Drenz, A. (2021, March 9). Coercive labor in Xinjiang: Labor Transfer and the mobilization of ethnic minorities to pick Cotton. Newlines Institute. Retrieved November 26, 2021, from https://newlinesinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/20201214-PB-China-Cotton-NISAP-2.pdf.

Cotton, preferred by many in the textile industry for being a natural, non polyester fabric, has many of its own problems. Dr. Adrian Zenz is an advisor to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, with a research focus on China’s ethnic policy and internment camps in Xinjiang. Here, Drenz studies the dynamics of coerced labor in China. He explains the history of labor transfer, a tactic used by the Chinese government in a stated attempt to alleviate poverty. The author concludes that increasingly militarized rural work camps have been used as a tool to subjugate Uygher people and to break them of their customs. The workplace standards in developed countries, coupled with our thirst for cheap clothing, have resulted in the outsourcing of farms to areas of the world where workers labor under forced conditions.

Sweeny, G. (2021, June 16). Fast fashion is the second dirtiest industry in the world, next to big oil. EcoWatch. Retrieved November 26, 2021, from https://www.ecowatch.com/fast-fashion-is-the-second-dirtiest-industry-in-the-world-next-to-big--1882083445.html#toggle-gdpr.

Again, cotton, a seemingly innocuous natural fiber, is framed as a crop with outsized environmental impact as it relates to water consumption. Glynis Sweeny, a prominent illustrator and sometimes essayist, presents figures relating to the use of water in cotton farming. She writes about the diversion of two rivers in Uzbekistan for agricultural purposes, which resulted in a 90% reduction of the water levels in the Aral sea. As we reckon with the strains we have put on our water resources in the US, here we are reminded that our demand for clothing is causing environmental impacts on shores around the world.

Lai, P. S., & Christiani, D. C. (2013). Long-term respiratory health effects in textile workers. Current opinion in pulmonary medicine, 19(2), 152–157. https://doi.org/10.1097/MCP.0b013e32835cee9a

In addition to poor labor conditions and depletion of our physical environment, the processing of materials in the textile industry causes serious harm to human health. Dr. PS Lai, of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard, focuses her research on the impacts of indoor air quality on lung health. Here, Dr. Lai examines the reversible and irreversible lung damage experienced by workers with consistent indoor exposure to cotton and hemp dust.

Jailer, T., Lara-Meloy, M., & Robbins, M. (2015). Workers' guide to health and safety. Hesperian Health Guides.

Hesperian is a non governmental agency which researches and compiles health guides for workers in various industries. This health guide, created specifically for garment workers, provides workers information about common workplace hazards and provides ways to avoid them, as well as steps to organize within the workplace when necessary. The authors move beyond the wear and tear on the body caused by the repetitive movements inherent to factory cutting and sewing, to include a cursory guide of the potentially harmful chemicals used to treat fabrics.

Claudio, L. (2007). Waste Couture: Environmental Impact of the Clothing Industry. Environmental Health Perspectives, 115(9), A448–A454. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4626880

Luz Claudio, an American medical researcher, provides an easily digestible overview of the issues at each stage of the fast fashion supply chain. The end of the cycle is of special interest in this article, where she explains how donated clothing ends up in second hand markets in developing countries, and the challenges this presents to local economies. She posits that as the fashions cycles continue to increase, and garment quality continues to decrease, the second hand clothing industry could be in serious danger. If that is true, we can safely hypothesize that the 2.5 billion pounds of postconsumer textile waste currently donated by U.S. consumers, could eventually be landfilled instead.