As promised in my last post, I want to go deeper into the good, the bad, and the ugly of the fashion industry to provide you guys with more environmentally friendly tips while shopping! If all you read from this post is the first few sentences, what I hope you take out of this is:

Ask questions from suppliers, demand change from your favorite brands and retailers, and most importantly, when it comes to fashion, the ONLY thing that matters is where you spend your money. It doesn’t matter if you preach vegan clothing, organically sourced materials, and fair treatment of workers if that isn’t what you practice. We are living in a money driven world, what matters is who you are giving your money to, those are the brands and companies that will continue thriving.

When it comes to the fashion industry, there are a plethora of issues, and depending on who you are you might value different things so I’m going to break this post up into three categories— human, environment, and animals. Before we jump in, I want us to all be on the same page with a few definitions.

Fast Fashion: (noun) inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends.

Fair Trade: (noun) trade between companies in developed countries and producers in developing countries in which fair prices are paid to the producers.

Greenhouse gas: (noun) a gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation, e.g. carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons.

Fair Trade

Companies that are Fair Trade Certified are putting people and the planet first. Within fast fashion, there are many human rights issues where workers are not being treated fairly or earning a livable wage. By shopping fast fashion we are perpetuating this unfair treatment and ensuring that people will continue working in unfair conditions. Many popular stores and brands refuse to disclose where their production sites are; when factory locations are disclosed, this ensures monitoring is taking place. Oftentimes, location is not disclosed due to illegally subcontracted factories where workers are being denied rights such as maternity leave.

Just to call out some brands, here is a list of companies that disclose names and addresses of their factories:

• Adidas

• Nike

• Levi’s

• New Balance

• Patagonia

• Among many others!

And here are some that will not disclose their factories:

• Walmart

• Zara/Inditex

• Urban Outfitters

• Forever 21

• Among many others

A very well-known example of poor working conditions in the fashion industry is the building collapse in Bangladesh in 2013 where 1,129 workers were killed and more were injured. This was a result of unsafe building infrastructure, and evacuation notices that were ignored by managers. This factory was making garments for companies such as Walmart, Children’s Place, and more. Workers at factories like these are often subjected to toxic chemicals which can cause illness (that we’ll touch on in the next section) paired with unfair compensation, and the inability to leave and find a better work environment. Shopping at stores such as Zara, H&M, Forever 21, Old Navy, Urban Outfitters, etc. where the number of garments produced is so high and prices are so low is indicative of potentially unfair trade practices. Wage minimums are not being met, benefits not given, and corners are being cut to reduce production costs in order to sell at a low price and in such bulk.

Pollution, Climate Change, and Waste

In 2015, the fashion sector generated 1.2 billion tons of greenhouse gases… this is more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined!!! This fact remains true in 2019, showing no improvement in emissions in at least four years… how crazy is that?! Greenhouse gases are not only emitting from factories, but being released from decomposing garments in land fills, acting as a huge contributor to global warming. The amount of methane being released into the atmosphere by unsustainable practices equates to the fashion industry using a quarter of the world’s carbon budget. Imagine how much better we could be caring for the earth if even 10% more of our population was not buying into fast fashion and instead was choosing to support more sustainable apparel brands. Luckily, something like fashion and the companies you’re supporting are easy changes to implement and can make huge impacts!

The fashion industry is incredibly unsustainable. Chemical runoff from factories and improper disposal of toxic agents such as those used to tan leather cause contamination of drinking water, soil, and air quality in areas where garments are being made. When we purchase such items it’s like a vote being cast saying we care more about an insignificant item than we do about peoples lives and the viability of the earth. We’re trying to feed the world with contaminated soils and water and wonder why disease rates are so high. We need to start making correlations between our consumer behaviors and our health. Keeping in mind that our skin is our largest organ and can absorb the things we apply to it, here are some ways chemicals are used in the making of our clothing:

• Dark clothing, denim, and dyed clothes— many brands use chemicals such as Azo dyes to achieve darker colors. This dye is known to be linked to cancer, skin allergies and dermatitis. A way to know if your clothing has toxic chemicals is by reading your labels, something like “Attention! This garment will lose dye and color” is indicative of toxic dye. An estimated 20% of our planet’s industrial water pollution is coming from clothing dye.

