Fashion icon, Coco Chanel believed that, "The best things in life are free. The second best are very expensive." This speaks, now more than ever, to the growing popularity of the fast fashion culture we’re all immersed in. Is your closet full of cheaply bought clothes like mine? What happens when that outfit is no longer trendy? Fast fashion is a common term meaning “an approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers,” (Merriam Webster). Disposable fashion continues to be people's top pick for staying on trend, as it is sold nearly everywhere, easily obtainable, and affordable. You’re surrounded with fast fashion everytime you visit the mall or shop online with brands like Brandy Melville, Zara, H&M, Shein, and Urban Outfitters. Online shopping is the preferred option during COVID-19 but worsens one’s carbon footprint by 75%. According to the World Health Organization, a carbon footprint means “a measure of the impact your activities have on the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced through the burning of fossil fuels.” Along with increasing pressure from social media and rapidly changing trends, there is a need to only wear a garment once to avoid repeating an outfit. On average, an article of clothing is worn 7 times before being disposed of. As a consumer culture, people tend to buy more than they need and make it a habit, worsening the environmental impact humans have.
It’s easy to fall into this consumerism cycle without understanding the repercussions of your actions, so let’s take a look into what’s affected by these trends and what you can do to avoid those negative consequences. The first thing to consider when buying a product is how it was made and what kind of impact the production process has on the environment. These clothes are designed to be cheap and disposable, and too often we ignore the consequences of throwing away our clothes. A study estimates the volume of clothing that is disposed of every year is 16 million tons with 63% sent to landfills, 19% incinerated, and 15% recycled. The methods used on textile waste cause more greenhouse gas emissions than international flights and overseas shipping per year (McFall-Johnson, 2019). Synthetic materials burn more fossil fuels because they’re produced with crude oils and don’t decay in the landfills, oceans, or wherever they end up. The water and land based clothing industries are the second-highest water polluters because “textiles use dyes, which contain heavy metals and other toxins, that frequently end up in local waterways. The use of pesticides and dyes are hazardous to the health of animals and the people that live near the farms or factories” (Dorcy, 2020). These developing nation’s factories are considered unethical because factory workers don’t earn a living wage and the workplace environment is often hazardous due to confined space, complicated machines, and toxins in the air which can lead to disease.
In every situation, remember to utilize the three Rs of sustainability: reduce, reuse, recycle, in that order. Environmentally friendly alternatives to fast fashion are secondhand clothes, buying from sustainable brands, and rentals. Benefits of rental companies (Rent the Runway and Tulerie) are easy access to high fashion garments and quickly switching pieces out depending on what’s trending. However, a con to renting is the environmental cost from packaging, shipping, and dry-cleaning often. Buying secondhand is gaining popularity among Gen Z, whether it’s a trip to Goodwill or browsing the app Depop. The positive impacts include, giving a garment a second life, spending less money on a variety of quality clothes, and giving back to your community. While investing in sustainable clothing can be costly, ethically made clothing will last longer, reduce waste and fossil fuel emissions, and will help customers make more conscious decisions.
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