Fast fashion

What is fast fashion?

You can describe fast fashion as cheap, trendy clothing that is based on clothes from the catwalk or
celebrities. The idea is to get the newest styles on the market as fast as possible, so people can buy
them instantly while they are still in their prime popularity and then throw them away as fast as they
bought them. The clothes will be worn max 5-6 times and then thrown in the bin. People all have a
weird idea of buying new clothes when there is a new trend. Let’s see why.

Why is fast fashion bad?

Fast fashion has a really big environmental footprint for production and disposal. The production of
clothing requires a pretty big amount of energy and other resources, while it needs toxic fabric dyes
and other chemicals that contain fresh water.

Fashion produces a tenth of the world’s carbon emissions(burning fossil fuels and making of cement).
Levi Strauss & co said ’producing a pair of jeans uses as much carbon as driving 80 miles with a car.’

But fast fashion has an even bigger impact on freshwater supplies because making a pair of jeans
requires 2000 gallons of water. Textile dying uses 20 percent of global wastewater, the second most
wasting industry for water. The wastewater is released into rivers and streams, which makes the risk
of exposing people and animals in the surrounding areas to heavy metals bigger and bigger.

The other environmental concerns on the production side are fruits, vegetables, grains, and tubers
like yams or potatoes. Non-organic cotton, one of the most used en sold fabrics needs intense water
and pesticide(a chemical substance to protect plants against viruses) use

The life cycle of most clothing is short too, big amounts of waste are produced by people throwing
away clothes. Every second, enough clothes to fill a container are burned or sent to a landfill.
A lot of companies, such as Burberry have spoken about their standard of burning unsold
products at the end of a season to kill the risk of having discounts on their clothing

we are just simply wearing the clothes we buy for a shorter time. In 15 years time, we have reduced
the number of times we wear our bought clothes by 36 percent. In other words, ´Wearable
clothing with a worth of 460 billion is thrown away.´ said the Ellen MacArthur foundation.
Each American throws away 80 pounds of clothing per year.

Another issue with wasted fabric is that cheap polyester textiles what is used in almost all fabrics) are
releasing microfiber plastic into the water each time they get washed. Microplastic has been
found in food and the water supply where we drink, which is a big danger to human and
animal health
What can you do yourself to stop fast fashion?
1. buy fewer clothes.
even the greenest piece of clothing uses resources for production and transport to your home,
which creates some environmental impact too.

We just buy too much, you buy 10 shirts, and your granny buys 2

2. buy clothes from environment-friendly brands.

more brands are taking into account the environmental and social impact of the production. you
can find environmentally friendly brands online or maybe even in your mall.

But it is still easier to go to a local clothing store to expand your wardrobe but we need to take
action and save the environment.

3. think before you throw away your clothes.

Don’t throw your clothes in normal containers. Most of them are not good for the environment
and will just pile up in the landfill. Here are some things to do before you throw out your
clothing.

-try to fix them. If you got a few holes in your pants just sew it and it is as good as new.

-donate them to your friends or family or a charity foundation

-sell them on a secondhand app like vinted or grailed

-some clothing stores even take back used clothes from their own brand or even from every
brand.

Long story short, we need to change our buying behavior. because we can´t let the world slowly die
just because we want some new clothes. We can save the world together. All you have to do is be
more aware of what you´re buying.
sources
https://goodonyou.eco/what-is-fast-fashion/

https://healthyhumanlife.com/blogs/news/what-is-fast-fashion#:~:text=Fast%20fashion%20has
%20an%20enormous,of%20the%20world%27s%20carbon%20emissions.