Fast Fashion Mind on the Planet
This article was written by Anh Vo.
Fast fashion has transformed how individuals, especially youth consumers, interact with clothing over the last few years. Shein, H&M, and Zara, for instance, regularly release new styles at increased frequencies, enticing consistent consumption through low costs and trendy looks. Convenient as this may seem on the surface, in reality, fast fashion has dire environmental and ethical consequences.
The fashion industry generates approximately 10% of the world's carbon emissions and is regarded as being one of the globe's most contaminating industries. The production process largely employs fossil fuel–derived materials like polyester, and it consumes a vast amount of energy. It also heavily utilizes water, consuming up to 93 billion cubic meters of water annually. It requires thousands of liters to produce a pair of jeans.
Moreover, textile dyeing is one of the world's largest industrial generators of water pollution. Once these clothes are produced and sold, they get discarded in no time (either incinerated or dumped on landfills) producing millions of tons of textile waste each year. In America alone, over 80% of recycled clothes end up in landfills or are burned, and globally, less than 1% of recycled clothes become new clothes. The social cost of fast fashion is also alarming. The majority of garments are produced in factories in developing countries, where women and sometimes children are recruited at very low wages and without adequate precautions for their safety. They are the unseen column of an industry which prizes speed and profit above human rights and respect.
Brands continue to release new items on a daily basis, fueling excess production and solidifying exploitative practices. Adding to this problem is the influence of social media, a key catalyst of fast fashion culture. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram have popularized "haul" videos and short-lived trends, further ramping up the pressure on consumers to keep up with an ever-changing stream of new fashion. Others then buy clothes they don't actually need. And frequently only wear once. In spite of the magnitude of the problem, personal behavior can still contribute.
Thrift shopping, wearing clothes more than once, buying quality over quantity, and patronizing eco-friendly brands are all methods to decrease one's footprint. Small changes in attitude (even waiting before purchasing or asking where a garment was sourced) can collectively nudge the fashion world towards a more ethically sound path. Fashion can be an expression of ourselves, but it must also be something that represents our values. In an age where climate change and social injustice are getting worse, deciding how and where we shop becomes more than an individual choice. It becomes a statement on what we believe.
https://earth.org/fast-fashions-detrimental-effect-on-the-environment/?utm_source
https://www.genevaenvironmentnetwork.org/resources/updates/sustainable-fashion/?utm_source