Fast fashion is bad, end of. That could be the whole blog, but I guess I ought to give you some explanation as to why it is such a negative industry, for both people and planet. So here are 5 reasons to avoid fast fashion.
Emissions and consumption.
The fast fashion industry contributes 10% of all emissions produced by humans. To put that into perspective, that is more than the famously high emitting international flights and cargo shipping combined!
Not only is it a large emitter but the fast fashion industry is the 2nd largest consumer of water. Using water throughout the growing, washing and dying process. The water that is emitted after being used in clothing production, if not properly filtered, is toxic and will contain bleaching chemicals or dyes.
Exploits people
In 2000 the majority of fashion retailers would produce two collections a year, Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter. Now we see large online and high street fast fashion retailers producing anywhere from 12 up to 24 collections a year, yet still offering rock bottom prices.
How can they afford to sell a dress for £5? Because savings go all the way down the supply chain to the workers who produce the garments. Workers produce thousands of garments for terrible pay, just so retailers can sell a pair of jeans for £10.Made from plastic!
Another way to keep costs down in clothing production is to use cheaper fabrics. In steps Polyester. Polyester is a plastic fibre made from crude oil, a non-renewable fuel source. Being made from plastic a piece of polyester clothing would take thousands of years to decompose, unlike its natural fibre counterparts.
Plymouth University ran a study to see the amount of clothing micro fibres were shed during different washing machine cycles. An average wash could see just under 500,000 polyester micro-fibres shed and into the water waste system. These polyester fibres add to the ever-growing micro plastic problem in our waters.Quality
The quality is rubbish, the combination of making thousands of garments at a rapid speed, mixed with tight budgets and cheap material results in a low-quality garment. Like the saying goes, if you buy cheap you buy twice. And if does break then it’s more plastic back into the waste system. Sometimes it’s worth saving up a little longer for a clothing item that will last you a little longer.
It’s more fun to not wear fast fashion.
Where’s the fun in looking like everyone else? Fast fashion perpetuates that idea that you must be wearing what everyone is wearing right now, and then 3 months down the line, there will be a new thing that everyone has to wear. You’ll be out of pocket and it leaves older clothes redundant because they’re not ‘in’. It’s much more worth while filling your wardrobe with classics styles that will never get dated. The beauty of classic styles is you will be easily able to find them in second-hand, vintage or charity shops. Not only filling your shelves with timeless pieces but also giving a new lease of life to other products.
