Have you ever thought about where your clothes come from and how they are made? I’m willing to bet that most of them come from developing countries. That is because, today, we rely heavily on the fast fashion industry to build our closets. Fast fashion occurs when we produce more clothes and the prices are less and less expensive. While it has benefits for us consumers, it has terrible consequences for the rest of the world.
First, the land is now considered a factory because people want it to keep up with the rhythm of the production, thus, plants are genetically modified, the agriculture is mechanized and pesticides are used. While we all know that chemicals have negative effects, not everyone knows how bad they are.
They often damage the soil which makes it sometimes impossible to grow different kinds of seeds at the same place. We can compare them to narcotics, the more we use them, the more we need them.
They also have consequences on human health. In the region of Punjab, which is the largest pesticides user in India because most of their cotton grows there, there is a dramatic rise in the number of birth defects, cancers and mental illnesses.
Moreover, the factories also have bad impacts. For instance, in some countries, leather factories pollute water, which is later used in the farms or directly consumed by people, who then get sick. Other impacts include deforestation, fossil fuels, creation of CO2, etc.
Second, the fast fashion industry exploits millions of people. Let’s look at the case of Bangladesh, where millions of people work in sweatshops. These people have terrible working conditions. They earn a few dollars a month although they work long hours each day, they don’t have the right to protest and they are not safe. Before you tell me that sewing clothes isn’t dangerous, know that lots of disasters have taken place in factories and sweatshops, like in Rana Plaza, where the building collapsed and killed more than 1000 people.
This happens because shops are competing and want lower prices than the others. Manufacturers don’t have a choice but to accept since they badly need the business. Therefore, cutting corners and disregarding safety measures has become acceptable. However, the low prices that big businesses set also impact the farmers. This system is so bad for them that it causes a lot of them to commit suicide. In India, the average is more than one per hour.
Third, we consumers think of fashion as disposable. We buy and toss clothes all the time without a second thought, but by doing so, we create large amounts of pollution. Tons of clothes end up in landfills and by purchasing clothes from across the world, we cause emissions of CO2. Even donating the clothes that we don’t want anymore doesn’t really fix the problem, as only 10% of what we donate to charity ends up sold while the other 90% gets sent to developing countries.
Finally, the problem might just be the whole capitalist and materialist system. The fashion industry is managed by a handful of people who prioritize profits over people’s well-being and the environment. These same people make us think that we need to buy products, and that purchasing items will solve our problems and make us happy. Whether we like it or not, they make us think certain things and act in a certain way. We just need to realize that advertising can be considered as a kind of propaganda.
What we can do to combat fast fashion use is think twice before buying a clothing item and ask ourselves, “Do I really need this? Am I going to wear it for a long time?,” and if we really need to buy something, doing so at a fair-trade shop or shopping second-hand are good ideas.
If you can, avoid buying things from fast fashion retailers like Shein or Temu, and when you don’t want your clothing anymore, try giving it to someone you know or selling it at a garage sale. We should also keep in mind that this problem is more global, it doesn’t just include the fashion industry but impacts the Earth and the environment.