CI #2 Fast Fashion

Let’s discuss one of my top interests, fashion. Fashion has been of interest from the ornate tastes of Marie Antoinette to the minimalist style of the Olsen Twins. However, in the crisis of sustainability, the fashion industry has become one of the top culprits in creating a multitude of waste.

This is contributed to the ever-changing attitudes and the general culture regarding fashion, in general. In accordance with the traditional four-season cyclical, the designers and stores would only turn out four collections a year. Now, as many as eleven or even up to fifteen collections a year are produced to keep up with the demand of what many consumers, researchers, and those in the industry are calling “fast fashion”.

Fast fashion is best described by the Google Dictionary as, “inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends.”  This explains the “collection a month (or more)” standard that has been cultivated in recent decades.

Edge, a fashion intelligence website, has found that “Between 2000 and 2014, clothing production doubled with the average consumer buying 60 percent more pieces of garment compared to 15 years ago. Yet, each clothing item is now kept half as long.” Going out on a limb, I’m going to say that not every piece of clothing that has been bought and sold during this time period was created in a sustainable manner nor have they been sold secondhand or donated to charity.

Water pollution from textile manufacturering.

After some research, I have found that I am, in fact, correct. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 15.1 million tons of textile waste was generated in 2013, of which 12.8 million tons were discarded. Of the discarded textile, the greatest producer of waste was *drum roll* … China! China, on average, throws away twenty-six million tons of clothing, each year. Even more disheartening is the fact that less than one percent of this is reused. In contrast, the United States reuses about fifteen percent of all textiles. Interestingly enough, China lacks textiles and materials to create new articles of clothing. A simple solution would be to reuse old textiles and fabrics.

More environmental impacts of fast fashion, and clothing, generally include.

Water pollution in Bangladesh, from textile dyeing.

1. Producing polyester releases two to three times more carbon emissions than cotton, and polyester does not break down in the ocean.
2. It takes about two-thousand gallons of water to produce a pair of jeans. That’s more than enough for one person to drink eight cups per day for ten years. This is because they’re made from cotton – a crop that uses an excessive amount of water.

3. Textile dyeing is the world’s second-largest polluter of water since the water leftover from the dyeing process is often dumped into ditches, streams, or rivers.

4.  Ocean dead zones are becoming a harsh reality. Due to the pollution in the oceans, there are fewer levels of oxygen. Of course, there is traditional pollution, as identified in the dark, and upsetting comic above, but there are also  ocean dead zone is extremely low-oxygen areas in the world’s oceans, lake ways, and rivers caused by excessive pollution from human activity depleting oxygen required to support most marine life in the water.”

However, there are solutions and steps to take, as consumers, to help lessen your impact.

1. Second-Hand Stores are a fantastic way to not only pass along clothes that you no longer wish to own but also to purchase clothing that has been already broken in by some other environmentally conscientious consumer. Furthermore, second-hand stores are likely to have other items than clothes – such as decor, shoes, and even furniture.
2. Participate in the Take Back Revolution. Stores such and websites such as H&M, Amazon, Levi Strauss, American Eagle, etc. have been working to meet an environmentally sustainable and responsible goal of allowing consumers to bring back clothing that has been previously purchased and thus, can be reused by the corporation to create new clothes – instead of creating waste by reproducing new textiles. Patagonia even always for clothing that has reached the end of its usable life to be sent back to their company and recycled.
3. Rental fashion websites are a cost-effective and environmentally beneficial way to lessen the impact on your bank account and your planet. Initially, services were limited to Rent The Runway. But more recently, high-end designers, such as Diane Von Furstenberg has embraced the “limitless” closet trend. In contrast with paying to rent clothing, there is always the traditional option of a clothing swap.
4. Furthermore, it is worth considering, if financially feasible, investing in “slow fashion”. According to GoodOnYou.Eco, “slow fashion” is the “Slow Fashion is an awareness and approach to fashion, which considers the processes and resources required to make clothing, particularly focusing on sustainability. It involves buying better-quality garments that will last for longer and values fair treatment of people, animals ,and the planet.” It is the anti-thesis of fast fashion. These values that are instilled include fair-trade, sustainable sourcing, and creation of garments, ethical treatment of garment workers, etc.  Here are a few sites with (list one, list two, list three ) of sustainable fashion brands and companies to look into.
5. Something that I have recently come aware of is online thrifting stores and social media communities. Recently, or maybe not so recent, thrift stores have been putting their merchandise online. This is especially interesting, as some thrift stores are becoming completely digital – ditching the entire store aspect, in its entirety.

As my mom would say, “Be smart and make good decisions out there!”