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Monday, March 7, 2022
Virtual EventOpen to Cornell community
Do you want to better understand how climate change, racism, wealth inequality, and consumerism are connected? Are you looking for ways to make sustainable change happen both individually and collectively? Join the Campus Sustainability Office for our new Sustainable Cornell Book Club, featuring our inaugural book: Consumed | The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change, and Consumerism.
A call to action for consumers everywhere, Aja Barber asks us to look at how and why we buy what we buy, how it's created, who it benefits, and how we can solve the problems created by a wasteful system. To participate, you will need to borrow or purchase a copy of the book. Students living in one of the residential communities listed below as a 'book club partner' may request a free book during registration. These communities will be hosting 1-2 small in-person chats for their residents to complement the virtual club.
Book Club details
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RELATED UPCOMING EVENT
Beyond Waste | Keynote Speaker: Aja Barber
Free Virtual Event | Register here
Thursday, 2/24 at 3:00pm EST Join us for an engaging conversation on these topics with Aja Barber, followed by a live audience Q&A.
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Book Description
In Consumed, Barber calls for change within an industry that regularly overreaches with abandon, creating real imbalances in the environment and the lives of those who do the work—often in unsafe conditions for very low pay—and the billionaires who receive the most profit. A story told in two parts, Barber exposes the endemic injustices in our consumer industries and the uncomfortable history of the textile industry, one which brokered slavery, racism, and today’s wealth inequality. Once the layers are peeled back, Barber invites you to participate in unlearning, to understand the truth behind why we consume in the way that we do, to confront the uncomfortable feeling that we are never quite enough and why we fill that void with consumption rather than compassion. Barber challenges us to challenge the system and our role in it. The less you buy into the consumer culture, the more power you have. Consumed will teach you how to be a citizen and not a consumer.
About the Author
Writer and consultant Aja Barber hails from Reston, Virginia, and currently lives in London with her husband and their two cats. Consumed is her debut, a treatise on the intersection of fashion, climate change, and social justice. After publicly announcing that she would not use fast fashion companies to sponsor her social media presence, Aja is now considered to be an expert voice in this space. You can find some of her writing on Instagram, and more of it on Patreon, where readers support her work.
Author Appearance, Cultural, Reading, Special Event, Networking, Student Events Newsletter
Kimberly Anderson
607-255-6591
The Campus Sustainability strives to make all our events inclusive and accessible. If you need accommodations to participate in this event, please reach out to sustainability@cornell.edu. We would be happy to speak with you.
Cornell students, faculty, staff, and the broader Cornell community
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