First let’s get to know the concept of fast fashion and what it actually stands for. So fast fashion is the idea where one buys an item of clothing and throws it away after even one use (hence it’s called fast fashion), this could be described by the word ‘disposable’, meaning fast fashion is ‘disposable’ clothing. However, only the use/ or usage phase of the process is actually fast because many of these clothing items are made of raw materials coming from resources such as fossil fuels, which are used to create synthetic fibres such as polyester etc. which could take millions of years to form. This therefore means that only one element-which is the usage part-is actually fast in ‘fast fashion’.

The impacts of fast fashion on our environment

There are many impacts on us of fast fashion including social, environmental, welfare,economic and the list goes on but for now i’ll only be focusing on the environmental impacts, mostly which are negative.

Here are a few facts:

Fast fashion is the second biggest polluter after the oil industry, with 10% of our annual global carbon emissions coming from fast fashion, due to its energy intensive production (2019).Textile dying also being the second biggest polluter of water (2018)plus also requireing quite some water to produce these clothes from production to use, as 20 000 litres of water is required to produce one kilo of cotton, which when is put in perspective is the equivalent of one t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Further we use water for the cleaning of these items, which also requires lots of water and not only that but these items also release toxins-when washed- which are harmful for the enviroment. Furthermore, we use electricity to dry these clothes ( with electric dryers) which use 2-6 kilowatts of electricity per hour, therefore using up our renewable resources. Similarly, many of these items each come with plastic hangers which get thrown out along with these ‘disposable’ clothing items polluting our environment further, putting our wildlife and animals at physical risks and using up precious resources to produce these items -which get thrown out after a single use- which could be used elsewhere for a more meaningful purpose rather than ending up in landfills.

Moreover, going back to the production process many farmers use pesticides ( responsile for 11%- of global use) , insecticides (responsible for 24% global use) to protect their plantation from harmful weeds and bugs. However, these toxic chemicals pollute our air, our land and water, damaging our environment and putting locals at health risks from the side effects of these harmful chemicals ( however these can take time to arise, and mostly happen if the individual experiences contact with them many times ). However, farmers argue they need these chemicals in order to protect their cotton and they also argue they only use it when they have to, to protect the environment (but some sources say this only happens becuase farmers don’t like spending their money, therefore only doing so when needed).

Solutions

There are many soloutions which are specific to each issue, including:

-Using renewable energy to decrease carbon emissions for example, solar, wind energy…

-Use more natural dyes, however these don’t last as long and aren’t as bright, meaning we would throw these items out and replace them more often so increasing our waste, but a solution could be to re-dye them so that we are able to reuse them

-Buy better quality clothing so they last longer and therefore less is produced and less resources needed and less waste produced, this however might lead to a price increase and some would be unable to afford

-Try being more minimalistic and only buy a few items and save money, because you don’t need so many items of clothing as you either just let them sit at the back of your wardrobe or you just throw them out

-Try air-drying your clothes, much more sustainable + you get to save on bills

– Buy reusable wooden hangers and don’t take plastic ones at stores

-Shop at thrift stores to decrease the amount of waste going into landfills

-Swap and share clothes with family and friends

-Donate/ or sell clothes which are no longer in need or use for you

Whats already being done to help?

-Advances in technology are helping farmers be greener through the use of drones for example, these little machines can help the farmer identify problems or how the crops are spread out through the use of sensors which meausres the greeness of crops. In areas where there are no crops or where the crops aren’t thriving the sensor shows a red and white colour. This allows the farmer to know how much seeds have actually sprout and this means they are able to know the exact amount of fertilisers, pesticides etc. they need, meaning they don’t use any excess therefore leading to less pollution.

-Oxfam has created their ecommerce store so now you are able to purchase items from them online

-H&M is doing a scheme where they collect your used items which they say they’ll recycle and in return you get a discount, however sources say only 3% of their collected items is actually recycled, and many other fashion brands such as Zara, Asos and Mango are trying to be more eco-friendly by using organic/ and recycled cotton and other sustainable fibres

However, it is an acknowledgeable fact that we can’t do this all alone as the consumer as we need businesses to cooperate to meet our goals of a sustainable world, however if we don’t do anything and just sit back and watch and wait for a change than we might have to wait longer than we live, and that’s why we have to show our voices and help achieve this change as fast as possible becuase time is running out and by the time we are all prepared to change it might be too late, so let’s change and do something while we can, while we have the opportunity and while we have the time.

sustainability

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