Fast Fashion: The Facts and Consequences + VIDEOS
- ShaLu
- Nov 8, 2019
- 4 min read
Fast fashion is a business model that is most commonly known for its cheap prices when it comes to clothing; but the background is really deplorable; it exploits overseas workers, it is environmentally disastrous and attempts directly against human rights, human dignity and social development. It promotes inhuman workplaces, poverty wages, environmental damage and contributes to climate change. Fast fashion creates thousdands of consequences, below we will look at a tiny fraction of them.
So yeah, that cute crop top you bought the other day might have costed you a dollar or two, but it costed the earth everthing. So, the true cost of Fast Fashion? Everything. Yup, indeed, E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.
Let's take a sneak peak of all the effects Fast Fashion has when it comes to the environment:
Because of demands, fashion industries have to produce a lot of clothes, augmenting production waste. Fast fashion creates a lot of unnecessary waste. These clothes are usually not disposed of in an adequate manner, thus causing more pollution.
The amount of clothes bought in the EU per person has increased by 40 % in just a few decades, driven by a fall in prices and the increased speed with which fashion is delivered to consumers (1).
Clothing accounts for between 2 % and 10 % of the environmental impact of EU consumption (1).
In an alarming study released Monday, researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara found that, on average, synthetic fleece jackets release 1.7 grams of microfibers each wash (2).
"The 2017 Pulse of the Fashion Industry report, put together by GFA and the Boston Consulting Group, estimated that in 2015, the global textiles and clothing industry was responsible for the consumption of 79 billion cubic metres of water, 1 715 million tons of CO2 emissions and 92 million tons of waste. It also estimated that by 2030, under a business-as-usual scenario, these numbers would increase by at least 50 %.” (1). It also affects Human Dignity, specifically it is one of the factors that supports child labour.
Fast fashion creates a huge demand in the industry that is difficult to satisfy. Businesses rely on cheap labour to have more profits and be able to satisfy the demands. The International Labour Organisation states that approximately 11% of the global population of children are engaged in child labour (3).
“Fast fashion has engendered a race to the bottom, pushing companies to find ever-cheaper sources of labour.” (3).
“Child labour is a particular issue for fashion because much of the supply chain requires low-skilled labour and some tasks are even better suited to children than adults. In cotton picking, employers prefer to hire children for their small fingers, which do not damage the crop”. (3).
“Lotte Schuurman at the Fair Wear Foundation says if parents have no education they will end up in low-paid work; their children will be forced to work, they will miss out on their education, and they too will end up in low-paid work as adults.” (3).
“The ILO estimates that 170 million are engaged in child labour, with many making textiles and garments to satisfy the demand of consumers in Europe, the US, and beyond.” (3).
“Tackling child labour is further complicated by the fact it is just a symptom of larger problems. Where there is extreme poverty, there will be children willing to work cheaply and susceptible to being tricked into dangerous or badly paid work.” (3).
Fast Fashion doesn't sound so great now, does it?
I know, after reading all of this you might feel a little help-less and maybe even a little bit guilty, I know I did. You might even ask yourself, how was I ever a part of this? How can I fix this? What can I do to help? Even though it's the big fashion companies that could make the biggest impact, the good news is that you, yourself, can help too! Here are 8 things we can do to help bring Fast Fashion to a stop and improve the living conditions for everyone in this world:
Improve our shopping habits: buy less, buy better and keep asking questions about the realities behind what we are purchasing, we need to make them last.
Only buy the clothes you need, and when you buy them, make sure they are of good quality, even i they are a bit more expensive.
Donate your clothes instead of throwing them away.
Buy from stores that you know are sustainable and have better labour restrictions.
Buy from local stores (regionally/nationally made clothes) or from second-hand shops or thrift stores.
Follow less temporary fashion trends.
Demand more transparency from the fashion industry by letting the customers know where the products are made, who is making them and under what conditions.
Clothing manufacturers could use bamboo instead of rayon, improve working conditions, obtain fabrics from reputable sources.
Here are some great videos about Fast Fashion:
BBC's video, even though it is short, has got to be one of my favourite ones out there about Fast Fashion, becuase it perfectly shows the reaction of some consumers when they find out the environmental impact of the clothing they just bought:
Watch this one if you want a quick summary on Fast Fashion:
Kristen Leo has also created a video that includes tips on how to stop being a part of Fast Fashion, watch it below:
She has tons of videos about ethical clothing, how to reuse your clothes, how to fix clothes etc. So if you're curious and have some time, go to her channel and browse thorugh the videos she has, they are great!
The Economist has a great video on Fast Fashion as well:
Sources for the information used above:
1. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2019/633143/EPRS_BRI(2019)633143_EN.pdf
2. https://www.theguardian.com/enviwronment/2016/jun/20/microfibers-plastic-pollution-oceans-patagonia-synthetic-clothes-microbeads
3. https://labs.theguardian.com/unicef-child-labour/
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