Fast Fashion: Someone else is paying for your clothes

There was a time where fashion meant exclusivity and only a few could afford to access it. This has changed with the rise of “fast fashion” and what once was for a few now has spread to all. Sadly, such democratization and overproduction are causing disastrous consequences to our planet and workers.

Picture this: You want that designer dress that Kendall Jenner is wearing in her latest Instagram post, but you also don’t have thousands of dollars to spend on it. No problem, you can find endless options online for a fraction of the price. Now, you have worn it once and don’t want to use it again because, duh! You have shared it on your “#ootd” post. No problem, throw it away! After all, it cost less than a cup of coffee!

Sounds familiar? This is the “throw-away” and “overconsumption” culture [1] that has led the fashion industry to become the second-largest polluter in the world, just after the oil industry. Don’t get us wrong, we have no problem with cheap clothes or the democratization of fashion at all, what we do have a problem with is the disastrous environmental and social impact of “disposable fashion.”

What exactly is “fast fashion” and why is it killing us slowly?

The term was coined in 1989 by the New York Times [2] and refers to poor quality clothing designs that move quickly from the catwalk to stores allowing consumers to purchase trendy looks at an affordable price [3]. Its linear production, distribution, and use system were designed to fall apart: clothes are created to quickly go out of style and are not built to last, which encourages a “throw-away” attitude [4].

Did you know that 50 years ago “the average American woman owned an average of nine outfits” and that today “we each buy more than 60 pieces of new clothing on average per year” [5]? This is the natural consequence of decades of fast fashion trying to convince us that we are behind trends no sooner than we buy a garment.

This (careless?) life philosophy has left us, among other things, unprecedented environmental pollution, and overexploited employees. Let us dive into some of the negative impacts of fast fashion:

1.      Polluted Water

According to the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion, the fashion industry is responsible for 20% of the industrial wastewater pollution worldwide [6]. In most of the countries in which garments are produced, textile factories’ untreated toxic wastewaters are dumped directly into the rivers [7].

What do these wastewaters contain? A cocktail of hazardous ingredients, such as lead, mercury, and arsenic, which are extremely harmful to aquatic and human life [8]. Also, as you might already know, fast fashion’s major player (synthetic fabrics), usually contain microplastics that eventually make their way out into the ocean, threatening the lives of aquatic life and people living nearby. More than 1,900 fibers on average can be shed by a synthetic clothing garment during one single wash [9].

2.      Huge Water Consumption

For a long time now, water usage has been a hot topic for the fashion industry. This industry has consumed as much as 79 billion cubic meters of water in a year, to give you an idea, enough to fill 32 million Olympic-size swimming pools [10].

Just think about this: 2,168 gallons (8,206.8 liters) of water are used to make a conventional cotton T-shirt and 9,910 gallons (37,513.4 liters) for a conventional cotton pair of jeans [11]. As you can imagine, this overconsumption of water has dramatic ecological consequences.

3.      Chemicals Everywhere

Unless we are talking “organic”, chemicals are a main ingredient in our clothes and are present throughout the whole production chain (from harvesting to dyeing and bleaching).

This may seem far off if we think that those who suffer a more direct impact are farmers. However, some of the chemicals used in the production of clothes can be also harmful to the consumer [12]. Even after washing them, many hazardous substances are still present when we buy and wear our clothes, and may be transferred to the skin, leading to dermal absorption and systemic exposure [13].

4.      Unsafe Labor Conditions

To quickly mass-produce inexpensive garments, factories hire laborers who work in extremely unsafe conditions for low wages and unbearably long hours (sweatshops). This means that most of the time fast fashion does not go hand in hand with basic human rights…Just look at the Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013 in Bangladesh, which killed at least 1,132 people and injured more than 2,500 [14]. One would think that after disasters like these, things would change. But no. Safety standards for workers remain the same [15].

5.      Waste and More Waste

The “throw-away” world in which we are living has made clothing disposable. According to Greenpeace, “each year over 80 billion pieces of clothing are produced worldwide, and after its short lifespan, three out of four garments will end up in landfills or be incinerated.”[16]

A western family throws away an average of 66 pounds (30 kilos) of clothing each year and only 15% is recycled or given a second life. Can you guess where the rest goes? Directly to the landfill or incineration. Just try to imagine the insane amount of waste that is accumulated annually and add to that the fact that more than 70% of our clothing is made of synthetic fibers, which can take up to 200 years to decompose [17]. Worrisome, isn’t it?

Now, let us talk numbers: $500 billion of value is lost every year due to clothing underutilization and lack of recycling [18]. If not for the environment, this is a pretty good reason to start rethinking the whole “fast fashion” thing…

6.      Greenhouse Emissions

The clothing industry is responsible for 8-10% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions [19] and consumes more energy than aviation and shipping combined [20]. This is almost as much as for the whole European continent [21].

Some of the reasons for this huge amount of emissions are (i) the energy used during the mass production, manufacturing, and transportation of the garments; (ii) the energy-intensive production of synthetic fibers made from fossil fuel, such as polyester and nylon; and, (iii) the extended use of coal, since most of our clothes are produced in countries essentially powered by it (China, Bangladesh, or India) [22].

Solutions: How can we help?

Fast fashion’s environmental and social abuses have left us with a wounded earth and have made it clear that the injustices that come along with it survive long after garments are sold.

But not all is lost, here are some of the things we can do to make a difference:

1. Buy less and only when you truly need it.
2. Reuse what you already have in your closet.
3. Shop thrift.
4. Buy better quality.
5. Choose slow fashion!
6. Look for certifications.
7. Buy sustainable brands.
8. Donate what you no longer wear.
9. Buy clothes made in countries powered by more renewable energy.
10. Look for low water consumption fibers (e.g., linen) or organic fabrics.
11. Wash your clothes less and according to the label to make them last longer.
12. Mend your clothes when they are damaged, do not throw them away for a loose button!
13. Wash new clothes before using them for the first time to get rid of some of the toxins.
14. Some countries may have stricter environmental regulations than others, so try to choose brands with factories in those countries.

“Fast fashion isn’t free. Someone, somewhere is paying.”

— LUCY SIEGLE

---

What are your thoughts on this? Are you already doing some of the things we listed before? Let us know in the comments below!

Related Posts