GOOD
Documentary
“The True Cost” of a $4.00 Shirt Is it worth the price we pay? BY KAREN LANGSTON
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Do you love a good cheap fashion find? I used to, until I noticed my clothing constantly ripping or developing tiny holes within weeks of casual wear. I would toss items of clothing because the price to repair them was more than just getting another one. Have you ever experienced this? Decades ago, North American companies shifted production offshore, where environmental regulations are little to nonexistent, and textile and garment workers earn meager wages. Clothing became massively cheaper, allowing for fresh styles, with the average shopper purchasing clothing every five days. Yearly, we are tossing 11.9 million tons of clothing, more than a 750 percent increase since 1960. Similar to the speed and quality of our food industry, we are experiencing ultra-fast fashion. It really got me thinking, is it worth it? I came across a documentary called “The True Cost” and it opened my eyes to the truth of our ultra-fast, ultra-cheap fashion obsession. Did you know 97% of the manufacturing of our clothing is done by sweatshop workers? In Bangladesh, for instance, the average laborer is female and makes three dollars per day in unsafe working conditions. Separated from their families, these laborers work endless hours with no breaks, no windows and no air-conditioning. They are also abused verbally and physically for speaking up.
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GREEN LIVING
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greenlivingmag.com
One large-scale tragedy was the 2013 collapse of a building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing over 1,000 workers. In Dhaka, a child laborer works for 10 hours a day to earn the equivalent of one U.S. dollar. Knowing this, as I looked down at my $4.00 T-shirt, I felt dirty. Did you know the fashion industry is the second-largest polluter in the world, second only to oil? The industry’s pollution level is extreme, producing between two and eight percent of global carbon emissions. A 2021 report from the World Economic Forum estimates that the fashion industry generates four percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, considering materials, manufacturing and freight operations. Textile dyeing is also the second-largest polluter of water globally. From South and Central America, Asia, Africa, China and India, clothing toxins and hazardous raw chemicals are dumped into rivers and surrounding areas. The manufacturing of polyester and other synthetic fabrics requires large amounts of crude oil, releasing emissions including volatile organic compounds, particulate matter
