I love clothes. Period. Buying a cute top can lift my mood. But I am realizing that my impulse buy on that cute top could be causing more harm than good.
Fast fashion is a global trend that is defined as readily available and inexpensive clothing. It is described as “fast” as it shows how quickly a clothing brand can move clothing from the catwalk to a store and keep up with the growing demand of new fashion.
According to the article The global environmental injustice of fast fashion, nearly 80 billion pieces of clothing are purchased each year. The United States consumes most of the clothing purchased globally. 85% of clothes purchased in the U.S., which translates to nearly 3.8 billion pounds, ends up in landfills each year.
In 1960, 95% of clothing purchased in the United States was made in the United States. Today most of the clothing is made in countries such as Bangladesh and China.
In 2014, the average person purchased 60% more clothing than in 2000.
90% of the clothing purchased in the United States is made from cotton or polyester. Both of which have environmental impacts. Polyester is a synthetic fiber made from oil and cotton requires a lot of water and pesticides to grow. Speaking of water, it takes 3,000 gallons of water to produce one t-shirt!
Not only is there a lot of water that goes to waste to create clothing, but the waste water from dyeing clothes gets into water ways and pollutes the local water systems.
It is reported by GASP (Group Against Smog and Pollution) the fast fashion industry is responsible for about 10% of global CO2 emissions. That is some food for thought next time I’m thinking about buying clothes.
Now since the world has been trending to buy new clothes at a high rate, what happens to the old clothes we no longer want to wear? Donate the old to bring in the new?
According to thenation.com, over 15 million garments go through the largest secondhand market in Ghana each week. Most of the clothes come from the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. Half of what is bought in this secondhand market is thrown away. Clothes end up in the streets, on beaches, and in dumpsites. Some of the clothing winds up in the oceans, wrapping around itself and other waste causing tentacles up to 25 feet long. These tentacles wrap around boats and harm marine life.
Liz Ricketts, cofounder of the OR Foundation, a charity that advocates for alternatives to the current wasteful fashion model stated; ‘We are seeing millions of garments go into the ocean every day.”
The plastic pollution that ends up in the oceans is already doing so much harm and shouldn’t be there in the first place. Now we have clothes polluting the oceans, just adding more insult to injury.
What about the safety and well-being of the people working in the factories that make the clothing? 90% of the clothing produced is made in low to middle income countries. Due to a lack of governmental infrastructure in these countries, the occupational and safety standards needed for the workers are often not enforced. There are ventilation hazards and occupational risks associated with clothing production.
So, where do we go from here, now that we know what the global effects are of fast fashion?
From what I researched there are some ways to really help offset the fast fashion trend;
First, using sustainable fibers such as Lyocell which is made from the cellulose of bamboo will help lessen the impact fast fashion has played on the environment.
Second, adopting internationally recognized criteria for producing eco-friendly clothing will encourage clothing lines to create sustainable production of clothes as well as limiting the amount of clothing produced to appeal for the high demand of new and fast fashion.
Third, we the consumers have a part to play! We can buy better pieces of clothing that lasts longer, shop at second hand stores, and repair the clothes we already own. Another solution is to buy from retailers that promote transparency of their supply chain and produce a finite amount of clothes so excess textiles and clothes do not go to waste or end up on a cargo flight to a secondhand store across the world only to end up on the street, in landfills, or the oceans.
Personally, since I have learned about fast fashion, I am more aware of my impulse buys and think twice before I buy anything. Now I think to myself; “How long will I wear this top if I buy it?” I am paying more attention to find retailers that produce and sell only a small amount of clothing and a bonus if the clothes are made in the United States. It has been a huge eye opener for me and now I feel like I found another way to help reduce my impact on the environment.
Photo by Francois Le Nguyen on Unsplash
References
1. Niinimäki, K., Peters, G., Dahlbo, H. et al. The environmental price of fast fashion. Nat Rev Earth Environ 1, 189–200 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-020-0039-9
2. Bick, R., Halsey, E. & Ekenga, C.C. The global environmental injustice of fast fashion.Environ Health 17, 92 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-018-0433-7
4. https://www.commonobjective.co/article/the-issues-waste
