Burkhardt 1

Bethany Burkhardt

ENG 1201

Professor Leonard

March 24, 2020

Is fast fashion unethical and affecting the environment?

Over the years fashion has changed in many ways along with the industry itself. We

have come to a point where we always want the latest trends as soon as possible but at a

reasonable price. This is how fast fashion was started, the fast production of clothes to meet the

most current trends. The want for new clothes but at a reasonable price, but what is the real price

people pay for these cheaply made clothes? Fast fashion has scientifically been proven to be one

of the biggest polluters. It has created many issues for the environment and has many ethical

consequences as well.

What is fast fashion? The dictionary answer for what fast fashion is “An approach to the

design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends

quickly and cheaply available to consumers.” (Merriam Webster definition). These clothes are

often made by children or young girls/women who are being underpaid and overworked. Some

of the main suppliers of fast fashion are China, Bangladesh, and India. Since the clothes are

produced so fast they are often poorly made and meant to only last for a short amount of time,

then thrown away to be replaced by new clothes in a couple of months. Fast fashion is exactly

what it sounds like, clothes that are not only produced quickly but also only last for a couple of

months before they either go out of style or tear. The clothes come and go as quickly as the

trends.
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One of the biggest polluters is the textile industry. Overall the textile industry is one that

creates and dyes the fabric so it is not exclusive to the fast fashion industry, although the biggest

contributor to the textile industry is fast fashion. It is damaging to the environment for a number

of reasons, not only does it produce a rather alarming amount of pollution but the clothes

themselves are often toxic to people and the environment. In the article xBy the Numbers: The

Economic, Social and Environmental Impacts of Fast Fashion (Reichart and Drew) it states that

it takes 2,700 liters of water to make one cotton shirt, enough to meet the average person’s

drinking needs for two-and-a-half years. The website uses national geography as the cited source

for this information and they also go on to break down the economic, environmental, and societal

impacts fast fashion has. They also go on to say that making a pair of jeans produces as many

greenhouse gases as driving a car more than 80 miles. (By the Numbers: The Economic, Social

and Environmental Impacts of “Fast Fashion) These are just some of the facts that prove the

negative effects that fast fashion has on the environment. The website itself is a resource

institution that has devoted itself to not only gaining information on world problems but also to

helping create solutions.

How is fast fashion unethical? Not only is fast fashion damaging to the environment but

it is also unethical. Fast fashion clothes are cheap because the cost to make them is relatively

cheap, this is how the industry has managed to stay in business. The clothes are often produced

by people who live in low-income countries and are just trying to find work. A published

scientific journal states that there are many health hazards that arise for the workers. One of the

biggest being that ventilation, these factories are often poorly ventilated and the cotton dust and

dust are harmful to the lungs of workers. The three women also go out to point out even more
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health hazards such as lung disease and cancer, damage to endocrine function, adverse

reproductive and fetal outcomes, accidental injuries, overuse injuries, and death. (Environmental

Health) (Bick, Halsey, Ekenga)

There are many solutions on how to shop more environmentally consciously, thrifting is

the easiest solution. Going thrifting with some friends is just as easy as going shopping. Buying

clothes second hand not only helps the environment but also prevents support of fast fashion

companies. Along with thrifting comes donating, instead of throwing out unwanted clothes to

donate them. Ending the idea that clothes are easy to dispose of not only helps the environment

but also causes us to think the next time we buy something. Besides thrifting, getting rid of the

throwaway mentality will make one of the biggest differences when it comes to the

environmental effect that fast fashion has on the environment (UN Launches Drive to Highlight

Environmental Cost of Staying Fashionable). This mentality that all things can be thrown away

contributes to the waste that fast fashion produces. The average person throws away at least

eighty-two pounds of clothing per year, multiple this by billions and you get a large amount of

waste. These clothes take years and years to biodegrade so often they are just taking up space in

landfills wasting away. By eliminating the throw-away mentality it not only saves the

environment but also gives people the opportunity to give to others.

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Biography

“Aurorei.com.” Aurorei.com, xxxxhttps://www.aurorei.com/blog1/2019/2/5/sustainable-fashion-

made-accessible-sbl7b.

Claudio, L., et al. “The Global Environmental Injustice of Fast Fashion.” Environmental Health,
xxxxBioMed Central, 27 Dec. 2018, xxxxehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-
018-0433-7.

“Fast Fashion.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, xx

www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fast fashion.

Martinez, Flavia, and Flavia Martinez. “The Benefits of Fast Fashion for College
Students.”Study

Breaks, 31 Mar. 2017, studybreaks.com/culture/fast-fashion/.

“UN Launches Drive to Highlight Environmental Cost of Staying Fashionable | UN x

News.” United Nations, United Nations, 24 Mar. 2019, xx

xxxxxxnews.un.org/en/story/2019/03/1035161.