Oh… my… goodness… I’m not quite sure I have ever been so disgusted and saddened by humanity in my entire life. I won’t lie, this documentary was hard to watch, but it is vital to understand just what the fast fashion industry has done to not only the environment but also to humanity.
Many of us are fortunate to be able to afford basic needs as well as indulge in shopping fast fashion brands but at what cost?
“The True Cost” documentary, published in 2015, is about what the fast fashion industry has done to the environment and humanity in a lot of third-world-countries. The documentary reveals in the first fifteen minutes about some of the humanitarian disasters the fast fashion industry is responsible for such as several factory fires and the collapse of the Dhaka factory that killed over 1,000 people. It then follows a few people’s lives that have been greatly impacted by the fast fashion industry, such as a factory worker, an ethical fashion designer, and an organic cotton farmer to name a few. The documentary also focuses on how the fast fashion industry ruins the environment from pollution and how this affects people in nearby villages such as how the runoff contaminates the drinking water causing cancer and birth defects for many children. It may seem that this documentary only focuses on the doom and gloom, but it is more so trying to bring the reality of this industry to life and put faces and stories to the $5.99 shirts and $20 jeans that we wear.
I feel that we often justify the sweatshops by saying “well, those people need a job anyways” but those people also deserve a living wage and safe working conditions too. They’re people, just like us… which is why I am even more dedicated now to not buy fast fashion. Hopefully, if enough of us boycott the fast fashion industry because of the impact it has on the environment and more importantly, the effect it has on humanity we can make a difference. For all of us.