My Wardrobe is Killing People
Fast fashion is a killer, a thief and a liar. I found this out after watching the documentary The True Cost. I’m left asking “Why am I a part of this?” & “What can I do about it?”
We all know the well worn Gahndi quote “You must be the change you wish to see in the world”. Sound advice.
I was disturbed by the movie in which film maker Andrew Morgan travels the globe meeting the people affected by the fast fashion epidemic.
The destruction to the enviroment and the impact on various communities health and economic status is shocking. There is no good news. But I was most upset by the plight and manipulation of the Indian cotton farmers. Morgan exposes how these Indian cotton farmers lives are being destroyed piece by piece.
They are victims of a corporate racket that see’s them duped into buying seeds from corporations to better their yeilds and help their lands. Its a lie that leaves them with nothing but sick, suffering children, wasted lands, monetary debt and no hope. They kill themselves. They kill themselves by drinking the pesticides the corperations have sold them to BETTER their lives.
I urge you to watch the movie.
As this was the area that most affected me I wanted to see what I can do to help these farmers and their families.
So I’ve decided that any cotton product I buy from here on has to be ethically farmed with the money going back to the indegenious farmers. While looking for such a supplier I have found this company No Nasties and have ordered a couple of T’s and a shirt.
I want to see what they are like before I start hassling my friends to buy them.
While I believe in doing the right thing by the farmers and the sweatshop workers, I am also still a vain man and like to be fashion conscious. Nobodys perfect.
A lot of the ethical/fair trade/organic clothing companies do not get the style of their product right. They seem to be stuck in this fallacy that only hippies and green peace activists are angry about this and design their clothes accordingly for the lentil merchants. I’d rather see the world burn than wear hemp dungarees and vegan mocasins.
So I’m on a mission to find the right clothes from the right places and when I find those I want to share and promote what I’ve found.
We’re being duped. We‘re unwittingly buying into cruel profit and adding to the moral debt. When I buy an item from anyone from H&M or Primark to Hugo Boss or Gucci I’m feeding that beast. It doesn’t have to be like this, ask yourself what can I do?
My first mission is to stop my own wardrobe killing people, whilst looking uber-cool at all times. Remember my vanity?
As I go along I’ll be sharing the clothes I find and the stories of the people behind them.
I’ll be wearing the change I wish to see in the world.
