That five dollar t-shirt is not actually five dollars. The real cost is paid by garment workers earning poverty wages, by rivers polluted with toxic dyes, by landfills swelling with clothes worn once and discarded.
The Human Cost
An estimated 75 million people work in the global fashion industry. The vast majority earn well below a living wage. In some countries, garment workers make as little as three dollars per day while producing clothes for brands that generate billions in revenue.
The Environmental Cost
Fashion is the second most polluting industry on earth. It takes 2,700 liters of water to make a single cotton t-shirt. Americans throw away approximately 81 pounds of clothing per person per year. Most ends up in landfills for 200 plus years.
The Personal Cost
When everything is disposable, nothing feels special. The constant cycle of buying and discarding creates perpetual dissatisfaction. There is always something newer, cheaper, promising to make you feel better. But it never does.
The Alternative
Buy less. Choose better. Support makers who treat people and the planet with respect. Invest in pieces you will love for years instead of weeks.
What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?
— Mark 8:36
Fast fashion promises the whole world for five dollars. But the soul of your wardrobe cannot be mass produced at any price.