Fast is the Only Good Thing About Fast Fashion
- theruminateforum
- Nov 22, 2024
- 3 min read
Fast. A high-powered sports car. Or, the satisfying click of an ‘Add to Cart’ button. Fast has taken on a new meaning in the past few years with the rise of convenience and exclusivity. Fast fashion consists of mass production and poor clothing quality. By producing mass amounts of clothing and making sure they will not last long, companies are able to sky rocket their profits and guarantee their customers coming back time and time again. Enticing marketing schemes and questionably low prices make it easy to forget the more touching impacts fast fashion has on the Earth. Each year, 92 million tonnes of textiles are dumped into the landfill. This figure is only expected to grow. With numbers this big, it’s easy to see why the fashion industry is continuing to be a top polluter of the environment.
It takes 200 years for synthetic textiles like polyester to decompose. In this time, an estimated 1.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide is emitted in the atmosphere, accounting for 10% of annual global emissions. Synthetic textiles also include toxic dyes that pollute clean water sources and harm aquatic life. Cheap, synthetic materials pose yet another issue; microplastics. Unavoidable regular washing and drying of these clothes cause tiny fibres to be shed, which eventually make their way into our waterways. Synthetic materials cause harm on the land and in the water.
Unsustainable fashion manufacturing methods pose threats to both the Earth and its people. The fashion industry accounts for the majority of water and fossil fuel expenditure. One cotton t-shirt requires over 3000 litres of water to produce, making it evident that we are not manufacturing sustainably. That amount of water is sufficient for one person to drink for 2 and a half years. Like most manufacturers, fast fashion requires energy— and lots of it. Fast fashion requires excess fossil fuels that exist in finite amounts, only adding to the effects of global warming. Factory environments fail to comply with basic health standards, their workers exposed to chemicals that are detrimental to their health. Evidence shows that forced labour is a precedent in these factories, with over 100 million children worldwide employed and unfairly paid.It is clear that changes need to be made.
With the growing popularity of social media platforms, generation Z (ages 12-27) is at the heart of trends and purchases. In my community, myself and teenagers alike have been influenced by clothing trends, succumbing to fast fashion. More than ever, fashion brands are making their clothes targeted at teenagers; keeping trends and low prices in mind. After
recognising this issue, I conducted a survey of my peers' knowledge on fast fashion and their purchasing habits. When results came in, I noticed that everyone who answered had met the concept of fast fashion, 80% of which somewhat understood the general theme. It also became apparent to me that most of my peers primarily bought clothing from dominating fast fashion brands, including Cotton On and H & M.
To put it bluntly, fast is the only good thing about fast fashion. Its convenience and cheap pricing makes it a go-to as an easy clothing option. What’s more moving is the damage it brings about the environment. With seemingly infinite clothing items and finite closet space, we need to consume with care, and become a sustainable consumer. Fast. What’s it so good for after all?
By Saffron Braden
References:
Maiti, Rashmila. “Fast Fashion: Its Detrimental Effect on the Environment.” Earth.org - Past | Present | Future, 5 Jan. 2024, https://earth.org/fast-fashions-detrimental-effect-on-the-environment/#:~:text=It%20dries%2 0up%20water%20sources,of%2050%20billion%20plastic%20bottles.
UN Alliance. “The UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion.” The UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion, 2019, https://unfashionalliance.org/
Close the Loop. “End of Life.” Close the Loop, Close The Loop, 2018, https://www.close-the-loop.be/en/phase/3/end-of-life
Rauturier, Solene. “What Is Fast Fashion and Why Is It so Bad?” Good on You, 7 Aug. 2023, https://goodonyou.eco/what-is-fast-fashion/
Reichart, Elizabeth, and Drew Deborah. “By the Numbers: The Economic, Social and Environmental Impacts of “Fast Fashion.”” World Resources Institute, 10 Jan. 2019, https://www.wri.org/insights/numbers-economic-social-and-environmental-impacts-fast-fashi on
“How Much Do Your Clothes Really Cost?” Untouched World, 11 Oct. 2022, https://www.untouchedworld.com/blogs/journal/how-much-do-your-clothes-really-cost
Pascual, Wendell “Dirty Threads, Dangerous Factories; Health and Safety in Los Angeles’ Fashion Industry”, Garment Worker Center & UCLA Center for Labour Research and Education, 2016, https://garmentworkercenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/DirtyThreads.pdf
Image 1: Chile’s Atacama Desert, A Dumping Ground And Evidence of Fast Fashions’ Impacts
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