Fast Fashion Is Destroying Our Planet And Here’s How
Author : Amal Rahiman
Your favorite fashion influencer or celebrity posts a photo online. They are wearing a unique designer outfit that seems trendy (and expensive!). You comment on how good it looks.
Next week you see the outfit for sale on all major retail outlets
That was fast. And cheap. How is that possible?
Unlike decades ago, where we had certain seasons for new fashion trends, now we have a new trend out almost every week.
This was not caused due to consumer demand, It was due to the fierce competition among top retailers.
In order to increase their market share, they want to be the first ones to produce the desired garments at a very cheap price, to entice the maximum number of customers.
Now the designers have lost their uniqueness. Their trend is out of style already because their brand-new design is now common. It is no longer exclusive to them. So, they have to come out with a new style immediately.
And then the cycle goes on.
Designs are created, clothes are tailored, and customers are wearing them, all in a very short span of time. This is known as fast fashion.
Although it sounds good for the end consumer, it comes with a lot of cons. Cheap materials along with severely underpaid labourers are used to churn out maximum clothes in a limited amount of time. Because the lifespan of these designs is extremely limited, most of these clothes are disposed of before they even reach the stores, to make way for the new designs.
Why is fast fashion problematic?
Underpaid labourers, inhumane working conditions, increasing non-biodegradable waste, massive water wastage – the list goes on.
- The Human Factor:
If you look at the leading brands in fast fashion, all their headquartered are mostly in America or Europe, but their clothes say they are made in India, Bangladesh, China, or Vietnam.
The reason is that fortunately for the leaders, all these countries have weak labour laws. Unfortunately for these countries, this means that labourers can be easily exploited, without anybody facing any legal consequences.
These countries do not have set working hours or a minimum wage limit by law. They are forced to work in hazardous working conditions, for brutally long hours, just to get paid a small pittance.
These labourers work 96 hours a week, with no days off, and no overtime.
The 2013 Rana Plaza Disaster is a chilling example of their unsafe working conditions
Do keep in mind that if the clothes you buy are disgustingly cheap, then the person who made those clothes was paid almost nothing while risking his health so that the big fashion houses can pocket huge profits.
- The Environmental Factor:
80 billion garments are produced every year.
Most of them go unsold.
The unsold clothes either end up in a landfill where it takes 200 years to decompose (if they do not contain microplastic).
Or they are burnt off, releasing huge amounts of toxic fumes into the atmosphere.
On top of that, textile manufacturing consumes tons of water. The wastewater from these units is usually untreated (due to the tax laws in these countries). In Bangladesh, over 22,000 cubic litres of toxic wastewater have been dumped into their river – which is also their main source of water supply.
The remaining countries suffer similar fates.
People living in the areas surrounding these textile factories usually suffer from various health disorders, due to living in such proximity to toxic waste and harmful fumes. It goes without saying that the surrounding wildlife and aquatic life also suffer.
While these people are directly affected, we as consumers also suffer the consequences, in a slightly different manner
- Microplastics: Most of these clothes are made using cheap fabric like polyester or nylon. They contain microplastics. If they are burnt off then they release greenhouse gases into the air, which contribute to climate change.
If they are washed, then these microplastics flow into our water system, polluting our water (which we consume) and killing precious aquatic life.
- Water Scarcity: The amount of water in 37 million Olympic swimming pools – that is the amount of water used by the textile industries in a single year. So not only is the fashion industry polluting drinkable water, it’s using up what’s left of the water as well.
- Climate change:2-4% of the total manmade greenhouse gasses are produced by the textile industry alone. To put this figure into perspective, this industry generates emissions more than what the aviation industry
Now while fast fashion comes with a lot of evils, it does not seem to die down soon. The reason is how inexpensive it is!
Fast fashion leaders procure the cheapest materials. And so, the clothes do not have a long wear life. After a couple of washes, the clothes would tear off. This is intentional as well, as it would encourage you to buy more.
With such low costs of labour and materials, fashion houses can afford to sell the clothes at a cheap price and yet pocket huge profits. The end consumer does not directly see the horrors of the textile industry. They are simply satisfied with getting trendy outfits at an affordable price.
The endless discounts, sales, and offers only seem to entice them even more. Owning the next new thing can become addictive – especially with influencers and social media convincing you that you need to buy the latest design. With credit cards increasing in popularity, many consumers have found themselves drowning in retail debts. This story is one such example.
Is there anything we can do?
Fashion houses are answerable to no one, and as long as they sell cheap, people will buy. What we can do is be mindful of what we buy. If you are financially capable of doing so, do make it a point to only buy from ethical brands. They may cost more, but that is to ensure that the labour is paid well. You could also check out your local thrift stores.
Let’s all do our bit and hope that the trend for ethical clothing will increase in the future.
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