You’re scrolling through TikTok, and see this girl on your feed with the cutest cardigan that could fit any outfit you put together, so you ask where she got it from. It is only a couple of minutes until you get a notification saying, “Oh, it’s from SHEIN!”.
The fast fashion industry has taken the world by storm, offering trendy clothes at incredibly low prices, with just a click away. The convenience of it has revolutionized the way we consume clothes. Major fast fashion brands, such as Zara, H&M, and Shein, churn out new collections at breakneck speed to keep up with rapidly changing trends, making it easy to stay on top of them without breaking bank. Yet, as the industry allows consumers to buy without worrying about draining their wallets, it comes at the expense of our planet and our people.
What is fast fashion?
Fast fashion refers to the rapid production of inexpensive, trendy clothes. The term was first coined in the early 1990s, with one of the most prominent fast fashion brands, Zara, making waves globally by aiming to get articles of clothing from the initial stages of development to their customers’ hands in just a few days.
That’s the mission of fast fashion retailers: to get consumers the trendiest clothes as quickly and as cheaply as possible, even at the expense of sustainability, quality, and, to a greater extent, morality. This priority of speed and affordability only promotes overconsumption, allowing for more clothes to be wasted, and for more damage to be done to our environment through that waste and pollution.
Mountains of Waste
A key issue with fast fashion is how disposable it has become. With brands rapidly producing clothes for consumers, it encourages them to buy more, wear less, and discard quickly.
Out of all the clothes produced, 92 million tonnes of textiles are wasted (Copenhagen Fashion Summit). In the United States alone, the average person discards 81.5 pounds of clothing.
On top of that, the David Suzuki Foundation found that 25% of new clothes remain unsold in factories. These discarded garments often end up in landfills, overflowing them and releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere during decomposition. And only a small fraction of the clothes decomposes quickly. The majority of non-biodegradable garments decompose over long periods, releasing microplastics into our oceans and air.
Many articles don’t get recycled or donated, either. Furthermore, the very few that do get donated end up being shipped to developing countries, overflowing their local markets and causing economic issues within.
Water and Air Pollution
During the years it takes fast fashion textiles to biodegrade, pieces of non-biodegradable textiles – coming from the garments in landfills – end up in our oceans, harming aquatic wildlife. In fact, 35% of microplastics in the oceans come from such clothes (International Union for Conservation of Nature). But this is only one of the ways the fast fashion industry pollutes our waterways.
The most damage derives from inside the factories, where chemical and textile dyes are present. According to The George Washington University, the second-largest polluter of water is textile dyes, as factory workers often dispose of leftover remains into bodies of water. This method of disposal can be attributed to the fact that many fast fashion factories are built in developing countries, where strict environmental regulations are not present.
The fashion industry is the second biggest consumer of water after agriculture, followed by the energy, meat, beverage, construction, mining, and car industries. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), it is also responsible for producing 20% of wastewater worldwide.
What’s even more shocking is that when combining the annual carbon emissions coming from international flights and commercial shipping, the fast fashion industry manages to exceed that number. This can be attributed to the fact that many articles of clothing end up in landfills, where they are then incinerated, releasing countless poisonous gases into the atmosphere. The University of Pennsylvania even states in an article that the fast fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions.
The Human Cost
The ethics of fast fashion are also controversial. As stated, factories are usually built in developing countries such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, and many others. This is because larger corporations would be more likely to exploit factory workers in third-world countries, allowing them to underpay and overwork them.
In 2013, around 1,134 workers were killed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, when an 8-story factory building, the Rana Plaza, came crashing down. The day before the devastating collapse, cracks were found in the Rana Plaza building, but when expressing their concerns, the factory workers were ordered to return to work, highlighting the clear disregard for human lives.
How Can I Make a Difference?
Studies have predicted that in the upcoming years, the fast fashion industry is going to face a decline in revenue. While a comforting prediction, it does not diminish the harm our environment is currently facing.
Chances are that if you speak to someone on the street and ask them where they got their accessories from, they will most likely say TEMU. Online, when you see others asking influencers where they got their clothes from, another commenter will be saying how they found something similar on SHEIN.
Fast fashion is revolutionary, and it is difficult to erase a revolution. However, as individuals, we have the power to make a difference. Here’s how:
- Shop Second-Hand: Go to your local boutique, thrift store, or even a neighborhood garage sale! There are hidden gems everywhere, and this is a way to find those gems without spending too much.
- Buy Less, Choose Well: Next time you buy something, ask yourself questions on WHY you want that item or HOW OFTEN you would use it.
- Care for Your Clothes: Accidents happen, but even basic steps, such as properly washing and storing your clothes, can significantly increase the lifespan of your garments.
- Educate Yourself and Others: By reading this post, you’re already making a difference. Awareness is a huge step to meaningful change, and educating yourself and others, even if they may not listen, spreads the word and allows you to feel better.
Learn more about finding alternatives to fast fashion here…
Final Thoughts
The short-term satisfaction brought by fast fashion is overshadowed by the long-term damage caused by the practice. It is time that we, the consumers, start thinking about the quality of our clothes over the quantity, as well as the true cost of them. Our choices may seem small, but collectively, they can steer the fashion industry in a new direction: one where people and the planet come before profit.
As stated by Vivienne Westwood, one of the most prominent fashion designers of the century, and a true environmentalist: Buy less. Choose Well. Make it last.
Top image is credited to Pinterest!