Georgia Poole discusses environmental sustainability in the fashion industry and its enduring relevance in the current context.
In the face of a global pandemic, part of me feels guilty for offering this little reminder. However, I believe it is important as our planet is still facing an inevitable doom due to the climate catastrophe. But then I remember, as a university student, my time and my pocket are ever so limited, leaving myself and many others to wonder, do we really care?
Of course, for our own personal optics and maybe a semblance of moral reasoning we tend to refuse plastic bags and straws, opting to save the turtles and eat less meat. However, when considering sustainable choices, people rarely understand the waste created by what they choose to wear on a daily basis.
The average T-shirt takes just over 2700 L of water to create. In addition to this, garment workers are working an average of 60 hours per week and struggling to live above the poverty line.1 We might not talk about it, but fashion is single-handedly responsible for the majority of waste across the world and is driving its own workers into the ground. Almost all the clothes we wear are a consequence of human and environmental exploitation, yet our consciousness to it is blinded.
It follows to question how we fix this. The rise of boutique sustainable brands has been noticeable over the past 5 years. Brands such as ‘Seed’ and ‘Spell’ not only share the all important alliteration that is apparently required to sell ‘sustainable’ garments, but have grown significantly off the back of marketing to trendy mums. Middle aged women who are looking to save the planet and their wardrobes, until of course, the ‘Boho’ vibe isn’t cool anymore and Camilla & Marc T-shirts are back in…
While I would personally sacrifice a limb for the gorgeous designs and ethical backgrounds of these brands, myself and many other university students cannot even begin to fathom the thought of purchasing a $200 ‘day dress’ when Cotton On will have something similar on sale next week.
When I ask students what they thought of the global fashion waste crisis and why what they wear matters, they say, “I’ve never thought about it,” to which I posed the question, “should you be thinking about it?” and “would it make a difference?”
The prices of many sustainable brands are far out of reach for many students. While the prices are justified by improved worker living environments, sustainable materials and ethical practices, Kmart still has a bit of a one up in terms of consumer convenience.
Of course, cheap second-hand charity shops are a uni student’s best friend, yet the desire to be trendy and look good usually overrides a lot of decisions in this department.
One student said, “well, I care about my appearance. I know it sounds kind of selfish but I mean… I want to enjoy my life.”
However, the higher price of a garment does not make it more sustainable. Of course, many sustainable brands run with a higher price tag, but so do unsustainable, higher-end brands which are made in the same factories as H&M and Kmart. A cultural shift towards blaming ‘fast fashion’ for fashion waste around the world blatantly ignores the responsibilities of higher authority, resting responsibility on those who buy ‘cheaper’. In many ways, the blaming of the individual consumer is reductive without influence from leadership within the fashion industry.
As the fashion industry takes what appear to be leaps and bounds towards equity and the destruction of racism, its factory workers are left behind. While the individual consumer may think buying a charity T-shirt sporting slogans such as “This is what a Feminist looks like” is what needs to be done for true social progress, little is known of that T-shirts origins. Elle Magazine, the brand creating and selling these garments were found to be producing them in factories where women and girls were earning just under 60c an hour. The underlying racism towards factory workers across the industry is not only seldom discussed at length but is undeniably ignored.
And so we come full circle. Too vain to dress down, and too broke to dress up. Thus, we are stuck in the perpetual mediocrity of crap clothing, poor industry standards and a broken planet.
A 2017 survey conducted by Universities Australia2 showed that over 58% of students considered their financial wellbeing as something that “is often a source of worry”, while 18% said they regularly go without food.
The same generation who feels the weight of the climate crisis on their shoulders can’t actually afford to fix it, or even contribute to a solution. When the bare essentials are so often in jeopardy, it is no surprise that ethical consumer choices with regard to fashion seldom reach the height of our thoughts.
“We all know it’s wrong, but it’s such an inconvenience,” another student said.
I suppose we are then faced with the worst question, should we care? Do we actually have the means to care? If anything, knowing how your clothes affect the environment and the lives of so many others has only perpetuated another level of guilt. Maybe it’s better not knowing of your contribution to the planet’s harm, especially as a result of affordability and even worse… vanity.
“I won’t be named will I?” a Drews student said this week when asked about the topic. The fear of shame surrounding the pressure to pursue sustainability is clearly something that heavily affects our generation. “I’m aware but at the same time I kind of prefer not to look into it too much because I can’t afford to buy more sustainable clothes,” they said.
“I’ve heard about sweat shops so much that I’m desensitized to it now,” they said. Similar to the Me Too Fatigue, Trump Fatigue and, to some extent, Climate Fatigue, the fashion industry’s constant debate of ethics and sustainability is something that has been removed from the public’s popular consciousness due to its overuse.
“But then I think in certain places it’s not talked about enough,” they continued, “I think it’s a geographical thing,”. It begs the question, has the conversation ever actually happened in Australia, or did we fatigue prematurely out of vanity? As a nation, our consumption of ‘fast fashion’ is one of the highest per capita in the world3. Additionally, a recent YouGov survey showed that a quarter of Australian’s admitted to throwing away garments after only one use,4 and yet the majority of people I’ve spoken to have never thought about or heard about the implications of their clothing choices.
Primary schools in the United Kingdom discuss the impacts of the Rana Plaza Collapse in 2013, a pivotal event that many Australian students have never even heard of. When a garment factory in Rana Plaza, Bangladesh collapsed in April 2013, over 1,000 people died at the expense of some Kmart tank tops. The industry and people’s perceptions of ethical practice was changed forever, and yet many Australians haven’t the slightest clue.
Across Europe students are beginning to recognise the implications of their actions as the continent takes the lead in the fight against climate. Meanwhile, Australia sits dormant lacking education and motivation to stretch beyond our comforts. The convenience of Keep Cups and metal straws is enough of a contribution in our minds, lacking any real impact in comparison to our European counterparts.
Of course, we all have the right to value our appearance. “I want to look good,” another Drews student said, “…which holds precedence to me over my impact,”. With Sydney Fashion Week being one of the most popular events in the fashion industry’s calendar, it is evident how Australians naturally gravitate to looking appealing rather than shopping sustainably.
So, as a collectively vain and broke society of university students, can we afford to care, and can we even be bothered? Perhaps it isn’t the thought that counts if there is no thought at all.
Image: Pexels