Fast Fashion

By: Treana Vickery

Fast fashion is a phrase used in the fashion industry to describe certain types of clothes. These types of clothes are made by companies that try to mimic high fashion brands but sell them for a lower price. Fast fashion clothes have become popular because they are trendy, fast and cheap. However, fast fashion affects the environment tremendously.

Fast fashion produces carbon dioxide when it manufactures and transports clothes. Manufacturing makes clothes by using toxic chemicals and gasses, such as carbon dioxide. These chemicals are burned and then released into the enviornment. Transporting clothes also uses carbon dioxide. Trucks are used to move clothing into shops, this is fueled by fossil fuels. The carbon emissions from fast fashion are released into the atmosphere causing global warming.

700 gallons of water are used to make a simple cotton T-shirt

Fast fashion is the second largest pollution industry

2.6 of global water is used for growing cotton Fast fashion has affected the environment through climate change. Climate change affects wildlife by causing them to migrate or go extinct because it becomes too hot in their home. Another way fast fashion has affected the environment is by using dyes and oils. The chemicals in both these substances are thrown into oceans, rivers, or streams which then kill the animals.

SHEIN H&M ZARA

Why not buy fast, cheap & trendy clothing?

Information by: The Sustainable Living Guide, Battered Women’s Support Service (BWSS), Leaders in Wildlife Conservation (LIWC), Carbon Literacy Project

How can Humans Help? • Resell clothes • Donate clothes • Make new clothes by using old materials • Thrift Shop • Reduce washing clothes in high temperatures

NIKE GAP

After buying a piece of fast fashion clothing most people only wear a piece a few times. They then proceed to discard the item where it is put into textile waste and takes 80 years to decompose. This has contributed to overproduction and overconsumption, both leading to an increase in landfills. Now over 300,000 tons of clothes are considered textile waste, which is 4% of the world’s landfill. The worst part is that 95% of the garments could have been reusable.