The True Cost
While I have always known that the fashion industry supports a lot of terrible things like unfair wages, unsafe working conditions, mass pollution/contamination and supports an always need more/throwaway mindset recently watching the documentary called "The True Cost" summaries it all very well and hits home. An awareness of these issues is something I have had since college however in more recent years have thought more about it and found the desire to react differently myself as well as encourage others to do the same. But even though I have had an awareness I often found it difficult to summarize it and briefly explain it to others. Immediately after watching "The True Cost" I thought to myself… this is exactly what I have been trying to explain to people but have been doing a poor job of it. If you have any interest in these issues and the desire to learn more I would highly encourage you pick a rainy night, grab some popcorn or wine and curl up on the couch to watch “The True Cost” - I can promise you it will be an impactful hour and a half. But for those of you who just want the cliff notes, see below…
The film begins with how the fashion industry started out as an answer to an actual need of clothing items to wear. It eventually evolved into more than that, a way of self expression. What used to be a trip to the store to purchase fabric to make clothing items turned into an industry where items were made in the United States and purchased in clothing stores. As recently as the 1960's we were still making as much as 90% of our clothes in the US. We now only make about 3% of our clothes in the US. Over the last 20 years the price of clothing in stores has gone down however the cost of making the clothes has not - instead it has just been outsourced. In addition to decreasing the cost, the industry has also created a mindset that we always need more. What started out as 4 seasons a year in the fashion industry has turned into essentially 52 seasons a year for fast fashion. Each week consumers walk into the store they are greeted with a new fresh assortment making them feel the need to purchase again. The scary question we have to ask ourselves is where does this cycle end? Always wanting more and always needing it cheaper.
When the creator of the documentary interviewed factory owners in the Capital city of Bangledesh, Dhakla the owners spoke about how the factories are constantly being pushed by clothing companies to cut down on costs and while it is not really feasible, they are making it happen in order to stay alive and remain in business. For this to happen something has to give so they end up cutting corners and disregarding safety matters. Many people remember hearing about the factory in Rana Plaza that collapsed in April of 2013 killing over 1,000 workers that day. While this collapse has raised awareness of the issue (at the cost of many lives) and organizations such as the Ethical Trading initiative the garment industry as a whole has not changed. Buyers are still requiring quicker turn around times and lower costs that only encourage the behaviors that lead to that great disaster.
The documentary also shines light on a issue that while I can't say I am surprised about it is something I had never thought about prior to watching "The True Cost," and that is the story for a person such as Shima Ak (1 of about 40 million garment workers in the world). She is a woman from Bangledesh whose only job opportunity is in the garment factories, the days are long, the wages are low and there is no childcare that she can afford for her young daughter. So she had to take her daughter to stay with family members in a village outside of the capital in order to keep her job and do what is best for her daughter. Over 80% of the workers are women and the minimum wage is less than $3 per day. I am impressed with how single mom's in the US making a good salary raise their children on their own and make ends meet at the end of each month. I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to be a single mom working in those circumstances making less than $3 per day and having to make the decision to send your child away in an attempt to better their chances of getting an education and having a better life.
Fair trade is a citizens response to correct the social injustice where workers/famers are not paid a living wage in an environment that is not considered okay. While legislature can make an impact on these conditions in my opinion the real power lies in the hands of the everyday consumer and shopping fair trade is one of the best ways for the everyday citizen to speak out and stand up to an industry doing so much harm across the world.
The next topic the movie covers is the growth of cotton and other natural materials used to produce clothing. Texas has the largest area of cotton growth in the world, the majority of which is GMO and Roundup Ready meaning it has been sprayed with pesticides. Because the cotton plant is so commonly used in the production of apparel it is constantly being re-engineered to keep up with the demand. This re-engineering and chemicals being used impacts the soil and the health of the people growing/picking it, something that the cost of which can't be quantified.
From "The True Cost" I also learned of the largest seed and chemical company in the history of the world called "Monsanto." While they market themselves as the leading biotechnology company of the world helping farmers to be more sustainable they are truly doing quite the opposite of that. In reality they have monopolized the farming industry and are disrupting the soil, growth process, jobs, and livelihood of farmers around the world. They have strict patents on the seeds they produce - they market the seeds to farmers as easier to maintain as they are round up ready and save time/money between harvests because they can be treated with pesticides and the plants themselves survive eliminating the need for weeding/plowing fields. However if you purchase their products, in some cases you can not use the seeds for more than one harvest forcing farmers to purchase more and more from them year after year. Farmers get into debt because of the price and even deeper debt because it does not deliver on the promise.
This also leads to the health impact of pesticides on both children and farmers. The true cost shows a town in a farming community in India where the children have detrimental health issues as a result of the pesticides used in the area on the crops, the farmers are in debt unable to run a profitable business because of the monopolized seed industry resulting in an abnormally high suicide rate of farmers in this part of India.
And finally aside from the working conditions, wages paid, impact to the environment and farming community - what about the impact to us, the consumers? This industry has taught us the more we focus on materialistic things the happier we are. Most people realize that is not the truth but we are all still guilty of falling for this type of advertising that we are exposed to multiple times a day. And with the way fast fashion has become so cheap and treated as disposable we are feeding this mindset and putting out an obscene about of waste at the same time. The fashion industry is the second most polluting industry on earth, only second to oil.
The film shines light on the fact that the real issue is where the responsibility lies. The whole system is broken and exploiting workers for profits of big box retailers. Human capital is a part of the formula that needs to be acknowledged and dealt with. Because of how large of an issue this is and how many individuals are impacted, in order for anything to change, big box retailers would have to become less focused on profit always operating with 100% of the focus on making this quarter better than the last no matter the cost to others - profit at all costs - goes against most anyone's morals. But in reality big box retailers have no intent in shifting that focus so in my opinion that is where we as consumers come into the picture. Every purchase we make and dollar we spend is a vote we are casting for the type of business we want to support. So next time you are tempted to purchase the $10 blouse at a big box retailer, take a second to think about what you are supporting and consider starting to look into more ethical options.