The True Cost
The entire class was asked if we'd watched this documentary before - The True Cost, Andrew Morgan. Not one of us had. The film explores the impact of the fashion industry and how it affects the planet, the findings were shocking. Not many people know about the appalling things that go on behind the oh so fun runways and beautiful garments we all buy from the high-street.
One of the worst scenarios was the collapsing of Rana Plaza that happened in 2013. This is known as one of the worst garment tragedies in history after 1,134 people were said to have died and over 2,000 people injured. The documentary mentioned that workers had often reported the cracks in the building, however no-one took interest or thought to fix the building. Sweat shops are the worst when it comes to the fashion industry. They offer poor working conditions and low wages at about $2 a day. You may be thinking, why don't the people living there choose another, less dangerous job. The answer is simply that they can't. This option is the best out of a set of other options. Women and children both work in these dangerous conditions in order to support their families. Many women send their children away to live with other families as they work long hours and are unable to always take care of them as well as offering them a better life. If this is not an option for them, they take their children into the factories with them, putting them at risk because of the harmful chemicals used in there.
The documentary also explained other issues such as the industries waste and how that affects the pollution to the planet. Did you know the fashion industry is the second most polluting industry in the world? Isn't it crazy to think that the clothes we were every single day have caused some sort of harm to the world we live on?
Consumers don't seem to think about where they are buying their clothes from, so go for the cheapest, most attractive garments on the high-street. But what if you could see what's happening behind the curtain, would you think twice about where you buy your clothes from? Or would you continue to buy them knowing women and children are at risk?
