Love shopping trendy items at a fraction of the price of those on the runway? Do you often find it hard to believe how these chic pieces are so affordable?
Which is perfect because they’ll probably be out of style next season, right? So, it seems like a smart choice.
Except it’s not.
Let’s look at why fast fashion, you know cheap but stylish clothes are not a ‘steal deal.’ And while they may not put a dent in your wallet, they do make a great impact on the environment and the world around us in more than a few ways.
What Is Fast Fashion And Why Is It So Bad?
Fast fashion is a term for cheap, trendy clothing that speeds from the catwalk to stores to meet new trends. Social media influencers and massive online platforms make it easy for everyone to keep up with the latest styles at a low cost.
However, this convenience has a dark side, and while it may seem cheap, it’s costing us our future and impacting our planet and its resource
Understanding Fast Fashion’s Impact On Our Planet
Most consumers do not think of the origins of their clothes—the labor, the energy costs, and the location where they were made. These details are often overlooked by other factors like material, style or cut, and of course, price. But look closely, and you may notice that the details often hide a grim reality.
As we approach another season of fashion bargains, it’s crucial to understand the ‘real’ cost of fast fashion:
Globally, the fast fashion industry employs over 300 million people, which is great, however, its environmental and ethical costs are staggering.
Each year, fast fashion is responsible for more than 10% of global carbon emissions, surpassing even the pollution from all international flights and maritime shipping combined.
Not only does the fast fashion industry harm the planet but it also negatively impacts human lives.
Here’s a breakdown of why fast fashion is harmful and how it impacts our planet:
Environmental Cost of Fast Fashion:
1. Increased Production
The concept of seasonal fashion is fading, and it is being replaced by fast fashion with up to 50 new collections each year. This high turnover means that, as of 2014, the industry produces approximately 100 billion garments annually—about 14 items per person on the planet.
Cheaper production has also led to more consumption. Today, a person has ‘five times’ more clothes than a person did back in the 1980’s.
2. Overconsumption of Natural Resources
An increase in demand translates to an increase in the consumption of natural resources. For example, the manufacturing of synthetic products like rubber and viscose results in huge amounts of deforestation while also contributing to increased water wastage.
3. Increased Water Consumption
While it’s often perceived as eco-friendly, the truth is that cotton has a huge environmental footprint and is one of the most water-intensive crops.
It also accounts for a significant share of the world’s pesticide use and requires thousands of liters of water just to produce one kilogram. Thus, aggravating water scarcity issues and leading to environmental degradation.
4. Carbon Footprint
The global fashion industry has a significantly detrimental impact on the environment due to its extensive supply chain.
From the cultivation of crops like cotton and the production of synthetic fibers to the sewing, dyeing, and final sale of clothing, most processes occur in different parts of the world. Clothes are frequently shipped thousands of kilometers by air or sea to reach consumers, consuming vast amounts of energy along the way.
According to a study conducted in 2018, the apparel and footwear industries together are responsible for more than eight percent of global climate impacts, emitting more greenhouse gases than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.
5. Microplastics and Marine Life
Synthetic fibers, like polyester and nylon, are popular in fast fashion because they are cheaper, but they have a devastating impact on the environment.
These materials shed microplastics during washes, contaminating waterways and contributing significantly to ocean pollution.
Almost 70% of fast fashion garments are made from synthetics like acrylic, nylon, and polyester. When these fabrics are washed, they discard microplastic particles which end up in water bodies.
According to Earth.org, every year over 500,000 tons of microfibers end up in the ocean. That’s roughly 50 billion plastic bottles tossed into the ocean!
6. Energy costs, Emissions and Waste
Fast fashion has led to the use of blended fibers that require more resources to make and also increase energy costs.
For example, blended wool is made from wool that is combined with fibers derived from fossil fuels, which are then coated in chemicals.
Each year, fast fashion produces billions of new garments. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that a garbage truck’s worth of textiles is discarded every second. Yes, every second.
Most end up in landfills or are incinerated, contributing to environmental pollution.
Only about 12 percent of discarded clothes are collected for recycling, and even then, less than one percent is recycled into new clothing. This leads to an enormous waste of resources and missed opportunities for more sustainable practices.
7. Microplastics Toxicity
Contamination of marine life, particularly fish with MPs, doesn’t just impact fish but also humans. The presence of MP has led to oxidative stress and cytotoxicity in humans.
What is alarming is that even though we now understand the toxicity effects of MPs on humans and fish, instead of decreasing, the use of synthetic materials in fast fashion has increased twofold in the past two decades alone.
Apart from consumption via food, synthetic fabrics shed microplastics. These are inhaled during the manufacturing process and even when we wear them, posing a health threat,
8. Child Labor, Sweatshops and Mass Exploitation
Fast fashion brands are driven by profits and are built upon mass exploitation. Brands like H&M and Forever 21 can mass produce and sell trendy clothes at cheap prices by outsourcing production to third-world countries where labor is cheap and labor laws are almost non-existent.
These include countries like India, Bangladesh, and China and have led to the rise of sweatshops where workers are required to work 14–16 hours a day in poor working conditions and are paid low wages (33 cents an hour.)
