Ten Reasons Why You Should Care What You WearThe United States represents the largest apparel market in the world, with total annual sales of $331 billion. The average American household spends about 3.8 percent of its total income on clothing. That may be only about one third the amount consumer households spend on food. Still, every consumer dollar spent on clothing has an impactfrom economic to environmental, ethical to health. Here are 10 reasons why you should care what you wear. 1. Synthetic fibers pollute the natural environment. 2. Non-organic cotton is one of the most genetically engineered, pesticide- and chemically-contaminated crops in the world. 3. GMO and toxic cotton. You’re eating it. 4. Agricultural workers suffer dangerous effects from farming toxic cotton. 5. Cotton farmers in the developing world are exploited in the global marketplace. 6. Most garments are manufactured in sweatshops that abuse and exploit their workers. 7. Chemical-intensive clothing poses dangers to human health. 8. These dangers increase the more your clothing promises. 9. What you wear "down there" is not as innocuous as you may think. 10. The choices you make regarding your clothing are not only expressions of style or identity, but are vital to personal health as well as environmental and ethical responsibility. The solution is simple: Care what you wear. |