Tax F.A.S.T fashion

A fascinating new way to consider the real cost of fast fashion reveals a £4 T-shirt should cost over twice as much – almost £9 – if fast fashion brands were held accountable for the true cost to people and planet of manufacturing their goods irresponsibly.
 
The ethical brand behind the calculations says we should stop asking how much more people are willing to pay for sustainable fashion and start asking how much more unethical fashion should be taxed.

‘Health warning’ labels

 
SO JUST SHOP is calling on governments and regulators to adopt a 33% unethical practices ‘F.A.S.T.’ tax on the products of brands that cannot prove responsible practices within their supply chain.

It is proposed this tax would be flagged to shoppers with clear ‘health warning’ labelling that explains why the item is taxed.

This would make it easier for consumers to choose ethical and sustainable products, plus close the price gap between fast fashion and ethical products.
 
The F.A.S.T. tax would be levied on companies who cannot prove their supply chain doesn’t include forced or child labour; a negative impact on local water supply; sub-living wages for workers or toxic chemicals and non-green energy usage.
 
If you’d like to help put pressure on the government to adopt a F.A.S.T fashion tax, click here to sign the petition.

Price vs cost

The calculations for the 33% proposed tax take into account that a £4 T-shirt costs £1 to manufacture unethically.

However, it should actually cost £3.78 to manufacture, to cover the cost of living wages, water, pollution clean-up and carbon offset – meaning the retail price including operational costs would be £8.67, nearly twice as much.

‘Fast fashion comes at a high cost, whether it’s polluting water near factories, spraying cotton with toxic chemicals or having child labour within the supply chain. These brands can sell items cheaply even if making them harms people and planet. They’re not held accountable for it.

‘I’d like to see legislation and taxation that makes unethical and unsustainable products more expensive and that ensure it is clearly labelled why. This move would make it increasingly difficult for brands not to have a transparent, ethical and sustainable supply chain and help give consumers clearer choices.

‘Either these brands should pay a tax that can be used to clean up after themselves or just see it makes more sense to be ethical and sustainable from the outset.’

JENNIFER GEORGESON
Co-founder of SO JUST SHOP

The cost of fast fashion

 
While many people are aware of the potential poor working conditions and low wages for people working in fast fashion manufacturing – including the potential for child labour and forced labour – the industry has many other wide-ranging impacts on people and planet.

Currently brands are not accountable for the water they use in growing the raw materials for their products. This can often mean that communities where the raw materials are grown are left with a dangerously low water supply for their personal use.

80-90% of waste water produced by the fast fashion industry is returned untreated directly into the environment, polluting rivers and groundwater.