{"id":1406,"date":"2018-01-18T06:00:56","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T10:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/?p=1406"},"modified":"2018-01-16T15:33:11","modified_gmt":"2018-01-16T19:33:11","slug":"distressed-jeans-distressed-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/2018\/01\/18\/distressed-jeans-distressed-planet\/","title":{"rendered":"Distressed Jeans: Distressed Planet&#8211;By Caitlin O&#8217;Donnell"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1407\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1407\" style=\"width: 598px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1407 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/files\/2017\/12\/riverblue-e1515703817728.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"598\" height=\"303\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/files\/2017\/12\/riverblue-e1515703817728.png 598w, https:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/files\/2017\/12\/riverblue-e1515703817728-300x152.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 598px) 100vw, 598px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1407\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo credit: RIVERBLUE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Imagine looking out at your local waterway and being able to distinguish the fashion industry\u2019s color of the season by the hue of the water. In China and other fast fashion producer countries, this is an everyday reality.<\/p>\n<p>Recently I attended a screening of <a href=\"http:\/\/riverbluethemovie.eco\/\">RIVERBLUE<\/a>, a documentary on the pollution perpetrated by the global textile fashion industry. As the title suggests, the manufacturing of a fashion staple item\u2013\u2013bluejeans\u2013\u2013and subsequent dumping of toxic chemicals associated with the dying process into waterways has destroyed local aquatic ecosystems.<\/p>\n<p>The connection between western consumer practices and environmental degradation in producer countries is sobering. As consumers, we bear a responsibility to be conscious about our consumption activities, especially in the realm of fast fashion here in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fast Fashion In Context<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The fashion industry has been in steady boom mode for over two decades. According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mckinsey.com\/industries\/retail\/our-insights\/the-state-of-fashion\">McKinsey State of Fashion 2017 Report<\/a>, total industry value was projected to reach $2.4 trillion in 2016. If the industry were a country, it would be ranked as the world\u2019s 7th largest economy.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, apparel companies are facing rising production costs. They are paying more for labor, energy, and raw material while\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/fashionrevolution.org\/about\/why-do-we-need-a-fashion-revolution\/\">consumers are paying less for clothing each year<\/a>. Who is paying the price to fill this gap?<\/p>\n<p>The answer is textile workers and the environment. Companies are cutting costs at the production level, and environmental and worker safety measures are noticeably absent from factories. The State of Fashion 2017 Report identifies five fundamental problems for the fashion industry:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>High water consumption<\/li>\n<li>Discharge of hazardous chemicals<\/li>\n<li>Violation of human rights and labor standards<\/li>\n<li>Greenhouse gas emissions<\/li>\n<li>Waste production<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Exposing the Environmental and Human Costs of Fast Fashion<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1409\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1409\" style=\"width: 286px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/files\/2017\/12\/jeans-e1515703307513.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1409 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/files\/2017\/12\/jeans-e1515703307513-286x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"286\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/files\/2017\/12\/jeans-e1515703307513-286x300.png 286w, https:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/files\/2017\/12\/jeans-e1515703307513.png 351w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 286px) 100vw, 286px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1409\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo credit: Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif\">RIVERBLUE documents manufacturing processes at facilities in China, India, and Indonesia that produce the jeans we buy here in the U.S. from major brands. In these factories, workers are exposed to harsh dyeing chemicals without protective clothing. They work long hours in buildings set to maintain <\/span><span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif\">nearly 100<\/span><span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif\">% humidity (necessary for the dyeing and treatment process). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif\">In the film, documentarian and activist\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif\" href=\"http:\/\/riverbluethemovie.eco\/the-film\/\">Mark Angelo<\/a><span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif\"> explains that over 3,000 liters of water are used to make a single pair of jeans and that much of the untreated wastewater flows back into local waterways.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The film makes it apparent that the textile industry pays no regard to human or environmental health and that this is happening across clothing sectors in factories all over the Global South. Yet, major fashion brands demand increased production and consumers keep buying the clothes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Clothing Recycling: Out of Sight Out of Mind<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Americans throw away a ton of clothing each year\u2014the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/2016\/09\/09\/old-clothes-fashion-waste-crisis-494824.html\">EPA reports<\/a> that 84% of unwanted clothes in the United States in 2012 went into either a landfill or an incinerator.<\/p>\n<p>How can that be? If you&#8217;re like me, the average consumer, you do your best to recycle. You\u2019ll go through periods of needing a wardrobe reset and refresh, perhaps twice a year. You&#8217;ll:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>clean out your closet<\/li>\n<li>decide what stays and what gets tossed<\/li>\n<li>haul your pile of unwanted clothing to a thrift store or straight to the donation bin<strong style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif\">\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But despite our best efforts to recycle our discarded clothing items, most of them end up in a landfill. The EPA states that\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/2016\/09\/09\/old-clothes-fashion-waste-crisis-494824.html\">\u201cin less than <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/2016\/09\/09\/old-clothes-fashion-waste-crisis-494824.html\">20 years, the volume of clothing Americans toss each year has doubled from 7 million to 14 million tons, or an astounding 80 pounds per person.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>To compound this issue, due to the manufacturing and dyeing processes that our clothing goes through, it cannot decompose in a landfill. It continues to pollute the ground and air while sitting amongst all of the other trash we throw away daily.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What Consumers Can Do&#8211; Beyond the Quick Fix<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Marketing is a powerful force.\u00a0<\/em>I, for one, am easily influenced by the tactics big fashion brands deploy to lure us into their stores (both online and brick and mortar) to buy things on a regular basis. Brand ambassadors, fashion magazines, \u201cit moment\u201d styles, and sales events all are orchestrated by those companies to bring in revenue.<\/p>\n<p><em>Awareness is powerful, as well<\/em>. A combination of personal innerwork (telling yourself that you have enough) and awareness of the impact of the industry can deflect these tactics. I, for one, don&#8217;t need to own ten pairs of jeans&#8211;especially given that the true cost of the purchase is hidden away in factories and communities across the globe.<\/p>\n<p>We are living in a crucial environmental moment. Our choices as consumers have the power to drive society towards progress. Learning about the life cycle and true cost of the clothing we buy can shift our daily habits.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Make a Personal Impact on Fast Fashion<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ready to take action as an everyday consumer? Start with these tips and go forth consciously!<\/p>\n<p><em>Think before you buy:<\/em> ask yourself if you really need that 10th pair of jeans (or dress, coat, t-shirt, scarf . . . you get the point)<\/p>\n<p><em>Consider borrowing or renting<\/em> special occasion outfits<\/p>\n<p><em>Engage on social media<\/em>: push brands towards transparency by asking where your clothes come from<\/p>\n<p><em>Host a clothing swap party<\/em> with a group of friends and coworkers<\/p>\n<p><em>Choose repair over replacement<\/em> of your clothing items in need a touch up.<\/p>\n<p>Collectively, we can influence the big fashion brands to start changing their production models and improving environmental and labor standards.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; Imagine looking out at your local waterway and being able to distinguish the fashion industry\u2019s color of the season by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":378,"featured_media":1407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[259,1],"tags":[390,394,389,392,388,397,393,396,391,395],"class_list":["post-1406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mba-students","category-stories","tag-apparel-industry","tag-bluejeans","tag-china","tag-fashion-industry","tag-fast-fashion","tag-mark-angelo","tag-riverblue","tag-textile-factories","tag-textile-industry","tag-textile-workers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/files\/2017\/12\/riverblue-e1515703817728.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/378"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1406"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1564,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1406\/revisions\/1564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bard.edu\/mba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}