After fully watching the documentary, The True Cost, I feel truly sad and disheartened. The disconnect we, as consumers, have to the origins of our material items is astounding. When visiting stores in person or online, it’s exciting to see a piece of clothing that is cheaper than you imagined- it almost feels like everything is getting cheaper as time goes on. Not to mention, every week that I walk into Zara or check my favourite online stores, there is a plethora of new items. As a consumer, trapped in a bubble of ignorance, these are the most exciting parts of going shopping. It’s not as if I’ve never heard of ‘sweatshops’ and the horrible working conditions imposed on factory workers in less privileged countries- sadly, it becomes easy to forget or become numb to the thought of someone so far away suffering for your outfit. How can we, as a society, be so apathetic to those who are agonizing and dying over our…. t-shirts?!
Moreover, the ‘fast fashion industry’ has become the second largest polluting industry in the world, next to oil. So, if for some reason, you don’t care about a human life across the world, maybe you can think about what this industry is doing to your planet, and the effects that it will directly have on you (and your grandchildren). I’m not going to lie when I say it is difficult to avoid products that are not made ethically or sustainably, as most labels state “Made in Bangladesh/Indonesia/Vietnam/etc.”, but it is possible. It would probably be close to impossible to get most consumers to trade style for ethically-made clothing, so I did some research to find out a few brands I would personally feel good supporting without compromising taste:
Everlane: men + women; ensures stringent workplace compliancy in all their factories- read about their policies here.
Gather & See: women; has fair-trade, organic, and even recycled clothes- read about their philosophy here.
Nudie Jeans: men + women; organic, transparent production, and even repairs/reselling/recycling of second hand products – scroll to the bottom of their website to read more.
yajur sondhi
April 7, 2016 — 10:16 pm
You get right to the point of it. People A) Do not realize the cost of many controllable decisions B) Do not look for or see the full set of alternatives such as more sustainable products or decisions (ie not buying a clothing item every 8 months or so / using a cloths share business or buying something for life). This pump and dump issue also crops up in other sectors like consumer appliances and electronics (Link A) where low cost manufacturers flood the market with short life, low sticker price items that have an enormous cost on the environment. This cost not only comes from the production but also from the disposal issues (Link B). Luckily as we know, many consumers are becoming more aware of the net cost of their consumption.
What are views about this field?
Link A
https://www.ifixit.com/Stories
Link B
https://www.epa.gov/rad/disposing-appliances-responsibly