We cannot have one without the other! If you are buying recycled clothing from a fast fashion brand but they refuse to pay their workers properly and they have to work in slave-like conditions what kind of a world are we voting for? If we want to see real change in this world we need to have a society that protects our environment and our people. Sustainable fashion is about producing clothes in an environmentally sustainable way, but also about sustainable patterns of consumption. Brands must implement sustainability into their production chains. Some examples of how brands can be sustainable include: second hand clothing or rent-able clothes, up-cycled or recycled materials, natural and organic certified materials, high quality and timeless designs that will last, etc. Why is sustainable fashion important? Fast fashion harms the environment. It produces more carbon emissions than international flights and shipping combined. We need a system that focuses on slower production and more eco-friendly materials and manufacturing. So many resources are wasted from the typical fast fashion production model. In fact, every second a one garbage truck of textiles is burned or thrown into the landfill. Talk about a waste of time, energy, money and resources. Fashion is also the second biggest consumer of our precious drinking water. In fact, half a million tons of synthetic microfibers into the ocean annually. Here are some examples of the fashion brands that have been caught destroying their clothing: Ethical fashion is often concerned with human and animal rights. As it relates to humans, ethical fashion applies to working conditions, fair wages and treatment, and no child labor. It is made locally, empowers women and artisans, protects cultures and people of color. Some examples of how brands can be sustainable include: fair trade, giving back to the community by donating, no sweatshops, made to order, working closely with manufacturers to ensure workers are okay, working with local artisans and focusing more on handmade goods.
Why is sustainable fashion important? We have uncovered the horror stories of how these brands continue to choose to work with manufacturers that abuse their workers and strip them of their human rights. The fast fashion industry exploits & forces women of color to produce cheap & trendy clothes at an unsustainable rate. It often uses modern slavery practices to achieve this and includes: forced labor, forced marriage, slavery and human trafficking. Here are some examples of the fashion brands that have been caught exploiting their workers:
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About 2/3 of our clothing comes from fossil fuel-derived synthetics and making these materials is a carbon-intensive process, according to Fashion Revolution. In 2015, 98 million tons of oil was used in the textile industry. That’s expected to skyrocket to 300 million tons of oil by 2050 according to the Ellen Macarthur Foundation. It’s one of the main reasons why fast fashion produces more carbon emission than all international flights and maritime shipping. We need to pressure fashion brands to stop using plastic! Polyester is a common type of material found in our clothing. Polyester is made from fossil fuels which emits a ton of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and accelerates climate change. When we wash clothes that are made from plastic they actually shed microfibres that often end up in our oceans. Half a million tonnes of microfibers come from our clothes. This is 16 times more than the plastic microbeads found in skincare and cosmetics. Some other plastic materials to watch out for are nylon, acrylic and elastane (spandex) according to the Ellen Macarthur Foundation. Plastic materials use huge quantities of non-renewable resources like fossil fuels and are very energy intensive to make. Plastic is also not biodegradable and will stay in our environment for many years. Many birds and animals often mistake it for food and will ingest it and die from it. What can we do about this?
I think that when brands see a general interest in the public to use more natural fabrics or recycled ones over plastic then they will change the type of material they use. Let’s pressure fashion brands to do better for us and the planet! Petition to reduce plastics in our oceans. Please share this with your friends and family! Did you know that even high end fashion brands use unethical labor? It’s not just cheap fast fashion brands. In fact, studies found that luxury brands like Prada, Fendi and Dior were some of the worst at protecting their workers from exploitation. According to a study in the Daily Mail, “Walmart did slightly below average [in ethics], but still better than a lot of luxury brands.” If Walmart does better than you in ethics then you must be doing real bad, yikes. It's also very difficult to assess whether or not these luxury brands are using sweatshops or take action when they release a statement because they are very secretive about the factories they use. According to Vice, “high-end, expensive clothing companies including Prada, Fendi and Hermes are among the worst offenders, with Chanel coming in dead last, according to the report that ranks clothing brands on transparency.” “Workers in poor countries are often made to pay thousands of dollars in recruitment fees that are deducted from their salary.” This fact blew my mind! Basically the sweat shop will hold their passports hostage so their workers can’t run away until they pay $7,000 which is a lot when they only pay you in pennies per day. So they’re literally stuck in these horrid conditions making clothes for the rich for the rest of their lives. Even Gucci has been exposed by its former employees. They have been called out for their inhumane working conditions and mistreatment of workers. According to the study conducted by Li Wang & Robin Stanley Snell, there was an alleged miscarriage that happened due to being overworked and there was no compensation. How heartbreaking and disgusting. Gucci clearly has more than enough money, they made $10.8 billion in sales, like come on! In the study, these workers also reported strict limitations to using the washroom, drinking or eating. It’s like they’re in jail, jeez. There’s also alleged reports of faking their workers working hours and forcing them to work overtime without being paid. Here's some action itemsWe all know about the Chernobyl nuclear accident but have you heard of the Bhopal Disaster? According to the Atlantic, it has been named --the world’s deadliest industrial disaster. Even though the explosion happened in 1984 it still affects the people who live there today, poisoning their water, children and lives.
