Function

Example

Language

Topic & scope         ®

Justifications           ®

Thesis statement    ®

Overview                 ®  

It is a norm for many people to discard old clothes and buy new ones during Chinese New Year.  Shops are offering discounts in this period to encourage purchase in order to boost their revenue. They often play related songs to create the atmosphere and remind people that it is time to spend more money.

Clothing is an essential part of our daily life.  Every person probably has experienced in decision making on buying and handling clothes. I am no exception for this.  Many of my clothes that were bought several years ago have torn off already and some of them do not fit anymore.  Apparently, I need to buy some new clothes as a form of celebration for the festival.

After taking this course, I am more conscious of my personal behaviour in buying new items and am more careful about my clothes selection.  I believe that our every simple action can accumulate and substantially influence the environment.  In this essay, I would like to focus on the clothing area.  I will investigate my decision-making process in purchasing clothes and my recycling habits in the first part. In the second part, I will evaluate my habits, and finally, suggest ways to become a more responsible civil consumer in the third part.

¬  Use of present perfect and past tense to introduce the experience

¬  Use of “I” and other personal pronouns in reflections

¬   Use of future tense “will” to outline what to cover in the body

Function

Example

Language

Heading                   ®

Topic sentence       ®

Elaborating the      ®

topic sentence

Describing a            ® childhood experience on clothing

Interpreting this     ®

experience, and new insights gained from it

Topic sentence       ®

Elaborating the      ®

topic sentence

Describing               ® another experience on clothing

Interpreting this     ®

e…,o+xperience, and conclusion drawn from it

My Habit on Clothing

In evaluating the quality of clothes, I often consider the material used and value comfort most.  Other than clothes that are too loose or too tight, I cannot bear with clothes that are made of wool as I am allergic to it.  Even a slight content of wool can cause redness on my skin and make me feel itchy.  When I was small, my relative gave me a piece of nice, expensive sweater as a gift. I loved its colour and design.  However, I found that it was made of high percentage of wool until I put it on.  It caused me a great discomfort that I had to take it off immediately.  After that, it was put aside until it no longer fit, and it was totally a waste.  I have learnt that I should often buy the clothes in person and carefully check the label attached to ensure no wool is used in the manufacturing process.  If possible, I will go to the shop to touch and to test the physical product in person to avoid getting the wrong items and lead to a waste.

The second thing I would consider is the brand.  As for the brand, I prefer a well-known, trustworthy one rather than an unknown brand.  I expect my new clothes can last for years.  On this aspect, I do not mind spending more on buying a quality guaranteed product rather than a cheap one from a street vendor.  The problems of low-quality clothes will only appear after several months of usage, but I cannot test them out immediately in the fitting room.  There was an unpleasant experience that I bought a pair of new trousers of no brand which worn out within several weeks.  I was not happy about it but I did not demand for money back because it was cheap.  Since then, I promised myself not to buy those unbranded clothes with no quality guaranteed.  The only thing I could do is to buy clothes under a well-known brand with trust.  Good or not, only time and my personal experience will tell.

¬  Noun phrase

¬  Use of present tense to show one’s own belief

¬  Use of past tense to describe a past event

¬  Use of present tense to show one’s own belief

¬  Use of past tense to describe a past event

Function

Example

Language

Heading                   ®

Topic sentence       ®

(Evaluation)

Elaborating the      ®

topic sentence (Reasons)

Evaluation               ®

Plan (strategy)        ®

Plan (strategy)        ®

Details of the plan  ®    

A Change in My Habit

After my self-reflection, I think it is good for me to keep my habit of conscious spending on clothing and only buy clothes that I basically need.  I am proud of this because not many people can control their desire to buy and own things, while wise spending can effectively help me save my budget, ensure my available resources are effectively utilized, and minimize wastage at the same time.

During my decision-making process, I often neglected the origin of clothes and whether organic and eco-friendly materials are used in clothing.  I seldom considered where the clothes came from while they might be from the other side of the globe, which heavily increased the carbon footprint.  I only emphasised whether they were of high quality and comfortable to wear, but they might be made of artificial materials which produce toxic substances in the manufacturing process.  Therefore, I should develop a habit of checking the labels for the country of origin and the materials used before consumption.  Products made in Asian region are acceptable while I may avoid buying clothes from Europe or America because it is a very long distance from Hong Kong which will significantly increase the carbon footprint.  Supporting companies that adopt eco-friendly manufacturing policies and buying organic clothes can also help environmental protection.

The possible ways to encourage me to remove unnecessary items are to trade the old clothes in and donate them to the charity.  To make the plan workable, I will find an online platform to sell my old clothes at a competitive price so buyers can get them with only little cost if they are interested.  Although some of them may have concerns about health risk like I do, careful handling of second-hand clothes can lower the chance of being infected.  For example, …

¬  Noun phrase

¬  Use of “I think” to evaluate the effectiveness of the experience

¬  Use of past tense to evaluate the experience

¬  Use of tentative language “should”,  “may” and “can” to outline the plan

¬  Use of tentative language “will”,  “may” and “can” to outline the plan

Function

Example

Language

Summarising the    ®

experience

Restating purpose  ®

of the paper

Proposing a course®

of action

The life of a piece of clothes begins as it is manufactured in a factory.  It travels a long mile before it is purchased by us.  We have to be conscious of how we spend on clothes and never lose our control in our budget.  Not only should we consider the price and the appearance of clothes, we should also think of how our behaviour can affect the environment.  To be more conscious consumers, we have the responsibility for ensuring that a piece of clothes can meet our own desire and avoid wastage.  To minimise greenhouse gases production and pollution, we, as individual consumers, can also act responsibly to save the globe by carefully selecting the origin of clothes and materials used to reduce our carbon footprint and waste produced.

Buying and disposing items is a simple action we do almost every day, but this all counts and exerts substantial effects on the third parties.  As individual consumers, our small habits can accumulate year by year, and lead to a great impact on things as trivial as our personal budgets and expenditure, the standard of living, and greater issues like the society, as well as the environment. Therefore, we should reflect ourselves on how we have done well and what improvements should be made to keep a balance and maintain the sustainability in all aspects, to satisfy our own needs without harming the interests of our future generations.

¬  Use of tentative language “should ” to make recommendations