Fast Fashion and its Impact on the Environment

With the speed of fashion trends going in and out, constant sales and promotions like Black Friday and social media influence, it is no wonder that the fast fashion industry is taking a toll on the environment. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, they estimate that “people are buying 60 per cent more clothes and wearing them for half as long.” A partner of the UNEP also estimates that “a truckload of abandoned textiles is dumped in landfill or incinerated every second” (United Nations Environment Programme). This display of mass consumerism is depleting natural resources and polluting water sources. 

The environmental impact that fast fashion has is the exhaustion and pollution of water, excessive use of microplastics, and an energy intensive process that drains other non-renewable resources. The fashion industry is the second largest consumer of water while textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water (Earth.org). The simultaneous consumption and pollution of water sources makes it difficult to justify a t-shirt worth it as a single one uses up hundreds of gallons of water to produce. The energy intensive process in textile production releases a lot of harmful chemicals and uses up an extreme amount of petroleum which is a non-renewable resource.

Microplastics are also a problematic factor in fast fashion as lots of brands use synthetic fibers that take years to biodegrade. Shein is guilty of using synthetic fibers  in their clothes such as polyester and nylon. These synthetic fibers are made of fossil fuel and production of it has led to air and water pollution (Think of the Pandas.). The materials are also non-biodegradable which makes matters worse as most of the clothes bought from Shein will end up in the landfill rather than our closets. 

In our interview, Graham Wetzbarger stated that fast fashion brands participate in a deceptive act known as ‘greenwashing’. The act of greenwashing is when companies make untrue claims that they used sustainable methods when creating their products. They are essentially deceiving their customers into thinking they are environmentally friendly. Shein has made claims they use ethically and sustainably sourced materials yet there is no proof that this is true. 

H&M and the World Wildlife Fund entered into a partnership in 2011 to attempt to create a more sustainable future for H&M’s consumers. H&M was to focus on how their chain impacted the environment and they mainly focused on water, biodiversity and climate. Although H&M came out with the Conscious Collection, a sustainable line of fashion in the company, that collection makes up only a small portion of their entire production. Furthermore, there have been claims that this collection is 100% sustainable, yet some question whether this is true.  In fact, earlier this year, H&M was sued for greenwashing. Their Conscious Collection was the center of controversy. Although H&M claimed the products in the collection use less water in their manufacturing process, the lawsuit alleges H&M used more. 

To assist with protecting consumers from being duped by environmental claims, the Federal Trade Commission has published green guides. These green guides outline the general rules to marketing claims relating to the environment, how consumers will interpret and understand these claims, and how companies can avoid claims that mislead consumers. There has been a recent case against Kohl’s, Inc. and Walmart Inc. where they advertised rayon materials as bamboo. The FTC sued both companies over their deceptive claims that their ecofriendly bamboo when the process was anything but.

Although many consumers rely on fast fashion, there are many alternatives that would be much more cost effective in the long run. By purchasing from fast fashion companies, they are contributing to the detrimental impacts on the environment caused by them. If customers consume more of their fashion products, there will be more production. Some more sustainable options to obtain fashion and reduce waste could be crocheting or making your own clothes, thrifting, buying clothes made of better quality materials, donating unwanted clothing, and repairing your own clothing.

By creating your own clothing, consumers can keep up with the trends themselves and cater the design of their clothing to their own liking. Although buying clothes may seem counterintuitive, picking clothes of better quality would help reduce the frequency of purchasing more clothes which saves money in the long run and the environment. Lower quality clothing falls apart more easily and requires you to purchase more to replace it. 

A movement that has risen to combat fast fashion is slow fashion. While fast fashion is all about mass consumerism, slow fashion is focused on conscious consumerism. Quality is valued over quantity meaning the durability of a piece of clothing is more important than its sellability and conformance to style trends. In slow fashion, manufacturing practices that respect the environment are promoted as well as materials that are biodegradable and use more natural resources are encouraged.

References:

United Nation Environment Programme, https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/environmental-costs-fast-fashion.

Rashmila Maiti, https://earth.org/fast-fashions-detrimental-effect-on-the-environment/

Francine Vito, https://earth.org/what-is-slow-fashion/

Federal Trade Commission, https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/topics/truth-advertising/green-guides

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