The TRUTH About Fast Fashion
We’ve gotta stop overconsuming. From labubus to impulse purchases on Shein and Temu to having full carts always open on Amazon, we’re wasting our money and harming the planet in the process.
But, just how much harm? Let’s talk about fast fashion and fast “items” today.
There’s no ethical consumption under capitalism
It’s true. No matter how hard we try, we can’t shop 100% ethically. There is no ethical consumption under capitalism. No, this is not an excuse to shop as much as we want and be as wasteful as possible. This is simply a reminder that the weight of the world is not on our shoulders, and we cannot be perfect in this imperfect system.
I’ve heard this term thrown around on social media as people open their $1000 Shein haul. They use it as an excuse to overconsume, and that is not the purpose of this phrase. We can’t get into it fully today, so watch this video next.
What is fast fashion?
According to Oxford Dictionary, it is “inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends.
According to Earth.org, “The term was first used at the beginning of the 1990s, when Zara landed in New York. The term ‘fast fashion’ was coined by the New York Times to describe Zara’s mission to allow garments to go from the design stage to being sold in stores in just 15 days. The biggest players in the fast fashion world include Zara, Shein, UNIQLO, Forever 21, and H&M.”
It is focused on keeping prices as low as possible, but keeping the volume of stuff as high as possible. While this post will mainly discuss fashion since we get most of our data here, this also applies to non-fashion items, too, such as labubus, Stanley cups, and whatever item is currently trending.
The whole goal is to get new styles, colors, and items out to consumers as fast as possible to keep them coming back and buying more constantly. And you know what comes with low costs? Low quality.
The fashion industry’s pollution
From water pollution to air pollution to physical pollution of textile scraps, this entire industry is pollutive. Quantis International conducted a report in 2018 that found the worst culprits for the fashion industry’s waste: dyeing and finishing make up 36% of pollutants, yarn production accounts for 28%, and fiber production another 15%. Not only this, but fiber production had the worst usage of freshwater, which can further harm the environment and the local people.
Currently, fast fashion accounts for around 10% of global emissions. For comparison, aviation accounts for around 2.5% of emissions worldwide, an industry we all associate with being extremely wasteful.
According to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, emissions from textile manufacturing alone are projected to skyrocket by 60% by 2030, reaching close to 16% of global emissions in the next 4 or so years.
Why so much? It comes down to the speed at which they can produce and sell a garment. According to Earth.org, “In 2012, Zara was able to design, produce, and deliver a new garment in two weeks; Forever 21 in six weeks, and H&M in eight weeks. Newer industry player Shein has garments ready to be sold in just 10 days.”
Water
When you think of the clothes you wear, you probably don’t think of water, do you? Well water has its role in every aspect of our lives. It takes water to grow the food we eat, to grow the crops harvested to turn into our clothing, and it’s even used to cool down data centers when we use technology. As for the fashion industry, Earth.org states that “it is the second-largest consumer industry of water, requiring about 700 gallons to produce one cotton shirt and 2,000 gallons of water to produce a pair of jeans.”
Not only is water used at such high rates, but it’s also polluted at high rates all along the supply chain. From fertilizers and pesticides to grow cotton to emissions from the factories to dyeing our clothing with harsh chemicals. Business Insider states that textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water in the world.
Microplastics
The cheapest way to make our clothes? Plastic. And what is plastic made of? Oil. Yup, your polyester clothing supports big oil. Check out this video for more information about the history of plastic to learn how we got here. Plastic breaks down over time, whether it’s a fishing net, a plastic bottle, or our clothes. In fact, many microplastics, around 35%, come from our clothes, according to a 2017 report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
It’s also difficult to recycle much of our clothing, meaning that most of it will eventually end up in the landfill to further pollute during its lifecycle. More on the end-of-life of our clothing later.
Energy
Every step along the way of a synthetic garment is pollutive and energy-intensive. And where does most of the world get its energy? Coal, oil, and gas (and thankfully, hydropower is fourth; learn more about green energy types here), according to Our World in Data.
From extracting the oil, to turning that oil into plastic and turning that plastic into fabric, to making the garments and shipping them around the world, everything in this process is made from oil and is powered by oil, making it doubly pollutive and energy-intensive. Honestly, I’m willing to bet that the industry could become a lot better simply by using green energy.
Unethical Labor & Human Impacts
“According to non-profit Remake, 80% of apparel is made by young women between the ages of 18 and 24. A 2018 US Department of Labor report found evidence of forced and child labour in the fashion industry in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Turkey, Vietnam and others. Rapid production means that sales and profits supersede human welfare.