• Leather tanning— 90% of leather in stores has been tanned using chromium. This chemical is often not disposed of properly and can poison food systems, causing disease and death. It has even been noted that wearing leather for extended periods of time that has been tanned with chromium can cause a weakened immune system, kidney and liver damage.

• Brand new clothes— new clothing is often coated in formaldehyde and urea resins to prevent wrinkling and mildew in shipping (especially from China). Formaldehyde is a known human carcinogen that we are wearing on our skin when purchasing from many unsustainable brands. Labels to watch out for to avoid this include “easy care”, “wrinkle free”, “shrinkage free”, etc. Victoria’s Secret has had multiple lawsuits filed against them for excessive formaldehyde levels in their lingerie.

No, I’m not saying you should never buy jeans, black clothing, or anything new. But it is super important to pay attention to how companies are making their clothes. Are they fading and distressing their jeans with lasers or chemicals? If they are using laser technology, that is a brand worth supporting. There are alternatives to everything that will improve your health and the health of the planet. Before buying clothing from a certain brand, ask questions, check out their websites— do they have any sustainability information? Are they Fair Trade Certified? What kinds of chemicals are they using in the production of their garments?

Animal Products

This one has been getting more and more attention in recent years as people are protesting wearing animal skins and fur. However, there is still a long way to go in luxury and high end fashion. Whether it’s an alligator farm that is electrocuting their animals to keep their skins in tact for that pair of shoes you want, or a leather farm where every other part of the cow is thrown away and the only thing used is the skin— there is so much wrong with these practices. The waste produced in the fashion industry is astounding, animals are being slaughtered for only one part of their bodies, then disposed of in many cases. In the case of leather, the primary difference between “ethical leather” and others are that the leather is taken from cows being farmed for their meat, making the leather a byproduct.
Although the majority of leather is coming from cows, elsewhere in the world other animals are being poached and slaughtered for their skins and the species from which the skin came from is undetectable to consumers. China is the world’s leading exporter of leather, where around two million cats and dogs are killed annually for their skins. This is then exported to be made into garments, accessories, and upholstery. This just brings so many questions into my head.

1. Would you (knowingly) wear a garment made of cat/dog skin?

2. Would you wear a garment made of cow skin?

3. If you answered no to the first question and yes to the second question, why? What makes a cow different from a dog? To me, that just goes to show how skewed our perception of animal cruelty really is. Something to think about.

Beyond leather, fur is a huge animal cruelty issue that impacts so many species. Animals worldwide are living in horrifying conditions in order to provide fur for all kinds of accessories and garments. Wild animals are kept in small metal cages, bred, fed meat byproducts unfit for human consumption, and harvested in cruel and often painful methods. In order to keep fur undamaged and in tact, animals are often skinned alive or euthanized with methods deemed unethical by the American Veterinary Association. When we buy products with fur, we are casting that vote that we are at peace with this and that our garment or accessory means more than an innocent animals life and welfare needs. We are quick to blame behaviors such as poaching and deforestation for the extinction of species without even looking at how many species could be facing extinction due to our consumer habits.

What can we do to elicit change?

The things we spend money on creates our world. Every purchase made is a vote for the kind of world you want to be living in. Reflect on the last few purchases you’ve made, what kind of impact do you think you’ve made with those purchases? What have you supported and what have you protested? If everyone on earth supported the same companies you’re supporting, what would our world look like? These questions aren’t meant to be downers, but to help you look into your own consumer behaviors. The information we know is nothing if we don’t act accordingly.

Supporting brands that align with your values doesn’t need to be time consuming, by asking questions in stores and taking a brief look at websites you can see what the brand is prioritizing. It’s not about being the perfect consumer, it’s about doing what you can to make the world a better place.