When my generation gets a tear in their jeans or a stubborn stain on the sweatshirt more often than not that item of clothing is discarded and a new one purchased. Last year the average American disposed of 81.5 lbs of clothes! The idea of clothes that are thrown away is called fast fashion. The movie “The True Cost” is a documentary that lays out the fast fashion trend and just how damaging this is for the world.
Basically I can throw away and buy new clothes because I have never paid the true cost of fashion. My family and I ate at a casual dining chain restaurant and the portions were insane. We had way more food on our plates than we could eat. The price for the food didn’t break the bank either and it probably should’ve (it was a lot of food).
There was a store that opened in downtown Amsterdam by a dutch non profit and the store had two price tags on the products. One was the market value and the other was the real cost. The real cost was markedly higher than market cost. How does this happen? There are all kinds of reasons we do not pay the true cost of something upfront. Some commodity costs ares subsidized other costs are pushed to other parties however, if you believe in synchronicity or the principle of correspondence you understand that everything is connected and we collectively pay the true price for consumption over time.
What can we do then? simply put consume less and consume responsibly. Instead of throwing out a ripped pair of jeans consider mending them or having them mended. At a restaurant that serves more food than you can consume consider ordering less or splitting a meal.
Being a responsible consumer can go a long way but we must also educate ourselves. I had no idea textile waste was such a large problem. I will never throw away a pair of clothing again. There are places to donate clothes and ways to repurpose the clothes too. But you have to educate yourself.
Lets all be responsible educated and respectful.
The Corrigan Encore 