Mia Valente
Independent Study
I’m sure you’ve all heard of popular brands such as; Shein, Zara, or H&M. These, as well as many other mainstream brands, are known for producing on trend clothing for an affordable cost, which sounds nice, right? I mean, everyone wants to keep up with the trends without breaking their bank account. The term that all of these popular brands fall under is called “fast fashion”, which can be defined as, “inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends (dictionary).” While this all seems like a good deal, there is a darker underbelly to fast fashion brands that does not always meet the eye. Fast fashion brands have been found to mistreat their employees, contribute to environmental issues, and the clothing often goes out of trend quickly or is made from poor quality material which makes them prone to not last long. Therefore, it is more ethical, sustainable, and cost effective to shop from brands that don’t fall under the category of fast fashion
While fast fashion makes the cost of clothing more affordable, is it really worth the cost of our environment? Globally, there has been a huge push to curb the affects of pollution and global warming, common solutions including; recycling, using more sustainable sources of energy, etc. However, many are unaware that the clothes that are most commonly being bought are partially to blame for this environmental crisis. Borgen Magazine reports that, “Fast fashion accounts for 10% of all carbon emissions in the world and is the second largest industry when it comes to pollution behind the oil industry.” Not only is fast fashion adding to carbon emissions but, part of the reason that the clothing is so cheap is because the companies use cheap fibers such as polyester and plastics, which release more carbon emissions than cotton (princeton.edu). Additionally, since the clothing is made from such cheap materials, they are often not in good enough condition to give away, and are almost impossible to recycle, causing many of them to end up in landfills. These brands also tend to focus on micro-trends, which are trends that have a quick rise and fall, meaning that many of the clothing goes out of style in as short as a few weeks. This causes many people to throw the clothing away not long after purchasing, many of which end up in landfills. Columbia University claims that “If sent to a landfill, clothes made from natural fabrics like cotton and linen may degrade in weeks to months, but synthetic fabrics can take up to 200 years to break down. And as they do, they produce methane, a powerful global warming greenhouse gas.” On top of that, since the brands have made the clothing so affordable, many buy their clothing in bulk, causing a huge spike in the consumption of this harmful clothing, which may benefit the economy, and your wallet, but at the expense of our environment.
In addition to the fact that fast fashion lead to exponential damage to our environment, but it is also not ethically sound. Many fast fashion corporations will hire employees overseas where labor laws are not as strict. The lack of strictness in their overseas factories has has lead to the companies not being held accountable for thins like; under payment, child labor, and unsafe work environments. Columbia University found that, “Of the 75 million factory workers around the world, it’s estimated that only two percent earn a living wage.” Not only are the workers hardly being paid, but they are often forced to work unreasonable hours, “Garment workers are often forced to work 14 to 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. During peak season, they may work until 2 or 3 am to meet the fashion brand's deadline (sustainyourstyle.org).” In these factories it is not uncommon that workers are also working with “[...] no ventilation, breathing in toxic substances, inhaling fiber dust or blasted sand in unsafe buildings. Accidents, fires, injuries, and disease are very frequent occurrences on textile production sites(sustainyourstyle.org).” Additionally, many of the people that are woking in these conditions are children, because the job requires minimal skills and the countries that manufacture these clothes do not have strict policies against child labor (sustainyourstyle.org). These practices are another reason why fast fashion brands are able to sell their clothes for so little cost; the brands are underpaying their workers and not using money to ensure their safety, which allows them to make clothes quickly with minimal cost to the company.
Since so many of today’s popular brands belong in the category of fast fashion, it can be hard to avoid shopping from them, not to mention their affordability. In order to curb the damage of fast fashion on both the environment and their workers; try looking for sustainable brands, shopping for quality rather than quantity, and pay attention to what clothing is made of to make sure they are made of natural fibers or single fiber materials.Taking care of your clothing can prolong its use so there is not as much need to buy more, which keeps it out of landfills. To limit waste and the consumption of fast fashion brands; upcycling, re-selling, or giving your clothing to charity can help. Alternatively, if you are looking to purchase clothes, buying second hand is a good alternative to buying from fast fashion brands.There are plenty of high quality second hand services, such as; vintage or thrift stores, online sites that allow you to buy and sell clothing second hand, as well as resources that allow people to rent clothes. My personal advice would be to invest in pieces that reflect your personal style, while focusing on high quality staple pieces, and occasionally participating in trends that really catch your eye; this can help decrease the consumption of fast fashion brands and prolong the use of clothing. As for what the fashion industry can do in order to put an end to the harmful environmental and ethical issues that fast fashion brings to the table; brands should focus on being less wasteful, providing better working conditions, as well as using more natural and high quality materials when making their products.
Sources:
Comments