The pesticide plant was owned by — Union Carbide Corporation (1917)— an American chemical corporation, owned by — Dow Chemical Company (Bought in 2001). Merged to become DowDuPont (2017). On December 3, 1984, 40 tons of Methyl isocyanate spewed from the pesticides plant and burned the throats, eyes, and lives of thousands of people. According to the Illinois Dept. of Public Health, “Methyl isocyanate (MIS) is a chemical used in the manufacture of polyurethane foam, pesticides and plastics. It is easily burned and explosive.” The death toll was heartbreaking, 20,000 people died from the explosion and over 600,00 were injured. It even affects babies in the womb. All due to the negligence of this multinational company. Here are the key players: its current owner, DowDuPont, the state government of Madhya Pradesh and the central Indian government. In 1989, those who were affected by the disaster were only given 25,000 Indian rupees (roughly $2,200). The site still has hundreds of tons of contaminated waste. The Bhopal disaster still affects the villagers till this day. A mother named, “Munni bi was diagnosed with bladder cancer—her grandson, Anees, was born with skin that looked burned and limbs that lay flaccid and useless; he died five years ago at age 4, never having spoken a word.” Absolutely horrifying what chemical corporations can do to our people and planet. But the horror does not end there. DuPont’s was also caught dumping chemical waste on neighboring land— poisoning the water supply for the local West Virginian residents. Resources Documentary: One Night in Bhopal Movie: Dark Waters Support: The Bhopal Medical Appeal In 2018, Burberry was caught destroying $36.8 million worth of its own merchandise according to Vox. Why not just burn cash instead? They are clearly too rich to know what to do with their money, they made $3.6 billion in revenue that year. They weren’t the only ones, H&M burned 60 tons of brand new clothing in 2013. Here are some other brands that have been caught destroying their merchandise: Urban Outfitters, J.C. Penny, Victoria’s Secret, Eddie Bauer, Nike, Michael Kors and many more.
So why do brands do this? It seems like a huge waste of money, time and resources. According to Vox, “brands destroy product as a way to maintain exclusivity through scarcity.” Here’s what a manager at Abercrombie & Fitch had to say, “Abercrombie & Fitch doesn't want to create the image that just anybody, poor people, can wear their clothing. Only people of a certain stature are able to purchase and wear the company name." Buying brand name is a way to show off how much money you have. I never understood the obsession with buying brand name though. The quality doesn’t actually get that much better with luxury brands. Many actually use sweatshops which means they still don’t pay their workers well. Even though a single bag can be almost the same price as buying a house. So just because something is expensive it doesn’t always mean it’s ethical. Many clothes from fast fashion brands are actually destroyed in India. There’s a documentary showing that these women are actually told to shred brand new clothing. According to Vox, the women think that the people in the West [that is us] must not be able to afford water to do our laundry. Lol these brands should be ashamed, they’re a symbol of wealth but in whose eyes? How do we define wealth and success? Because burning brand new clothes just sounds like a waste of money. The sad truth is, according to the United Nations, every second a garbage truck of clothes is burned or sent to the landfill. The fast fashion industry emits more CO2 than international flights and maritime shipping combined. So does being wealthy and successful mean we should just start throwing away our money and resources and destroy the planet? If so I think we need to redefine what success means in our society because that is just sad. Sign the petition here. Let's make destroying brand new clothes illegal! There are so many people in need of warm clothing, instead these big fashion brands rather flush them down the toilet! |
AuthorHi everyone, I’m Elizabeth! I am a Chinese American and Canadian environmental activist focused on creating awareness on environmental justice issues and tying them to fast fashion and our waste and climate change crisis. I’m very open about my mental health. I talk about these important topics on my platform Archives
March 2021
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