During my trip for this past two weeks, my friend told me about a documentary called The True Cost and I decided to give it a go and, while I had an idea of why we had such cheap clothing, this was eye-opening to me so I decided to write about this today instead of my trip. It is a slightly more serious, and perhaps surprising, post than what you're used to seeing here but worry not, there will be plenty of posts about my trip in the Balkans in the next weeks because I have a lot to talk about!
So what's The True Cost about? It's a story about clothing, most specifically fast fashion: the clothes we wear, the people who make them, and the impact the industry is having on our world. The price of clothing has been decreasing for decades, while the human and environmental costs have grown dramatically. The True Cost (2015) is a documentary film that pulls back the curtain on the untold story and asks us to consider, who really pays the price for our cheap disposable clothing? On the one hand, consumers, who demand fashionable items at low prices; on the other, exploited workers who manufacture them under extreme conditions. This documentary is filmed in countries all over the world, from the brightest runways to the darkest slums, and invites us on an eye opening journey around the world and into the lives of the many people and places behind our clothes.
We are actually talking about two additional costs here: environmental and humanitary. Cotton represents nearly half of the total fiber used to make clothing today, being responsible, worldwild, for 18% of pesticide and 25% of total insecticide use. The largely untested impacts of these chemicals on both the land and human health are beginning to be questioned, as our skin is the largest organ, these chemicals may pass into the bloodstream of the people wearing these clothes. Leather production is also increasingly linked to a variety of environmental and human health hazards.The amount of feed, land, water and fossil fuels used to raise livestock for leather production come at a huge cost to the health of our world. In addition, the tanning process is among the most toxic in all of the fashion supply chain and workers are exposed to harmful chemicals on the job, while the waste generated pollutes natural water sources leading to increased disease for surrounding areas.
We are increasingly disconnected from the people who make our clothing as 97% of items are now made overseas. They are some of the lowest paid workers in the world and roughly 85% of all garment workers are women. The human factor of the garment industry is too big to ignore; as we consistently see the exploitation of cheap labor and the violation of workers’, women’s, and human rights in many developing countries across the world. As customers in an increasingly disconnected world, it is important that we feel connected to the workers who make our clothes, as well as inform brands that we care about these people and their voice. I mean, is it worth to ignore the ethical questions here? Is it acceptable for someone do die during their working day for this fast fashion clothing?
So after watching about this I went to the movie's site (where you can read more about what I wrote here) and I found their 5 tips for shopping smarter, which is something that we can all do:
1) Will you wear it 30 times? The rapid turnover of trends means clothes are disposable. Along with the deflation of clothing prices this has put the supply chain under unprecedented pressure leading directly to problems like the Dhaka fashion factory fire that killed over 100 people. Just asking yourself if you will wear an item 30 times is a great place to start shopping smarter and more intentional.
2) Break the cycle. 50-100 new micro seasons a year is the new normal. So slow down your fashion cycle.
3) Spread your fashion money. The global fashion industry is worth 2.5 trillion dollars. Shouldn’t this be shared? Look for producer centric brands with Fairtrade standards with longstanding producer groups who get a fair share of the profits.
4) Detox your wardrobe. Fashion is the world’s second most polluting industry after oil. Notably, Azodyes are still the most used synthetic dyes despite being toxic. 10% of the world’s biggest fashion brands have committed to phasing out toxic substances through Greenpeace’s Detox programme. And you can check the list here.
5) Be the change you want to see in your wardrobe. Fashion Revolution represents millions of consumers who want change and put pressure on the brands to increase transparency and empowers consumers to be inquisitive about #whomadetheirclothes.
Will we continue ot search for happiness in the consumption of things? Will we be satisfied with a system that makes us feel rich while leaving our world so desperately poor? Will we continue to turn a blind eye to the millions of lives behind our clothes or will this be a turning point? In the midst of all the challenges facing us today and all the problems that feel bigger than us, maybe we can start here, with clothing. I leave you the movie trailer at the end of today's post and, if you can spare 1h30 of your time, please go watch it (it's available on Netflix).
So what's The True Cost about? It's a story about clothing, most specifically fast fashion: the clothes we wear, the people who make them, and the impact the industry is having on our world. The price of clothing has been decreasing for decades, while the human and environmental costs have grown dramatically. The True Cost (2015) is a documentary film that pulls back the curtain on the untold story and asks us to consider, who really pays the price for our cheap disposable clothing? On the one hand, consumers, who demand fashionable items at low prices; on the other, exploited workers who manufacture them under extreme conditions. This documentary is filmed in countries all over the world, from the brightest runways to the darkest slums, and invites us on an eye opening journey around the world and into the lives of the many people and places behind our clothes.
We are actually talking about two additional costs here: environmental and humanitary. Cotton represents nearly half of the total fiber used to make clothing today, being responsible, worldwild, for 18% of pesticide and 25% of total insecticide use. The largely untested impacts of these chemicals on both the land and human health are beginning to be questioned, as our skin is the largest organ, these chemicals may pass into the bloodstream of the people wearing these clothes. Leather production is also increasingly linked to a variety of environmental and human health hazards.The amount of feed, land, water and fossil fuels used to raise livestock for leather production come at a huge cost to the health of our world. In addition, the tanning process is among the most toxic in all of the fashion supply chain and workers are exposed to harmful chemicals on the job, while the waste generated pollutes natural water sources leading to increased disease for surrounding areas.
We are increasingly disconnected from the people who make our clothing as 97% of items are now made overseas. They are some of the lowest paid workers in the world and roughly 85% of all garment workers are women. The human factor of the garment industry is too big to ignore; as we consistently see the exploitation of cheap labor and the violation of workers’, women’s, and human rights in many developing countries across the world. As customers in an increasingly disconnected world, it is important that we feel connected to the workers who make our clothes, as well as inform brands that we care about these people and their voice. I mean, is it worth to ignore the ethical questions here? Is it acceptable for someone do die during their working day for this fast fashion clothing?
So after watching about this I went to the movie's site (where you can read more about what I wrote here) and I found their 5 tips for shopping smarter, which is something that we can all do:
1) Will you wear it 30 times? The rapid turnover of trends means clothes are disposable. Along with the deflation of clothing prices this has put the supply chain under unprecedented pressure leading directly to problems like the Dhaka fashion factory fire that killed over 100 people. Just asking yourself if you will wear an item 30 times is a great place to start shopping smarter and more intentional.
2) Break the cycle. 50-100 new micro seasons a year is the new normal. So slow down your fashion cycle.
3) Spread your fashion money. The global fashion industry is worth 2.5 trillion dollars. Shouldn’t this be shared? Look for producer centric brands with Fairtrade standards with longstanding producer groups who get a fair share of the profits.
4) Detox your wardrobe. Fashion is the world’s second most polluting industry after oil. Notably, Azodyes are still the most used synthetic dyes despite being toxic. 10% of the world’s biggest fashion brands have committed to phasing out toxic substances through Greenpeace’s Detox programme. And you can check the list here.
5) Be the change you want to see in your wardrobe. Fashion Revolution represents millions of consumers who want change and put pressure on the brands to increase transparency and empowers consumers to be inquisitive about #whomadetheirclothes.
Will we continue ot search for happiness in the consumption of things? Will we be satisfied with a system that makes us feel rich while leaving our world so desperately poor? Will we continue to turn a blind eye to the millions of lives behind our clothes or will this be a turning point? In the midst of all the challenges facing us today and all the problems that feel bigger than us, maybe we can start here, with clothing. I leave you the movie trailer at the end of today's post and, if you can spare 1h30 of your time, please go watch it (it's available on Netflix).
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