Lesson Twelve: Fast Fashion
How “dressing for the ‘gram” has wreaked havoc on our planet
What is fast fashion anyways? By definition it is:
Inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends.
But as with most things when it comes to the planet, it’s much, much more complex than that. If you’ve shopped these brands before, you’re probably familiar with the concept:
The top issues with fast fashion are:
In relation to the above, let’s see if you can guess these…
The world of fashion has changed drastically compared to its cultural and humble beginnings. One example is how traditionally there used to be 4 seasons a year for fashion collections. Zara now offers 20 collections a year and produces around 450 million garments a year.
It is common for fast fashion companies to produce more than they can sell. H&M reported $4 billion for on-hand inventory in 2018.
Retailer Burberry in 2018 destroyed its unsold merchandise worth $38 million - they moved away from that practice this year after intense backlash.
Cinderella syndrome is a term often used when speaking about fast fashion. It was coined to describe when "you wear something once, you post it on Instagram, then you toss it."
What’s the impact on the environment?
The issue starts with making fabric. From this step alone, emissions come from pumping water to irrigate crops like cotton, oil-based pesticides, machinery for harvesting, and emissions from transport. A study estimates that making 1 kilogram of fabric generates an average of 23 kilograms of greenhouse gases.
It doesn’t stop there.
The industry is the second-biggest consumer of water, generating around 20% of the world’s wastewater. The industry also releases half a million tons of synthetic microfibers into the ocean annually. These tiny plastic microfibers are inundating our water supply and food chain.
Canadians on average purchase 70 new articles of clothing a year which contributes to the 12 million tons of textile waste dumped into North America's landfills annually. That’s like sending 2.2 million Asian elephants to the dump every year.
You also need to beware of greenwashing.
I once stumbled across a quote that said
Sustainability is like teenage sex: everyone says they’re doing it, but very few are actually doing it right.
Brands like H&M are “taking clothes back” for a new life. More often than not, it doesn’t mean being transformed into a new piece of clothing, but rather being resold in a country thousands of km away. Only about 15% is actually “recycled into textiles”.
What can you do moving forward?
Say goodbye to cheap materials that disintegrate once you put them through one wash cycle. Invest in durable materials.
Marie Kondo your wardrobe and buy staples that you’re going to wear for a while. None of this “i can only be seen wearing this 3 times max”.
Try to buy garments using sustainably sourced textiles and dyes, preferably local, and not from sweat shop factories. You have access to information, you can use it to make solid purchasing decisions 👍
I hope you took away something useful from this lesson! If you have any questions or comments, please share below!
