Looks like you may have to say goodbye to those cheap jeans and t-shirts whether you like it or not.
Recent floods in China and Pakistan have had a severe effect on crops. 4.25 million acres (25% of cotton crop) of land has been destroyed. This has raised the price of cotton from $0.1 to $0.83, the highest it has been in 15 years; forcing major retailers like Primark and Next to raise their prices.
To keep prices low a lot of retailers are going to start selling clothes made of man-made fibres. These include anything with ‘poly’ at the beginning of it. The resources and toxins that are released in this process produce ten times more energy than when producing a tonne of glass. Not only that but once you’ve finished with it, what will happen to it? It will go to landfill and release Methane for millions and millions of years!
Now is the time we start asking ourselves “do I need this” and reducing the excessive demand for clothes. When we cut down, the brand will worry and will be forced to put their prices up anyway. We can’t let the retailers start selling clothes made of man made fibres.
The more demand we create for clothes like this, the more our planet will suffer and takes us down with it!
Its interesting that the price of clothes can be increased when it needs to but the retailers wouldn't do that when it comes to ensuring that garment workers get paid a decent wage. I wonder if there will be even more pressure on the production end of the supply chain to deliver without increased costs.
ReplyDeleteThe retailers talk about reduced retail margins, but I'll be interested to see the profit figures for these retailers next year.
Nice comment above!
ReplyDelete