-END FAST FASHION-
The million dollar global industry that's hurting us.
1. Spread Awareness
2. Inspire Change
3. Enact Change
Fast fashion is when companies such a H&M and Forever 21 "provide clothes cheaply and quickly to consumers rough short fashion cycles" (GreenBiz). Traditionally, clothes have been hand made and were worn until they fell apart; however, the proccess of fast fashion has led to producing a new line of clothes every season to create new trends and exploit the consumer.
The reason why fast fashion is profitable is because the companies are
mass producing and selling clothing so fast with no consideration for
the environment. 713 gallons. That is how much water it takes to produce
1 shirt! That is enough water for a human to survive on for 2.5 years.
With the fast fashion industry increasing rapidly, the number of
resources that it uses increases drastically. The industry is just not
sustainable for the future! In addition to using hundreds of gallons of
water per shirt, fast fashion also releases CO2, a greenhouse gas. A car
that drives 80 miles produces the same amount of CO2 as making 1 pair of
jeans. Now think about how many jeans and shirts you have now and how
many will get this year. Multiply that by the number of people in the
world and you have millions upon millions of wasted resources. Not only
are natural resources being used and destroyed, but the clothing itself
is polluting the earth. Globally, 80% of discarded textiles are doomed
for the landfill or incineration. Only 20% are actually reused or
recycled" (reMake). The fast fashion industry has only increased the
waste.
So the real question is, "What can I do to save our enviroment?""
Explore some more to find out!
Fast fashion is actually very good for the economy. However, this never-ending economic growth we're attempting to sustain simply isn't feasible. This model only works in a planet with infinite resources and it is becoming increasingly apparent that our resources are very finite. This pattern of economic growth for growth's sake is leading to exploitation of workers and our planet.
Making new garments in such large quanities and with such frequency practically necessitates exploitation of workers. It simply isn't feasible to demand so many garments and pay workers a decent wage. This is why most clothing manufacturers produce their clothing in countries with lower minimum wages and laxer workplace regulations. Many factories even employ illegal immigrants because they know they're desperate and will work for longer hours and lower wages. It's honestly sickening.
GreenBiz
re/make