the betterment of society and/or the laws of the US: And even though this is not fully related to items that I purchase, I’ve come to realize ethical consumption is not enough. I mean it’s a definite start and a “must do” but by itself it cannot make the changes I want to see in this world. So even though I’m not political nor really an activist, I will work on consumer activism (working with brands to let them know what I want to see and use whatever “power” I have to make changes) as well as regular donations to organizations working to fight climate change and/or make this a more just and equitable world. I currently regularly donate to a local non-profit called the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, but I’ll be looking to donate to other organizations as well (and am open to suggestions!). Also thinking about doing fun raffles here so that you guys can get in on the giving as well!

Ok these are the goals folks! I will try my best to uphold them for a fairly curated blog :)