Should we boycott fast fashion?
What is fast fashion? Quite simply: fast fashion refers to clothing manufactured at high speed and sold at a low price. Many of these clothes are inspired by recent fashion trends (such as tie-dye which has made a comeback during quarantine). The problem faced is there is immense pressure to reduce cost of the garments and speed up production time so that as many people as possible can purchase these items while they are still on trend, therefore resulting in environmental corners being cut in the name of profit.
Many people are unaware of the impact of the fashion industry on the planet. The environmental impacts of fast fashion include the reduction of non-renewable resources, the emission of greenhouse gases and the use of massive amounts of water and energy. To make a single pair of jeans, 10,000 litres of water is required. These jeans tend to be worn a handful of times and then thrown away. The US alone sends about 21 billion lbs of textile waste to landfills every year and the UK sends 350 tonnes of clothing to landfills each year which totals a cost of £140 million. Eventually these materials will break down, releasing methane - a greenhouse gas that is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide in polluting the environment.
Fast fashion also contributes to the ongoing problem of forced and child labour. Many nations such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and Ethiopia don't have adequate labour laws and the laws they do have aren't always enforced, meaning the children in these factories face dangerous conditions and extremely long hours with mandatory overtime. In most cases these workers are paid inadequate amounts of money which fall far below the minimum wage.
However, it is not always easy to identify fast fashion shops. I will admit more than once I have contributed to fast fashion without being aware. We as a society need to realise which shops and brands are contributing to this movement and take steps to remove them from the market. Most of the time these shops tend to sell their clothes for extremely cheap prices therefore, I urge you to consider the prices of the garments which you purchase. In many cases if the price is too good to be true then it probably is. Examples of fast fashion shops are: Shein, Missguided, Forever 21, Zaful, Boohoo and Fashion Nova. Shein in particular blatantly copies clothes from more expensive and also more ethical brands at a cheaper price in order to make sales. Most of the time these clothes don’t last long and therefore get thrown away more quickly. One example of this is the Brandy Melville cara skirt priced at £22 and the Shein tartan plaid slit hen skirt priced at £13. Both garments look exactly the same but it is evident from reviews that the Shein garment isn’t produced to the same quality with poor reviews on the website such as, “I washed it once and most of the seams ripped” and “material is hard and rigid will return”. Therefore, it is also important as individuals for us to read product reviews before taking a gamble and hoping the quality is up to standard. Furthermore, you can discover which online clothing shops are environmentally friendly by using the app, ‘Good On You’ – the ethical fashion app tells you whether a brand is to be avoided or used depending on the treatment of their workers, and the manufacture/price of their products.
The government and ourselves need to bring about change to stop the production of fast fashion. We also need to further our education on these kinds of topics by teaching one another how to shop sustainably such as shopping in charity shops, and buying clothes labelled as ‘eco’, ‘organic’ or ‘conscious’; clothes with this labelling have been made using recycled and ethically produced material.
Fast fashion is a good alternative for people who struggle financially and therefore cannot afford to buy more expensive clothing items, however if you do have the money to buy a better quality, more sustainable clothing item rather than three less sustainable pieces, then please shop considerately and don’t contribute to the consumerism of fast fashion.
I would strongly urge you to take the 30-wear pledge which means if you feel as if you will not wear an item of clothing more than 30 times then you simply don’t need it. Celebrities such as Emma Watson and Livia Firth have both tried this technique. Emma Watson has been very open about the issue of fast fashion and what she is doing to change it. “You may have noticed me talking about my clothes recently - I’m trying to be conscious about where my clothes come from and also about the people who make them. Just in case you’re wondering!”. Personally, I feel if Emma Watson can do it then so can we!
By Bethany Hutchinson Y10
Many people are unaware of the impact of the fashion industry on the planet. The environmental impacts of fast fashion include the reduction of non-renewable resources, the emission of greenhouse gases and the use of massive amounts of water and energy. To make a single pair of jeans, 10,000 litres of water is required. These jeans tend to be worn a handful of times and then thrown away. The US alone sends about 21 billion lbs of textile waste to landfills every year and the UK sends 350 tonnes of clothing to landfills each year which totals a cost of £140 million. Eventually these materials will break down, releasing methane - a greenhouse gas that is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide in polluting the environment.
Fast fashion also contributes to the ongoing problem of forced and child labour. Many nations such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and Ethiopia don't have adequate labour laws and the laws they do have aren't always enforced, meaning the children in these factories face dangerous conditions and extremely long hours with mandatory overtime. In most cases these workers are paid inadequate amounts of money which fall far below the minimum wage.
However, it is not always easy to identify fast fashion shops. I will admit more than once I have contributed to fast fashion without being aware. We as a society need to realise which shops and brands are contributing to this movement and take steps to remove them from the market. Most of the time these shops tend to sell their clothes for extremely cheap prices therefore, I urge you to consider the prices of the garments which you purchase. In many cases if the price is too good to be true then it probably is. Examples of fast fashion shops are: Shein, Missguided, Forever 21, Zaful, Boohoo and Fashion Nova. Shein in particular blatantly copies clothes from more expensive and also more ethical brands at a cheaper price in order to make sales. Most of the time these clothes don’t last long and therefore get thrown away more quickly. One example of this is the Brandy Melville cara skirt priced at £22 and the Shein tartan plaid slit hen skirt priced at £13. Both garments look exactly the same but it is evident from reviews that the Shein garment isn’t produced to the same quality with poor reviews on the website such as, “I washed it once and most of the seams ripped” and “material is hard and rigid will return”. Therefore, it is also important as individuals for us to read product reviews before taking a gamble and hoping the quality is up to standard. Furthermore, you can discover which online clothing shops are environmentally friendly by using the app, ‘Good On You’ – the ethical fashion app tells you whether a brand is to be avoided or used depending on the treatment of their workers, and the manufacture/price of their products.
The government and ourselves need to bring about change to stop the production of fast fashion. We also need to further our education on these kinds of topics by teaching one another how to shop sustainably such as shopping in charity shops, and buying clothes labelled as ‘eco’, ‘organic’ or ‘conscious’; clothes with this labelling have been made using recycled and ethically produced material.
Fast fashion is a good alternative for people who struggle financially and therefore cannot afford to buy more expensive clothing items, however if you do have the money to buy a better quality, more sustainable clothing item rather than three less sustainable pieces, then please shop considerately and don’t contribute to the consumerism of fast fashion.
I would strongly urge you to take the 30-wear pledge which means if you feel as if you will not wear an item of clothing more than 30 times then you simply don’t need it. Celebrities such as Emma Watson and Livia Firth have both tried this technique. Emma Watson has been very open about the issue of fast fashion and what she is doing to change it. “You may have noticed me talking about my clothes recently - I’m trying to be conscious about where my clothes come from and also about the people who make them. Just in case you’re wondering!”. Personally, I feel if Emma Watson can do it then so can we!
By Bethany Hutchinson Y10