Revealing Garment Industry Realities
“The True Cost” Movie
Lessons from the Movie and How and Its Impacts on My Purchasing Practices and Decisions
The movie, “The True Cost” by Andrew Morgan is informative, and much is learned concerning the garment industry, its impacts on human life, the environment, and society at large. The movie demonstrated the fast growth of the textile industry, which appears as beneficial to the consumers but harmful at the same time. As manufacturers focus on producing more clothes at the cheapest labor cost possible, workers are exploited, as it is the case in Bangladesh. The increasing consumption speed for fast fashion has cautiously impacted my purchasing decisions. I have a high consumption rate of fast fashion because of its low prices and availability, which I offset by donating to charity organizations. However, from the movie, I have learned that most of these donated clothes end up in landfills and hence polluting the environment since they are non-biodegradable. In this consideration, I would change my consumption rate for fast clothes by minimizing the amount, and the frequency in which I shop for fast garments.
The film also illustrates the environmental damage caused by the industry’s massive growth. According to Morgan, the garment industry is ranks second-most-polluting industry. The industry uses vast amounts of natural resources, which overrates the limits that the natural environment can sustain. Further, to meet the high demand for cotton, chemicals and pesticides are used to modify these plants to increase production genetically. Accordingly, these harmful chemicals pass into the bloodstream by wearing clothes. In this consideration, I have decided to consider non-cotton clothes that contain other synthetic fibers such as silk to minimize the fast-fashion clothing health risks, with a high cotton content. As such, this also helps to develop other garment industries by decreasing the demand for fast fashion.
Impacts of the Movie on My Values System(S)
The movie has illustrated various adverse effects that the garment industry imposes on human beings. While people enjoy purchasing fast clothes at lower prices, such has dangerous impacts on the lives of human beings and demoralizes human dignity. The movie demonstrates the value system concerning human life . Morgan states that the industry exposes more people to life-threatening situations, such as poor working conditions. As industry owners strive to obtain more profits, they fail to consider the potential harm human life is exposed to. Watching the movie imposed an unalterable feeling in me, which made which prompted a different lens to view the garment industry. For instance, the industry in Bangladesh, whose building collapsed and claimed about 1000 human lives, is worrisome. It was sad, knowing that the managers had been warned to evacuate the building and ignored, leading to such a massive loss of life. In this regard, I learned that it is essential that human beings have prior considerations of the potential consequences that their actions could impose on others, the environment, or the society at large.
Further, the democratization of fashion has cautiously led to modern slavery, and everyone contributes to such slavery by merely purchasing the cheap fast fashion. Watching the movie made me feel guilty, knowing that I indirectly contribute to such inhumane consequences. Although I try to avoid devaluing the moral values, knowing that I am an insentient coconspirator to this system is demoralizing. In this regard, as Livia Firth emphasizes, as we purchase and consume products, we should think of their origin; besides, the benefits they bring to us. Resultantly, we would avoid more unconscious participation in human demoralization and environmental degradation.