Environmental Impact of Fast Fashion Essay Sample

Here today, gone tomorrow. Currently, most clothing and fashion purchases are made of affordable “trendy” clothing that tends to consist of materials which are hurtful and damaging to the environment. Fast Fashion is inexpensive clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers and keeps up with the latest trends. Although Fast Fashion is very popular, it is also very damaging to the environment. Kaya Dorey shares in “Repairing the Damage Caused by Fast Fashion” a report by Copenhagen Fashion Summit that fashion is responsible for 92 million tons of solid waste dumped in landfills each year and is also at fault for producing 20 percent of wastewater and generating greenhouse gas emissions. Fast Fashion needs to be rethought because the fabrics being used to create clothing are damaging the environment. To solve the problem of fast fashion, people should buy second hand clothing and shop from companies that repurpose recycled clothing, while companies themselves should use more sustainable materials when making clothing.

Fast Fashion is a big problem for the environment and consumers can help by purchasing second hand clothing. Second hand clothing, beneficial because it decreases the demand for new clothing, is accessible multiple ways. Buying second-hand slows the demand for clothing, so companies would then decrease production of new clothing. According to Feufled “By buying something pre-owned, you are eliminating the demand for more clothing. A garment that may have been deemed stale and thrown away is now awarded a second life, with clothing waste being avoided altogether.” Knowing that second hand clothing is decreasing the demand for new clothing, all people should consider buying second-hand when possible. Another way second hand clothing is more beneficial is because there are many ways to buy second hand clothing. The main place people buy second hand clothing is from thrift stores, But according to Feufled people can also buy second hand clothing off of apps “trading apps allow you to grow your closet without contributing to waste. With trading apps, users are able to trade clothing with others internationally.” With the trading apps it can expand wardrobes with many new clothes, without contributing to hurting the environment. Buying second hand clothing is a great way to help out the environment and expands people's wardrobes, while decreasing the demand for new clothing.

Another way we can buy less fast fashion is to shop from companies that use more sustainable materials. Buying from a store that uses more sustainable materials is better for the enviorment, and also makes people feel better about what they’re buying. H&M is one of the stores trying to use more sustainable materials, “H&M launched a range of sustainable apparel products they marketed as their Conscious Collection. With this sustainable line extension, implementing sustainability in new product lines could be considered a natural fit, as the garments were made of recycled or organic materials' ' (Moon and Lee). Having big brands like H&M starting to use more sustainable materials is really important because other big companies will hopefully follow. Many people should also switch to companies that are enviormentally friendly if they have the opportunity. According to Liu, “more than 50% of consumers would switch brands if offered an environmentally and socially friendly alternative”. Having this opportunity could really help out the environment and make people feel better about what they’re buying. People should consider buying from companies that use more sustainable materials to help the environment and make them feel better about what they’re buying.

People need to find better ways of buying clothing, but also companies themselves should use more sustainable materials when making clothing. If companies do not start to make their clothes better, then landfills will get even bigger. Bhattarai states, “In 2015, Americans threw out nearly 12 million tons of clothing and shoes, three times as much as they did in 1990, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The vast majority of those items -- 69 percent -- ended up in landfills.” Knowing that landfills are getting bigger because of fast fashion, companies need to consider switching to more sustainable materials. Some companies have already started to switch over to more environmentally friendly materials. According to Bahattarai “newer retailers like Reformation, Allbirds, Everlane and Rothy's have built their brands around promises of transparent sourcing and responsible labor practices.” With the reassurance of companies using more sustainable energy people won’t have to worry about hurting the environment. Companies should Improve their clothing, but not all companies have the money to make clothing safer. According to Anastasia, “Other factories can't afford to make the major structural upgrades needed for them to be safe. (Of the 2,000 Bangladeshi factories that have been inspected so far, only 79 had passed final inspection as of March 2017.)” While companies are trying to get better about how they make their clothing it will take much time, since many companies do not have the money to upgrade.