The Fast Fashion Dilemma

Author: Vanessa Munoz-Marin, 281

Date: April 26th, 2021

If you looked into your closet right now, chances are that you have a handful of items from fast fashion retailer stores. But, what does that mean and why is it relevant? Fast fashion: cheap and trendy clothing that is mass produced by mass-market retailers. These retailers include stores like H&M, Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, Zara, GAP, and so many more. When it comes to building a greener and better future, fast fashion is one challenge that we must overcome.

Let’s start at the fact that the name fast fashion is interchangeably used with “Disposable fashion.” Due to their trend-following production, these stores shift stock about every two weeks to meet incoming fashion trends. As a result, these clothes aren’t made to last, and their low cost and quality reflect that.

Although this doesn’t cost the consumers much, it costs the Earth a lot. Trends get outdated as quickly as they get popular. As consumers, we throw out clothing at an unsettling rate. Because of this, fashion is responsible for being a huge contributor to pollution. According to Varsity, “The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has estimated that the fashion industry produces 10% of global CO2 emissions every year, and is estimated to use around 1.5 trillion litres of water every year.” Why is so much water being used? Cotton is utilized in about half the total fiber to make clothing, and it’s genetically modified for fashion, which calls for large amounts of water as well as chemicals. In places where fast fashion is made, these toxic chemicals, dyes, and synthetic fibers find their way into the waterstream.

According to Clean Clothes Campaign, “Three out of five fast fashion items end up in the landfill.” When these pieces of clothing arrive at the landfill, they release toxins into the air since they can’t easily break down due to the abundance of chemicals in them. Not only is the Earth’s health at stake, but this industry affects the health of the garment workers and us. Poorly made clothes infused with chemicals can cause skin irritation, allergies (due to short term exposure), or be associated with health issues such as liver, kidney, and lung disorders, and cancer (due to long term exposure). Now you can imagine the health of those who make these clothes. Unfortunately, these sweatshop workers don’t even have basic human rights. They work laboriously all day with unfair wages and get met with physical abuse at times. All of this for fashion.

Who holds the most blame? The plethora of businesses that continue to flourish in the unsustainable industry of fast fashion do. But as consumers, we can help be part of the solution. It can be as simple as indulging in less clothing. The solution would be to adopt a better mindset when purchasing clothing and anything in general. Learning about minimalism could certainly help you get there. It would be ideal if everyone could just give up fast fashion entirely, but it’s important to keep in mind that boycotting and giving up fast fashion in itself is a privilege due to sustainable clothing being more expensive and not accessible for the majority of consumers. In addition to this, a popular method of avoiding fast fashion is to shop second handed pieces or thrifting (some online thrifting websites include Depop, TheRealReal, and Poshmark).

We can all make these changes with time. Educating yourself and rethinking your purchasing habits could make all the difference.