WHAT DOES THE MASS PRODUCTION OF

FAST FASHION CLOTHING SUGGEST

ABOUT A NEED FOR BUSINESSES TO
INVEST IN SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS?
Ashley, Daisy, Jasmine, Yahaira
How it Started
•Industrialization
•Development of Production
•World War I = conservatism
•Consumerism
•Capitalism
Importance 
•200 years of waste
•53MM tons thrown 
•$1.4 trillion sales
Responses
• Banned sandblasting 
• Tax incentives for citizens
• Landfills and incinerators
Thesis
•Our team's suggestion to address the production
of unsustainable clothing in the fast fashion
industry is to advocate for American tariffs on
fashion products, because of
the environmental impacts of fast fashion and the
unethical treatment of workers in this industry.
ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT & HARM
Statistics  
• 1.2B CO2 tons yearly
• coal plants
• 5% of global emissions 
Impact & Harm
• Harmful towards environment
• CO2 levels increased 
• Continue to rise 
Polyester
•Double demand
•Recycled material blended
•706B kg of greenhouse gases
Impact & Harm
•Polyester demand is increasing
•It is not biodegradable or recyclable 
•Unsustainable 
Polyester
• Polyester produces
 more emissions 
• Climate change and
Pollution
Cotton & Dyeing
•"Textile dyeing results in hazards as untreated
wastewater from dyes are often discharged into
local water systems, releasing heavy metals and
other toxicants… [impacting] the health of
animals in addition to nearby residents"

(Bick, et al)
Impact & Harm
•Water pollution affects the people as well
•Continuity of pollution
 Cotton
& Dyeing
•Better option is
cotton
•Land & Water
consumption
•Mass-production 
Possible Limitations
•Government refusal
•Tariffs and economic issues
•Cheap, quick, and easy
POOR TREATMENT OF
GARMENT WORKERS
Illegally Low Wages

• "An average garment worker in Bangladesh who

sews shirts for fast fashion brands might make 28
taka an hour, or around 33 U.S. cents, and struggle
to pay bills even working 60 hours a week"

(Peters)
Impact
• Companies use "flexible specialization" thesis
• Companies take advantage of workers
Workers
•“Workers in Swaziland were exposed to toxic
chemicals; preventable factory fires and collapses
killed thousands in Bangladesh.”

(Wang)
Workers 

•Hazardous 
•Risks
•Response 
•unfair pay
•Fashion
Trends
• Bangladesh
Workers' Efforts
•"Low-quality 5-pound dresses aimed at young
people are said to be made by workers on illegally
low wages and are discarded almost instantly,
causing mountains of non-recycled waste to pile
up"

(Hopkins)
What this Leads to
• Efforts are put to waste
• Creagh's investigations
• Companies and cooperation
Possible Limitations
•Government Refusal
•Economic loss for companies
•Cheap labor benefits
Tariffs
•Limit mass production
•Control purchase of unsustainable products
•Cheap labor
Our Solution
•Due to the environmental impacts of fast
fashion and the unethical treatment of workers,
our team's way to address
the production of unsustainable clothing
is to advocate for American tariffs to be placed
on fast fashion products. 
 Works Cited

Bick, Rachel, et. al. “The Global Environmental Injustice of Fast Fashion.” Environmental Health: A Global Access Science

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13 Jan. 2020. 

Claudio, Luz. “Waste Couture: Environmental Impact of the Clothing Industry.” Environmental Health Perspectives, vol.

115, no. 9, Sept. 2007, p. A448. Advanced Placement Source, doi:10.1289/ehp.115-a449. Accessed 16 Jan. 2020. 

Drew, Deborah and Reichart, Elizabeth. “By the Numbers: The Economic, Social and Environmental Impacts of ‘Fast

Fashion.’” World Resource Institute. 10 Jan. 2019. wri.org/blog/2019/01/numbers-economic-social-and-environmental-

impacts-fast-fashion Accessed 20 Jan. 2020.

Foreman, Katya. “A Circular Economy: The Advantage Of Getting Involved Now. (Cover Story).” WWD: Women’s Wear

Daily, Dec. 2018, p. 16. Advanced Placement Source. Accessed 08 Jan 2020.

Hopkins, Kathryn. “British Lawmakers Aim to Grill Fast-Fashion Bosses.” WWD: Women’s Wear Daily, Nov. 2018, p.

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b44d01809042384f%40sessionmgr101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d

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Kirchain, Randolph, et al. "Sustainable Apparel Materials." 22 Sept.

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Liu, Mark. “Time to make fast fashion a problem for its makers, not charities.” Phys, Sept. 2019, phys.org/news/2019-09-fast-

fashion-problem-makers-charities.html. Accessed on 13 Jan. 2020.

Peters, Adele. “Why this clothing company is making its factory wages public.” Fastcompany,

Aug. 2018, fastcompany.com/90213069/why-this-clothing-company-is-making-its-factory-wages-public. Accessed 17

Jan. 2020. 
Radcliffe, Brent. “The Basics Of Tariffs and Trade Barriers.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 5

Feb. 2020, www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/08/tariff-trade-barrier-basics.asp. Accessed 08 Feb. 2020. 

Singh, Ganit. “Fast Fashion Has Changed the Industry and the Economy: Ganit Singh.” FEE Freeman Article, Foundation

for Economic Education, 7 July 2017, articles/fast-fashion-has-changed-the-industry-and-the-economy/. Accessed 12 Jan

2020.

“The Price of Fast Fashion.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 2 Jan. 2018, doi.org/10.1038/s41558-017-0058-

9. Accessed 06 Feb. 2020.

Zaman, Munir Uz. "Bangladeshi activists and relatives of the victims of the Rana Plaza building collapse take part in a

protest marking the first anniversary of the disaster in 2014." The Guardian, 22 Apr.

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