I learned about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in middle school, I believe. I remember the fire happening in Bangladesh when I was in middle school as well, and learning that many of the women who died were my age. I remember feeling so enraged and wanting to never buy from corporations like Gap again. I told my mom this and she agreed that it was horrific. During that time my mom didn’t buy many clothes, I mostly had hand-me-downs as my mom is a single mom and at the time she was struggling to make ends meet. However, when she did buy new school clothes for me it was usually at a place like Gap. She was not unaware of the horrible things Gap endorsed, she just did not have the money to shop at a more sustainable, or ethical clothing shop because they are typically more expensive.

Now that I’m older and I buy my own clothes I try to buy from thrift stores or save to buy from more ethical stores. I just also remind myself that this is a privilege to have the time to thrift, as well as the energy to save for more sustainable clothing. I’ve read articles, and heard first-hand from people who try to shame people for buying from companies that have sweatshops overseas, without caring to realize that people simply do not have any other option because it is all they can afford.

I believe that those who have the money should make an effort to buy from more ethical stores, but the pressure should really be on big companies to change how they operate their business. It is not enough for a small drop of the population to not endorse these companies. People rely on the clothing stores, like Gap, to buy their children uniforms for school and their attire for work. Capitalism has made it difficult for people to not support these big businesses, because unfortunately we live in a cycle where even if morally we hate them, we rely on them heavily to survive.

I don’t have all of the answers but it’s important to educate ourselves in these topics as well as staying open about all of the moving parts. For myself, I know I need to learn more about fair trade laws and foreign goods. The fact that sweatshop and underage conditions are not allowed in the U.S.A, but yet most of what we wear comes from these conditions just shows how much is swept under the rug. Just now I was looking up the Dhaka fire in 2012 and found another one that happened in a factory this July, 2021. Obviously, we need more change and many more protections for workers. I also think, living in America, where our government supports our isolation from other country – we do not know a lot about what is going on in other countries which means we have a very uneducated and naive point of view of the world.

I hope that this country continues to support ethical and sustainable clothing, especially considering workers conditions as well as in terms of climate change.