In her book No Logo, Naomi Klein argues that developing nations are viable for garment industries due to ‘cheap labour, vast tax breaks, and lenient laws and regulations’. According to The True Cost, one in six people work in some part of the global fashion industry, making it the most labour-dependent industry.”
If this still isn’t enough to sway you to give up fast fashion and other fast items, do it for yourself. The pollution from this industry affects us all. It dirties our air, soil, and water. It pollutes our food and crowds our landfills. The microplastics are created right in your home. Not a single person on this planet is exempt from the impacts of fast fashion.
Of course, this also means that plants and animals aren’t either.
Overconsumption
We’re consuming too much. We are using our resources faster than they can replenish. We are filling up our landfills at record speeds, and not even our thrift stores can keep up with our overconsumption habits (more on this topic next). Our planet cannot keep up, and we are polluting ourselves in the process.
According to the 2015 documentary The True Cost, the world consumes around 80 billion new pieces of clothing every year, 400% more than the consumption twenty years ago. The average American now generates 82 pounds of textile waste each year.
It’s also estimated that most people only wear a garment 7 times before getting rid of it. SEVEN!!! Yes, this is partially due to the increasingly poor quality of fast fashion garments. They are so thin and inadequately made that they cannot last more than 7 washes and dries. But it’s also due to our ever-ending need to fit trends and quench our satiety for new and more things.
I know it’s not everyone, but widely speaking, we are addicted to shopping. Everything we just talked about, from water pollution to physical waste and the increased use of fossil fuels, is exacerbated by overconsumption. It gets exponentially worse the further we fall down this path. Now is the time to curb this shopping habit.
Check out this video in full for my tips for breaking up with overconsumption, but in short:
Try a new hobby. Shopping is a hobby for many people, so find something else to fill your time with, from learning a new skill to crafting to hiking and more.
Delete shopping apps and unfavorite the tabs on your computer
Unsubscribe from shopping emails, newsletters, and social media accounts that encourage you to shop more and more
Learn to appreciate what you have!
Think before you buy, instead of instantly hitting the purchase button
Donating fast fashion is not a solution
As I previously mentioned, the end-of-life for our fast fashion and fast items is not great either. Our landfills are running out of space, and it’s also best to reuse, recycle, and donate anyway.
Unfortunately, donating isn’t a great solution either. It mainly comes down to overconsumption. We are buying so much and donating it so quickly to keep up with trends that thrift stores cannot keep up. They either have to throw it away or give it to someone else to deal with. Thrift stores like Goodwill have been known to ship our old goods to the global south for them to deal with. They walk and live amongst our trash and may even burn it, which further contributes to pollution. You can learn more here.
Does this mean you should stop donating? Absolutely not. It is still better than the landfill. I just encourage folks to limit what they consume and donate to a small thrift store where possible, since the big chains are known to be the worst culprits for furthering poor ethical practices. I also urge you to follow the rules when donating. Don’t donate trash or items that you wouldn’t want to purchase yourself.
Textile recycling is a decent option as well, but it, too, has its flaws. Mostly that it can be hard to separate and reuse mixed materials and clothing blends. Save clothing recycling for garments that literally have no other purpose. Always reuse before recycling!
What ARE the solutions then?
It really comes down to shopping less. No, you don’t have to give it up entirely. We still need stuff to get by, from a new shirt for an interview, a new pair of shoes after the old ones wore out, and things like that. But, please, think before you buy. Don’t know where to start? Check out this video next.
And also use what you have, make your items last, and mend them to keep them out of the landfill longer. Do you need a new pair of jeans? Can you put that button back on that sweater? How can you wash and dry your textiles to make them last longer?
Try thrifting! If you can’t break up with overconsumption, go to the thrift store to scratch that shopping itch for a fraction of the environmental impact of new fast fashion. It’s often cheaper, and shopping secondhand is one of the best things we can do for the planet. Plus, it helps the stores clear their never-ending inventory and hopefully prevents more from being thrown away.
Encourage others to join in! Share this post or accompanying video to educate more people and inspire them to give up fast fashion and break up with overconsumption. The more of us that boycott this wasteful system, the more that will change.
Thank you so much for reading. I hope you found value in this post and maybe even learned something! If you did, don’t forget to share it to spread the word.
As always, remember that your small actions make a big difference in the long run :)
Emma
