The Impact Of Fast Fashion
Have you heard of water pollution? Well, fast fashion takes it to a new level. The impact of fast fashion on the environment, the perspective of workers in the fast fashion industry, and the impact of slow fashion on the world were questions I asked myself. In these paragraphs, you will learn about all of those things, and how to help.
Have you heard of fast fashion? Well, fast fashion is when a company makes a lot of collections, creating them with poor materials and selling them very cheaply. Since 2014, people have been buying double the amount of clothes they bought in 2000. Also, since 2011 the workers at factories have been forced to manufacture more than five new collections, but in 2000 they made only two per year. That’s a big difference.
Fast fashion has a major impact on the environment because it makes a lot of waste, causes carbon emissions, and consumes and pollutes water. Every second, a garbage truck full of clothes either gets incinerated, or discarded in a dump - 85% of this is thrown away by people in the United States. Most of that waste is made from synthetic fabrics, which do not decay for a very long time. When these fabrics finally decompose they contribute to climate change, because they emit methane gas. One fabric made from synthetic fibers is polyester - a type of plastic that is found in 60% of all the clothes we wear. As polyester decomposes it breaks down into little pieces of plastic called microplastics, which pollute the oceans. In addition, polyester emits more carbon than cotton when it decomposes. According to an article written by Morgan McFall-Johnson, who works at Business Insider: “The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of humanity's carbon emissions. That's more emissions than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.” Fast fashion has another way of harming the environment: it impacts water resources. For example, one cotton shirt takes 700 gallons of water to make, and a single pair of jeans takes 2,000 gallons of water. Fabric dyeing also pollutes water. It is the world’s second greatest polluter of water, and poisons animals. The fashion industry pollutes the environment in many different ways.
Workers in the fast fashion industry often work in dangerous conditions, have unfair workloads, and get paid poorly. The Rana Plaza factory collapse occurred in 2013 in Bangladesh. It killed 1,100 people and 2,500 people were injured. But that's not the only thing that the factory workers have to suffer through. From 2006 to 2012, 500 Bangladeshis were killed in factory fires. And in India, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh the workers are getting overworked and underpaid, because these countries don’t have laws to keep the workers safe. Another reason workers feel unsafe is production targets. A production target is when a boss gives workers an expectation, for instance, forcing a worker to attach 50 shoulder pieces per hour or 400 in the whole day while earning only $6.16 per day. With the unfair production targets, the workers can’t have breaks to eat or use the bathroom. Consider H&M workers in Indonesia who said they can’t leave the factory if they haven't met their goals, working an extra 1 - 1.5 hours for free. An additional example is in Cambodia where the supervisors will push and shout if the workers’ goals aren't met. Factories in Cambodia usually have a chemical smell, they are hot, and they don’t have good ventilation, and then people faint. In fact, in 2017, 1,603 people fainted from the chemical fumes. Also, people are getting underpaid, in the US and in other countries. In Los Angeles, workers at factories victoriously sued their bosses to get fair pay at Forever 21. Now, think about what you are wearing. You might realize that your clothes were made by people who may have been treated poorly.
To counter fast fashion, it is important to learn about slow fashion. One of the elements of slow fashion is manufacturing clothes in a better way. Factories can use organic fabrics, non-toxic dyes, or other natural materials that are grown in an environmentally-friendly manner. These clothing brands can also weave the clothes tighter for better quality clothing. When buying clothes, you should pick slow fashion brands who minimize their impact on the environment. You can look for certifications, which indicate they have met good standards. An example is GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) which proves that the textile is organic, and free of dangerous chemicals. In addition, you can weigh the pros and cons of the fabrics you buy. Here are some facts to consider:
SILK: low carbon footprint, but requires a lot of water for the mulberry trees that feed the silk worms
COTTON: it can be organic, which is better because it avoids pesticides, but all cotton uses a lot of water
WOOL: uses minimal energy and is biodegradable, but make sure farmers treat sheep well
TENCEL: use instead of cotton, made from eucalyptus trees, it needs less water and land than cotton, it can be recycled, has no production waste
One more element of slow fashion is buying from brands that do good things. For example, TOMS gives away a pair of shoes to someone in need after a person purchases a pair. Or Patagonia which promotes recycling as explained by Lisa Effress, formerly with The Climate Reality Project: ‘Patagonia also disapproves of fast fashion by creating high-quality, long-lasting products, and offers a repair and reuse program. They even try to discourage customers from purchasing too many of their products.’ A third example is suggested by Isabel Dupre, former Style Director at Elle magazine, who says to support companies that rent clothing such as Rent The Runway.
Other things you can do to counter fast fashion are:
Keep and use your clothing longer.
Buy less clothes.
Repair clothing that is ripped. Megan Krajco, Design and Product Manager at Krimson Klover says ‘Learn to sew or knit! It helps to know how to take care of your clothing so it can last longer.’
Recycle your old clothes.
Buy used clothes.
Support slow fashion brands who treat their workers well. Follow the advice of Berkley Bering Gamble, Owner and Creator of Past Life the Collective, a SLOW fashion brand based in Denver. She says it is important to: ‘Know that all the hands that touched the clothing I wear were treated with respect, work no more than 40 hours a week, and are able to put food on the table for their family.’
Buy well-made clothes.
Get hand-me-downs from friends and family.
With an understanding of slow fashion, you can become more aware of how much you buy and be more sensible with your fashion purchases. This will help the environment and the fashion industry factory workers.