When you think of Shein, H&M, Forever 21, and Zara, what first comes to mind? While these are all examples of popular fashion brands, there is another feature they all have in common—these brands are examples of “fast fashion,” a growing sector of the fashion industry that is slowly making its way to the top.
Fast fashion is the cheap, mass production of trending clothing items, which encourages consumers to instantly purchase and oftentimes abandon products after a short period of time. Fast fashion appeals to many for its affordable prices, stylish designs, and constant cycle of trendy new apparel to choose from. One of the main reasons that fast fashion attracts so many consumers is because of its affordability—everyone is seeking cheap prices when it comes to clothing. These items are sold at low prices because they are generally poor in quality and mass-produced. Yet the benefits of fast fashion are minimal compared to its harmful impacts on our society. One of the downsides of fast fashion is the way it damages our environment. According to Martina Igini, a journalist who specializes in climate policy, humans discard 92 million tons of clothing each year. Given that we manufacture approximately 100 billion garments per year, this amount of waste is astronomical, and there seems to be no end in sight. “To put things in perspective,” Igini states, “this means that the equivalent of a rubbish truck full of clothes ends up on landfill sites every second.”
Where does all this trash go? Recently, fast fashion companies have started sending their waste to Africa. Because clothing is quickly cycled through in Western countries, fashion companies dump their waste, which includes improperly manufactured clothes, in less developed regions of the continent. According to Greenpeace Africa, the waste generated by fast fashion leads to water pollution. For example, the Korle Lagoon in Ghana, which many people relied on as a water source in the past, has now become one of the most polluted bodies of water in the world.
Additionally, fast fashion isn’t just hurting our environment—it’s also directly hurting workers. In the United States, which generally has more stringent worker protection laws than other countries, the Department of Labor found a contractor paying workers a mere $1.58 per hour, despite the minimum wage in the state being $15. Outside of the United States, workers also earn low salaries and face hazardous working conditions. For instance, in 2013, a garment factory in the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh collapsed, killing more than 1100 people. Following the incident, authorities charged the owners of the factory with murder. Unfortunately, this is just one factory that was investigated out of many. Imagine how many cases of corruption in the fast fashion industry have yet to be discovered.
As much as fast fashion may be trendy and inexpensive, the industry is detrimental to our environment and exploitative toward its workers. By being more mindful about the types of clothes we buy, we can minimize the waste produced by fast fashion and stand against corruption in the industry. Just by simply educating your friends and family and investing in sustainable clothing, you too have the power to start making a difference.
