Living in the COVID World ... and Beyond #59: Fast Fashion

I’m not much of a clothes shopper.   I tend to wear clothes until they “fall off me.”   This means I have some of the same clothes that I had 30 - 40 years ago.   I tend to go clothes shopping about once each year to get replacements shirts or underwear if some of my old ones are no longer wearable.   And please don’t ask me about fashion trends.  I have no idea.   I don’t know what’s in or what’s out.  I just keeping wearing the same stuff that I’ve got until it wears out.

I realize that not everyone thinks or acts the way that I do.   Many people are into fashion or into having new things.  They believe it helps them to look their best and maybe even feel better about themselves as a result.  I don’t begrudge anyone wanting to feel good about themselves.

However, I have been learning about something called “fast fashion” and its impact on the environment.   The term refers to ‘cheaply produced and priced garments that copy the latest catwalk styles and get pumped quickly through stores in order to maximize on current trends.’   The fast fashion model is so-called because it involves the rapid design, production, distribution, and marketing of clothing, which means that retailers can pull large quantities of greater product variety and allow consumers to get more fashion and product differentiation at a low price.   What’s wrong with any of that?

According to an analysis by Business Insider, “fashion production comprises 10% of total global carbon emissions, as much as the European Union. It dries up water sources and pollutes rivers and streams, while 85% of all textiles go to dumps each year. Even washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibres into the ocean each year, the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles.”   The three main drivers of the industry’s global pollution impacts are dyeing and finishing (36%), yarn preparation (28%) and fiber production (15%).  According to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, emissions from textile manufacturing alone are projected to skyrocket by 60% by 2030.

Here is a link to a short film (8 minutes) that was made (including by some people that I know in England) about the fast fashion industry -  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qTjVxyNt_SCNEbneMz2At5QRCkLOcazp/view.   Please watch it.

What can we do to reduce the environmental impact of the clothing industry?  

·      We can buy less – less is always better for the climate (not only regarding clothes)

·      We can buy second-hand clothes

·      We can re-use and re-make clothes from clothing that we already have (as you see in the film)

·      Advocate for manufacturers and retailers in the clothing industry to use sustainably-sourced materials

What are your thoughts about fast fashion?   Are there steps that you have already taken, or that you plan to take, to support the clothing industry to be more sustainable and less destructive of the environment?