We love a deal! We love fashion! So “Fast Fashion” seems to be every girl’s dream. Fast Fashion is inexpensive clothing that is so cheap we binge buy. It is essentially disposable clothing. As it turns out cheap clothing has a dramatic impact on the environment and the workers who make them. Fast Fashion has a higher cost than we ever imagined.
The Real Issues
The documentary The True Cost inspired this blog. It is a great source of information. Bottom line, clothing manufacturing is deeply flawed. The problems start with how fibers are grown or created in labs. Chemicals used along the entire supply chain are harmful to people and the environment. Garment workers are grossly underpaid and work in dangerous factories. We have got to change our ways!
How I Can I Make A Difference
We are bombarded from every direction through targeted marketing. We are convinced a cute new skirt will be the instant fix to soothe our woes and make us look fabulous. To withstand the pressure to buy buy buy, we must be informed.
Together we can effect change. However we will learn “conscious consumption” has its downside and that systematic change is far more effective as shown in The True Cost. I have listed 3 simply steps to combat Fast Fashion. Lifestyle decisions that matter.
Buy Skirt from THRIFT STORE Just $5 or less
Next time you have a need to shop consider a Thrift Store purchase. If you are feeling that your social media accounts already have photos of your cutest outfits then thrifting is a great substitute. You can still have the same thrill hunting for that perfect item at the best price! Buying less Fast Fashion helps on many levels.
There is a downside to Thrift Stores because of the sheer amount of cheap second hand clothing we donate. Only 10% – 20% of donated clothing is sold to Americans. This disposable cheap clothing is shipped to developing nations. Unfortunately, the domino effect is to destroy local garment industries. Consider hosting your own swap parties amongst your friends, schools and community. Take a sewing class and start to create your own wardrobe.
Purchase an ORGANIC TEE
Clothing made of organic natural fibers are typically more expensive. So start small. The importance of buying Organic Cotton is significant because it does not use pesticides. It is the chemicals in pesticides that do so much damage to the farmers who grow the cotton and the environment where it is grown. We all wear tees. Consider purchasing Organic Cotton tees to help offset pesticide use. PACT ORGANIC sells an assortment of t-shirts.
GET INVOLVED: Advocacies Groups
Sometimes what we think is helpful is not. Alden Wicker, a sustainable lifestyle blogger, suggests Conscious consumerism is a lie. The best way to help the injustices in the production of clothing is to lobby for cleaner water, environmental protection and the rights of workers. It the greatest way to exact change.
A better way to help! Protective laws for the Garment Workers and the Environment will make a lasting difference. Join. Give. Activism. There are several great organizations to get involved with.
Consider matching Fashion purchases with a small donation to one of these great Advocacies groups.
Just $5 can make a difference.
The Solidarity Center is the largest U.S.-based international worker rights organization. Their mandate help workers attain safe and healthy workplaces, family-supporting wages, dignity on the job and greater equity at work and in their community.
Clean Clothes Campaign improves the working conditions in the global garment industry.
Friends of the Earth is the world’s largest grassroots environmental network with more than two million activists in 75 different countries.
Natural Resources Defense Council works to safeguard the earth – its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends.
Who Made My Cute Dress
Personal stories are the most revealing. You may have heard of the collapse of the Rana Plaza Building in Bangladesh due to poor construction. The owners ignored the signs of structural failure. It ended with the death of more than a thousand garment workers in 2013. In addition to unsafe buildings, poor working conditions and very low wages are industry practices in developing nations . Nazma Akter tells her experience in the garment industry in Bangladesh.
What Are My Clothes Made From
We love our fleece jackets and our yoga pants. More than 50% of clothing is made from synthetic fibers like polyester. The problem is when we wash these clothes they release “microfibers”, super tiny pieces of plastic. Microfibers essentially go down the drain into our water supplies, then into the bellies of fish which we eventually eat. This number is crazy – 1.4 million trillion– it is the amount of microfibers that are in our waterways. The Story of Microfibers is a short 2 minute animation explaining the problem. Avoiding synthetic fibers is another way to help us and the environment. But engagement with the Titans of Fashion to exact change will ultimately have greater effect.
Eco friendly materials:
Buy Less. Buy Better. Be Involved!
Let’s inspire each other to make the world and the lives of others better. Three steps towards change! Thrift, Organic & Give to Protect. Repeat.
“When right-living people bless the city, it flourishes;”
Proverbs 11:11
