The True Cost: A Story of Power and Poverty

Review by Thea Wood, AICI FLC, MBA

“” is the predominant term used throughout the documentary film The True Cost that investigates the dark underbelly of the modern garment manufacturing industry.

The film raises the question of who pays for the throwaway that fuels cheap garment production. More specifically, what are the economic, social, and environmental costs behind that $8 skirt from your discount retailer?

The story starts predictably with journalistic commentary on the fashion industry’s evolution. It quickly takes an ugly turn. Live footage of people crushed in defective buildings. Women and children suffering from chromium poisoning as a result of leather production. Bloody textile union workers shot by police during a minimum wage rally (they were asking for $160 per month).

Here are a few specific costs the documentary reveals:

• factory workers, over 80 percent of whom are women, earn about $3 per day. Many do not see their children for months at a time so they can pay the bills. • Over 1,125 workers died in the Rana Plaza garment • Americans throw away an average 82 pounds of factory (2013) because owners ordered them to textile waste per year, about 11 million tons of non- return to the building after an evacuation the biodegradable materials. previous day due to structural warnings. • Only 10 percent of donations to thrift stores are • About 250,000 Indian farmers committed suicide due sold in-store. The rest are shipped to third world to the high costs of genetically modified seeds that countries, with much of it becoming piles of landfill require higher pesticide usage that result in disease, waste. medical costs, and ultimately closed farms. • In Texas, male farmers between the ages of 47 and 65 Andrew Morgan directed and wrote the film with a team are dying from brain tumors, most likely connected of producers who are entrenched in the fashion industry, to the millions of acres sprayed with pesticides for from reporters to designers to university professors to cotton and other crops. human rights activists. They all fall under the activist umbrella to some degree or another. What’s missing? The response from major “fast fashion” What is the impact of social media in driving industry clothing retailers like Walmart and H&M (a quarterly change? The “Good On You” application rates over 3,000 profit of $412 million in 2012), two that are targeted retailers and brands based on reports and accreditations/ frequently in the documentary. Morgan states that the certifications from third parties. On April 24, people retailers refused repeated interview requests. Yet, a more will flood the Internet with selfies tagged with #who- rounded journalistic view would have been appreciated. mademyclothes for Day to raise A few questions to ask: public awareness of a “broken” supply chain.

• Is H&M’s ethical and sustainability mission making Bringing awareness to the mountain of challenges a difference? The Guardian writer Lucy Siegle (also associated with hyper consumerism is the first step. the film’s executive producer) reported that in 2012, The True Cost is well worth the watch for all image H&M used lower-impact water solvents in making 2.5 consultants as we help clients make well-informed million shoes, recycled polyester to the equivalent buying decisions that are in line with their values and of 9.2 million plastic bottles, and used more organic personal image. cotton than any other group. H&M claims that, by 2020, 100 percent of cotton used will be sustainably outsourced. THEA WOOD, AICI FLC, MBA, is an independent image • Are legal agreements like the Accord on Fire and consultant based in Austin, Texas, and serves as associate Building Safety in Bangladesh, as reported by The editor for AICI Global. She is the co-author of Socially Smart Wall Street Journal, truly protecting employees in and Savvy. practice? The accord is a non-voluntary, binding and enforceable agreement between union members and companies like H&M, Inditex, and PVH, giving labor an unprecedented legal standing regarding certain conditions. • The New York Times reported that in 2012, “Made in USA” textiles and apparel exports were up 37 percent from three years previously. That has improved labor conditions and wages for garment workers. Most costs are power related rather than wage related. The challenge? Finding skilled workers. What brands are behind this surge? How can it translate to global changes?