I like a bargain as much as the next person, but an alarming trend has emerged in the competing department stores in Australia. I'm sure you've notice it. There are the ads on TV using catch phrases like "Cha-Ching" and "Everyone's a Winner" all pushing the idea that every family has the right to affordable fashion, and lots of it! $9 jeans, $3 t-shirts and $5 shoes are certainly attractive to most families as they struggle with the demands of unemployment, mortgages and raising their children.
But how are these prices possible? Considering materials, labour, packaging, freight and display of even the humblest item I'm wondering just how much the manufacturers of these products are making. We've been long aware of the so-called sweat shop establishments in Asia that churn out cheap clothing for minimal wages with appalling conditions for staff. In the 1990s, there was a well known global movement boycotting Nike's high-end merchandise when it was alleged that little of that large price tab was making it to the raw material suppliers, nor the workers that made the shoes. It was seemingly all going to the greedy corporates running the whole show.
Fast forward a decade or two, and it seems we now accept that everyday family items are (and should be) ridiculously cheap. In fact, the market demands it. Package it all with a fun jingle, a well-known celebrity and suddenly we seem to rejoice in the opportunity we have in this country to but a whole new wardrobe every season for every member of the family for a bargain price. I too am guilty of immersing myself in that heady, bargain-grabbing feeling whilst shopping. I usually give little thought to where the clothing may have come from in order for me to get it at such a low price.
I'm not sure what the answer is; buying Australian-made ethically made materials is one way to shop, but can the average household afford to? Sure, for one-off purchases we may be able to fulfil our good deed quotas, but given that there are very cheap options out there it makes sense for struggling (and not so struggling) families to take advantage of the opportunity to save their hard-earned cash.
I think this is narrowing our world view and creating a generation of impulse-buying, mass consumers whose only concern is to have as much of the latest product for the cheapest price possible. We need to look outside ourselves and perhaps consider just how may pairs of jeans we need. Do we need 10 pairs at $9 each or would 2 pairs of ethically made jeans be a better option? Will we want to wear these same cheap jeans next season or will they end up in landfill when we strip ourselves of our unwanted clothing? Considering these questions when shopping could be one of the ways we can be sure to make conscious and sensible decisions about our consuming.
Now... where's my credit card?
