Confessions of a Former Shop-o-holic

With minimalism, other ideas tag along. The one that hit me a couple weeks ago was in regards to fair trade clothing. I've known for years that it was an "issue" but never chose to truly educate myself on the details.

So to take a break from my studies on my birthday, I'd been looking forward to watching this documentary on Netflix called "The True Cost."

I'd say it was life-changing. For the last 20+ years, I've been a part of the problem. Now I know.

Fast-fashion is literally killing people in developing countries, as we consume the next cheap product that we may wear a couple times before replacing. That $10 shirt was likely made by someone who makes $2/day, may not see her children for months at a time, and daily faces the risks of violence by her employer, disease through chemical exposure, or death though unsafe work environments. It’s not right. I know we care about human rights. We can do better than this. 

“Fashion today is the NUMBER 2 most polluting industry on earth, second only to the oil industry.”

“Fair trade is a citizen’s response to correcting the social injustice in an international trading system that is largely dysfunctional…where workers and farmers are not paid a living wage, and where the environment is not considered at all, to make the products that we buy every day."

It's shocking, and overwhelming. But there's hope; one by one we can take responsibility, and not allow our own actions to contribute to the injustice.