FUCK FAST FASHION
In recent months there has been an amazing environmental
surge within people’s brains. The panic of global warming seems to have finally
hit home for most people as I am seeing daily articles being shared by the
people on my timeline. A big focus seems to be on veganism and the effects of
the meat industry has on the environment which is vital for people to realise.
However, an area that seems to go unnoticed is the fashion industry.
The fashion industry itself is the second largest polluter
in the world and is being increased by the over-production and over consumption
from us greedy people, adding to the already very terrifying environmental
disaster which is our planet.
Fast fashion is starting to have detrimental effects on the planet;
socially, economically and environmentally. The constant changing trends means
consumers are buying never ending amounts of clothes to keep up with trends. I
must admit I am hugely guilty of this too, with such a wide range of cheap
clothes available online on websites such as Missguided, Pretty Little Thing
etc, it is easy to find yourself buying something new for each event in your life.
The endless emails offering 30% off, free postage, student discount means I am
always being dragged in to shopping due to this clever marketing. HOWEVER, it
is only recently I have started considering the long-term effects these habits
must be having on the environment.
I genuinely believe this is down to a lack of education and
awareness as the industry is very good at hiding the damage they are having on
the planet. I am hoping that after reading this you will at least try and
rethink the way you shop.
To be honest, I don’t actually know where to begin on such a
huge topic and I may have to do several blogs to target each area but I will
use this as a brief overview on fast fashion.
I am gonna start with
environmental effects first. The production of clothes as you can imagine is
quite a long process. Starting from the production of cotton, it takes a very
long chain of people to get you the £4 top you ordered on PLT. Cotton uses
20,000 litres of water to create one kg of cotton…..Cotton is literally
draining our water supply and for some reason nobody is ever advertising this. The
fashion industry is using all our vital raw materials to create shit quality
clothes that people wear once and never use again.
Dyeing fabrics is another unmentioned environmental
nightmare, around 15% of all dye goes into wastewater, contaminating our soil,
killing aquatic life and poisoning drinking water. The dyeing of an average
t-shirt uses around 15-20 litres of water meaning the textile industry deposit
around 50,000 tons of dye into our water systems a year.
I know that it isn’t us consumers directly causing this
trouble, but by not educating ourselves and supporting these fast fashion
chains we are encouraging these companies to carry on acting the way they are.
Around 30 billion pounds worth of textiles are piled into
landfill every year…. want to cry writing all this soz for being depressing but
just spreading some home truthzzz. As you can imagine the process of making
clothes also uses a lot of energy as well as raw materials. Due to the cheap
cost of these clothes it is also evident that the people making them aren’t getting
nearly enough for their hard work.
Factories operating in these LEDC’s are supporting local
economies…. but also exploiting everyone within it. Low wages, poor working
conditions and unsafe working environments are just the start of it. It’s naïve
to think that these clothes we buy for under a tenner from chains are made with
love from properly paid workers, but ignorance is bliss and as a student with
an interest in fashion it is easy to find myself buying endless amounts of
clothes that I realistically don’t need.
Black Friday is the pinnacle
of unnecessary consumption. These large fashion houses seem to have no moral
obligation to the environment at all. I won’t lie, large discounts are very
tempting but as an industry they are literally promoting rampant consumerism on
things we don’t need. After reading a statement from fashion brand ‘Noah’ who
explained they will not take part in the event it really opened my eyes to the
devastating effect our own greed is having on resources (I’ll put some of the
statement they released below)
This statement made me feel like such an idiot and opened my
eyes up to what a slave I have been to the fashion industry and the effects of
my own unnecessary consumption over the last few years. I have literally been
so ignorant to the effects my shopping habits are having on the planet and have
been preaching the importance of cutting out meat/diary etc when this is
something I have been contributing to directly.
In all fairness, I do
use depop a lot and shop regularly from charity shops which is promoting the
recycling and up-selling of existing textiles, but my recent research into the
industry has opened up my eyes to the horrors of fashion.
Depop and vintage clothing is a huge leap in the right
direction. Luckily, I have always used depop as my one of my main sources of
clothing but reselling and buying second clothes is one of the most positive
ways to support sustainable fashion. By cutting out your monthly purchases at
fast fashion/unethical companies you will be having an impact, if tiny, on
working towards a more environmentally friendly future.
I am not saying never shop at these places again, I will still
make the occasional purchase, but when browsing and mindlessly adding things to
your basket, consider if you really NEED that item, will you use it for a long
time, is the quality good and long lasting? I had to refrain myself this whole
weekend as I was so nearly sucked in from these cyber Monday/black Friday deals
but realised I actually don’t need any more clothes at the moment.
I have made a promise to myself to not only stop spending
money frivolously on clothes but to make sure none are going directly into
landfill.
Reselling clothes is a great way of making money and recycling,
as a student I can rely on depop if I am getting poor and need some quick
money. So that is the first step towards sustainable fashion if you haven’t already
got it!!
Charity shops are also golden. Although they are often full
of crap there is sometimes some absolute steals which are amazing quality and
need a new owner, supporting charities and getting cool garms is a win win. On
the flip side, if you have clothes you no longer want and cannot sell, send
them to charity shops and give them a new life instead of tossing them in the
bin.
Large chains such as H&M are also promoting recycling by
offering a £5 voucher to spend in-store for each bag of clothes brought in. This
is exactly the type of schemes big corporations need to be promoting, so simple
yet so effective in reducing waste.
As I said earlier, I am going to research and write up a
number of blogs in the coming weeks focused on fast fashion but I hope this
brief and worrying overview will make you rethink the amount of shite you are
putting in your basket.
In conclusion- don’t buy stuff you don’t need, from companies
who don’t care, to impress people who won’t even notice. Re wear your existing
clothes, buy second hand and recycle or donate things you no longer want.
Luv u bye.
Watch the 'The True Cost' on Netflix if you want to see it for ya self!
