01 | October | 2020 | Plaid Line

By Anna Hisle

If you’re like me, you love to shop. But do you really take the time to think about where and how that cute American Eagle top was made? While that shirt may be cute, it is being made in sweatshops who hire underpaid workers (sometimes even children) to make hundreds or even thousands of the same clothes.

So, you may be asking yourself what is fast fashion? Fast fashion is cheap trendy clothing.

These clothes are produced quickly while they are still in style and sold to shoppers who snatch them up right away. While these clothes are sold at the height of their popularity, they are quickly discarded once they are no longer in style. Sometimes these clothes are even only worn 1 or 2 times.

Image taken from: https://www.just-style.com/comment/from-field-to-shelf-what-price-fast-fashion-and-the-future-of-clothes_id137020.aspx

Impacts

Fast fashion has a very bad impact on the environment; there is a lot of pressure to speed up production and make costs lower.

Producers also use very cheap and toxic textile dyes. According to “Good On You,” using these cheap dyes makes the fashion industry one of the largest polluters of clean water globally.

According to “Mamoq,” it takes 2.70 liters of water to produce one cotton t-shirt. Now think about how much those t-shirts cost.

Because there is so much clothing being produced, and so quickly, there are overwhelming amounts of CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions distributed polluting the air. The microfibres in polyester also shed and contribute to ocean pollution.

Alternatives

Instead of buying clothes from fast fashion brands start buying sustainable clothing, going thrifting, or even just buying from small or local businesses.

By buying from sustainable clothing brands, you are not only helping the environment but you are also not supporting the employment of underpaid workers.

When you buy clothes from small or local businesses, you are supporting the people who are trying to make a name for themselves as well as just helping out a business that is not horrible for the environment.

By thrifting, you are buying people’s used clothes. This means that you are not buying directly from fast fashion brands but from second hand stores.

Sustainable clothing brands VS. fast fashion brands

While you’ve read this article and learned what fast fashion is, you probably still don’t know what brands are sustainable and which are bad for the environment.

Some fast fashion clothing brands include: