Avoid Fast Fashion and Help the Environment
- Edugreen Intl.
- Oct 20, 2021
- 3 min read
Fast fashion is growing more and more popular in our society with each passing day. Sure, it is easy to love the low prices and trendy designs of fast fashion, but will the long term effects of this consumption be worth it? Fast fashion harms the environment with global carbon emissions, excessive water consumption, and waste accumulation. In fact, ten percent of global carbon emissions come from the apparel industry; it is the second largest polluter in the world. The synthetic fibers of the clothing such as acrylic, nylon, and polyester are made from fossil fuels. Additionally, most clothing items from fast fashion are produced in countries such as China, Bangladesh, and India. Unfortunately, these countries are essentially powered by coal. Fossil fuels are the dirtiest source of energy, and they contribute to global warming. How does one avoid clothes that contribute to this problem? Buy fewer clothing items made with higher quality. This way, each clothing piece will get more wears. After all, if one wears a garment five times in comparison to 50 times, 400% more carbon emissions are released. Not to mention, long lasting clothes lower the need to purchase more clothes. Therefore, quality clothes save consumers money. Additionally, one should check the tag to see if the clothing piece was made in a country that uses renewable energy. When thinking of the process of clothing production, excessive water use is not what may come to mind. Believe it or not, the fashion industry uses 1.5 trillion liters of water a year! Water is needed for growing cotton, dyeing fabric, and more. It may take up to 20,000 liters of water just to grow one kilogram of cotton. To dye just one ton of fabric, it may take 200 tons of water. These numbers are not to be taken lightly, for hundreds of millions of people do not have access to drinking water. There is a way to avoid adding to this water scarcity, however. When purchasing clothes, look for fabric with low water consumption, such as linen and recycled fibers. Fast fashion is known to come and go in short periods of time, hence the adjective “fast”. After a few short months of utilizing a piece of fast fashion clothing, it quickly falls out of trend and is disposed of. In fact, a single western world family on average disposes of 30 kg of clothing in just a year. The clothing then travels to a landfill to decompose in a few years and disappear into the earth forever, right? Unfortunately, this is not the case. Synthetic fibers, the most common material in clothing, can take up to 200 years to decompose. Considering the long lifetime of clothing composed of synthetic fiber, it is best to purchase fewer and better quality clothes made of natural fibers. Fast fashion’s negative impact on the earth’s environment outweighs the temptation of trendy and cheap clothes. Fast fashion harms the environment with global carbon emissions, excessive water consumption, and waste accumulation. However, there are alternatives to fast fashion! Shopping for fewer, high quality clothes results in more wears of each item, lowering production demand. That way, less energy and water will be needed for production and there will be less clothes in the landfill. Not only will higher quality clothes benefit the environment, but it will benefit consumers as well. Long lasting clothes significantly lower the need to buy more clothes; therefore, quality clothes save consumers money. Additionally, check tags for clothing made of natural or recycled fibers in countries that use renewable energy. By purchasing clothing under those descriptions, you are supporting clothes that take less water, fossil fuels, and time to decompose. Although it may not be obvious, thoughtful, everyday clothing choices can help the earth become happier and healthier.
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