3 Scary reasons why you shouldn’t buy fast fashion

WE are buying way too many clothes. In 2015, the documentary, The True Cost, stated that the world consumes around 80 billion new pieces of clothing every year, which is 400% more than the consumption 20 years ago. With the introduction of the fast fashion industry, people have access to new styles at affordable prices, meaning that consumers are buying clothes more frequently. This is causing many problems.

What is fast fashion?

Fast fashion refers to stylish or fashionable clothes sold at low prices for the everyday consumer. To keep up with the consumer’s demand for the latest fashions, fast fashion garments are produced fast and shipped fast. The process of design to retail to stores is faster than the designer brands and means that new collections are coming out on a continual basis. Certain supply chain brands are guilty of fast fashion and are usually the cheaper ones with a large selection.

Why shouldn’t you buy fast fashion, though? Isn’t it wonderful that you can now afford those ‘designer’ pieces and be able to change your wardrobe regularly without going bankrupt? Unfortunately, the cost to the environment, the economy and human beings outweigh the personal benefit. It’s not worth it! Rather buy thrift (second-hand) if you enjoy getting new clothes often.

Also read: Young designers set to showcase their fashions

1. Fast fashion often supports child labour

Fast fashion brands often source their products from certain developing countries that use child labour. Because child labour is cheap, they can sell the garments to the middleman or retailers at a reduced price so the retailer can then sell the garments at a significantly lower price. Child labour is deeply harmful as children should be in school and playing, not working long hours in often deplorable conditions.

Even though child labour is illegal all over the world, it’s still happening. It declined by 30% between 2000 and 2012, but then rose again and now sits at about 160 million children worldwide who are exploited.

2. It’s bad for the environment and contributes to climate change

Fast fashion manufacturing processes aren’t good for the environment but also, they encourage consumers to throw away and buy new products which causes landfills to overflow with garments which do not decompose well, taking hundreds of years to break down.

Fast fashion uses huge amounts of water and energy. The fashion industry is the second-largest consumer of water. It requires about 2 650 litres of water to produce one cotton shirt and about 7 570 litres to produce one pair of jeans. The dyeing of textiles is the second-largest water polluter!

Synthetic fibres, like polyester, nylon and acrylic, aren’t any better than cotton as they take hundreds of years to biodegrade. Of the ocean’s microplastics, 35% come from us washing these garments. To make these synthetic fibres, they have to process plastic fibres into textiles, and this requires large amounts of petroleum.

3. It harms small businesses, increases unemployment and affects local manufacturing

Fast fashion mostly comes from imported goods, so consumers are buying cheap imported garments instead of supporting local small businesses which help increase employment, bolster our economy and support local designers, manufacturers and retailers. We are buying to support child labour overseas instead of the hardworking entrepreneurs – and the staff they employ – who are trying to make a living in our own country.

Also, fast fashion designs are sometimes copied (therefore stolen) from the original designer’s work without their consent.

4. How can you help?

You must be wondering if it would be better to wear your birthday suit after reading all these discouraging facts and figures. There are some ways you can help – remember, you don’t have to be perfect, but be a conscious consumer:

– Buy more sustainable garments made of wild silk, organic cotton, linen, hemp and lyocell.
– Research a brand before buying from it to find out who they obtain their garments from and how they are farmed and processed. Check out this link: How to Recognise Fast Fashion Brands and Which Ones to Avoid.
– Buy second-hand. There are so many wonderful options for this nowadays.
– Buy from local designers and brands. There are even some ‘fast fashion’ retailers that try to be sustainable like Pick ‘n Pay Clothing.
– Wear your clothes for longer and repair them if they break instead of chucking them out.

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