Overconsumption is a leading causation of damage to the sustainability of earth. This topic, in relation to clothes, has been a hot topic in the media as of lately, and for a good reason. Overconsumption of material goods has a plethora of severe negative consequences, the majority being ethical and environmental. The best way to bring awareness to this situation is to highlight the damage consumers are directly causing.
Sweatshops and Slave Labor Photo Credit
Clothing items that are not produced in an ethical or sustainable manner are typically referred to as fast fashion items. These take part in the obvious cheap or suspicious clothing stores such as Shein and Aeropostale, but many well-known brands such as Walmart and Nike also partake in slave labor across the globe. This labor is abused in countless countries but considered to be the worst in Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Cambodia. The citizens placed in these sweatshops are forced to work under oppressive conditions, against their will. Despite the obvious fact that this is highly immoral, this situation is dangerous as there is countless waste produced with nowhere to dispose of, as displayed in the photograph. This leads to the excess fabric being dumped wherever is convenient, directly leading to pollution as a result of overconsumption by privileged people.
Maxing the Environments Capacity
After discussing the immortality of sweatshops and slave labor, it is also important to explain why this is so damaging to earth’s environment. Textile waste, as represented to the left, is one of the main products of fast fashion. As researched by the Council for Textile Recycling, 70 pounds of textiles are thrown away by the average American, yearly. When virtually none of this fabric is recycled, it gets dumped into landfills. Then, when landfills cannot physically hold anymore clothes, they get dumped onto impoverished areas and countries where it won’t be seen by the worldwide consumers. Because majority of clothes are mixed fabrics these items do not properly decompose, therefore leaving them to sit on the ground with no place to go. There are actions to help minimize this waste, such as the push for more people to choose sustainable clothes. Yet, because the initial reason for fast fashion is cheap clothes many are not willing to buy high quality, lasting goods that are retail at higher prices. Therefore, until the counteraction becomes widespread, the buildup of excess fabric will only continue to worsen.
I thought that the images you chose were incredibly moving. For example, the photo of the workers had me feeling claustrophobic and hot, so I can’t even imagine what it’s like for them to work under such conditions. I feel like this is such a hot topic nowadays as activists push more and more for people to change their ways, but if there’s something humans don’t really like doing, it’s changing things they’ve been doing for years and years. I’m curious to see if you’ll touch on how trends really are temporary and how clothes influencers push and make popular only end up in a goodwill bin after a few months. This was written very beautifully and very clearly. I also really like how you organized the text and separated the morality from the technical logistics. I’m really looking forward to reading more about this blog!
I really appreciated your commentary on textile waste within this topic. A lot of people don’t understand that even if their clothes are made from organic materials like cotton, throwing clothes away does not mean that they will decompose and return safely to the environment. Landfills, by their very design, do not allow decomposition because they trap methane and compact waste under what are called “caps”, which often have many problems in methane leakage and groundwater contamination. I’m definitely looking forward to reading the other aspects of this topic that you choose to discuss.
I only began to hear the phrase “fast fashion” about a year ago, however, now, I cant unsee it. I really enjoyed how you focused on the duality of the issue which includes human rights and environmental concerns. The only way to really work at the issue is the change the mindset of the consumer. We are the ones who support these companies with unsustainable practices, so we can be the ones who bring about the change. Nice job!