For example, Bangladesh is one of the biggest manufacturers working for fast fashion brands in the UK. However, garment workers in Bangladesh receive the lowest minimum wages in the world and do not even cover basic food costs.
On top of this, workers are frequently forced to put in significant overtime so that the company can achieve production targets, which in turn wears them out both psychologically and physically.
Fast fashion also relies heavily on child labor:11% of children in illegal child labor are employed in the fast fashion industry.
Reports of sweatshops, child labor, and hazardous work environments are rampant. Garment workers also lack basic labor rights, operating in conditions that leave them vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
Recent incidents have highlighted the dire working conditions and have sparked global outrage and calls for change. Ensuring safe working conditions and empowering workers with rights and protections must be a top priority for the industry to address its ethical challenges.
The Evidence: Understanding The Statistics/Fast Fashion at a Glance: Key Statistics
Numbers don’t lie and the figures from the fast fashion industry paint a clear picture of how damaging fast fashion really is for the planet:
- 300 million people are employed globally in the US$1.3 trillion clothing industry.
- 93 billion cubic meters of water is used yearly in textile production.
- 2,700 liters of water is required to make one T-shirt, enough for 2.5 years of drinking.
- US$95.50 is the monthly minimum wage for garment workers in Bangladesh.
- 1 garbage truck’s worth of textiles is landfilled or burned every second.
- Textile waste takes 200 years to decompose in landfills.
- 21 billion pounds of textiles are sent to US landfills annually.
- 35% of ocean microplastics come from synthetic textiles.
- Children as young as 12 years are forced to work in Cambodian garment factories.
- A 12-cent increase in T-shirt cost could provide living wages for H&M workers.
- 43.1% of female garment workers in Vietnam face sexual violence or harassment.
How Do I Know If a Brand Is Fast Fashion?
If you’ve read this far, you’re probably pretty keen to know how you can avoid supporting fast fashion. Thankfully, fast fashion brands are usually easy to recognize by a few characteristics:
- They often use cheap materials such as polyester, rayon or nylon
- These brands release a lot of new clothes often, aiming to catch the latest fashion trends (in some cases such as Shein, they release new designs daily – leading to the coining of the term ‘ultra-fast fashion’)
- They usually mass produce their products in large quantities.
In comparison, slow fashion brands focus on using sustainable textiles that are ethically sourced and manufactured, and will often release smaller collections less often. Slow fashion is a movement that began to fight ‘fast fashion’ and focuses on identifying ethical and sustainable brands, and encourages consumers to be mindful of their choices. There is greater emphasis upon timeless classics and longevity, rather than staying up with fast-moving fashion trends.
Popular Fast Fashion Brands
To help your quest for sustainable fashion, here are a few well-known brands that have been ‘outed’ as fast fashion brands:
- Urban Outfitters
- Free People
- GAP
- Victoria’s Secret
- Zara
- Forever 21
- Uniqlo
- Topshop
- Guess
- Old Navy
- Hollister
- Abercombie & Fitch
- American Eagle Outfitters
- Brandy Melville
- Nasty Gal
- Boohoo
- ASOS
- Wish
- Target
- Walmart
- H&M
- SHEIN
Many of these brands are also guilty of greenwashing, which is why it’s important to look closely at what they produce and how they manufacture it.
Here’s a closer look at a few notable fast fashion brands:
SHEIN
SHEIN launched in 2008, is a prime example of fast fashion.
It gained popularity quickly through social media, with influencers promoting its low-priced, frequently updated catalogue. This brand epitomizes the fast fashion model by adding thousands of new items to its site literally each week.
H&M
H&M is known as a fast fashion brand because it uses inexpensive materials and often introduces new products. The brand has made attempts to show that it is trying to improve its environmental impact with initiatives like clothing recycling and its conscious collection, which claims to use organic and recycled materials.
However, a Quartz expose recently proved how H&M’s environmental score was bogus. The company removed the scorecards from its website after the report was published.
And while H&M’s Conscious collection claims to be ‘eco-friendly’, the clothes reportedly contain more synthetic fibers than its regular line, despite the ‘green claims.’
Choose Planet Over Profit
A $9 legging or a $15 copy of boots you saw on the runway may seem like a steal, but given the true cost of fast fashion, it’s important to choose planet over profits—and deals!
That’s why it is important to do research and understand if a brand’s sustainability claims are genuine or simply an attempt at greenwashing.
Some companies focus more on marketing their eco-friendly initiatives than on implementing them. A study by the Changing Markets Foundation in 2021 found that 59% of sustainability claims by European fashion brands were misleading.
A lack of transparency is also common in the industry and doesn’t help matters either. Brands like Primark and SHEIN have been noted for not being open about their environmental impacts.
So – what can I do?
Eco-conscious consumers have proved that they have the power to demand change and hold organizations accountable by making conscious decisions and opting not to support fast fashion.
While it might seem like your individual choices aren’t enough to move the needle, our collective power is already making an impact, which is why we see so many brands endeavoring to improve their sustainability scorecards. Supporting slow and sustainable fashion brands, or the circular economy by recycling and purchasing secondhand, can have a strong ripple effect.
Thank you for taking the time to read and share this article – even these small actions can make a difference. By educating ourselves and others, we can start to shift the tide towards a more sustainable future.
