Fast Fashion Killer
How the fast fashion industry is destroying our planet
A funeral was staged for London fashion week this year by Extinction Rebellion, an international environmental activist group that started in the UK as a response to the issue of climate change. “RIP LFW 1939–2019” was seen written on a black coffin as the group staged their protests against the major fashion event for its contribution to the unsustainability of the fashion industry.
Despite many recent efforts to incorporate sustainability in fashion, the industry is still dominated by the “fast fashion” cycle. This cycle involves producing very large quantities of clothing over-seas and producing them at such fast rates, resulting in extreme amounts of waste.
In the wake of our current climate change crisis, the fast fashion industry is extremely unsustainable through every step of the garment lifecycle, which is resulting in large amounts of pollution and waste, which is very damaging to the environment.
The fashion industry is an enormous source of pollution both during production and after production. The lifecycle of a garment begins with the fibres used to create the fabrics, that then get cut and dyed, and are then turned into garments.
Environmental health research states that “approximately 90% of clothing sold in the United States is made with cotton or polyester”. This is significant because polyester is a synthetic fibre which is made from oil. Since polyester is a plastic, it requires the use of fossil fuels and significant amounts of energy in order to produce it, which leads to the release of harmful toxins into the environment.
In 2014, the production of polyester alone caused 40% of the fashion industry’s carbon dioxide emissions. Whereas polyester is a synthetic fibre, cotton is a natural fibre, but the use of cotton also has many negative effects. Cotton is a crop that requires extremely large amounts of water to grow as well as the use of many toxic pesticides, which contaminate the earth and our waterways.
Once these textiles are produced, they must be dyed in order to be used for clothing production. This dyeing process results in the release of even more chemicals into our waterways.
Evidence of this pollution is very prominent overseas where most of this production is happening. In a podcast interview with Yael Alflalo, the owner of the sustainable brand “Reformation”, she speaks about her past experiences with unsustainable production and her cause for wanting to create a sustainable brand. In the past she worked for the fast fashion company “Urban Outfitters” and recalls the horrible pollution she saw when visiting their production facilities in China.
“A typical washing machine emits 160 pounds of carbon dioxide each year. A clothes dryer puffs out 700 pounds.”
In addition to the pollution happening during the production processes, it continues to happen afterwards in the home of the consumers. After buying or wearing clothing, the garments must be washed, which usually requires the use of washing and drying machines. A study done at Cambridge University revealed that “a typical washing machine emits 160 pounds of carbon dioxide each year. A clothes dryer puffs out 700 pounds”. This evidence illustrates the severity of the greenhouse gasses emitted from washing and drying our clothing, and these numbers just represent one machine. The carbon footprint resulting from these emissions is extremely large and this air pollution only contributes further to climate change.
Moreover, when synthetic fabrics such as polyester are washed in a washing machine, they release millions of plastic microfibers that further pollute our waterways. Through the use of fossil fuels, pesticides, and toxic chemicals, as well as the carbon emissions and water pollution caused by our clothing, it is very evident that the garment industry is a large contributor to pollution both during and after production.
“Around 3.8 billion pounds of clothing ends up being sent to landfills every year.”
Not only is the fast fashion industry a contributor to pollution, but it also results in massive amounts of waste. The fast fashion model of production runs off of the cycle of producing tremendous amounts of clothing over and over again each season. With such large volumes of clothing being made and consumed in America, around 3.8 billion pounds of clothing ends up being sent to landfills every year. This reveals the extreme size of clothing waste which is significant because of that fact that this waste is taking up large amounts of space in landfills and destroying our environment.
Due to this issue, many companies have taken initiative to become more sustainable. These efforts can be seen in companies such as American Eagle and Ann Taylor who have begun using rental programs that allow customers to rent out clothing from their stores for limited amounts of time, and H&M who has created a recycling program where shoppers are given a discount for bringing in old clothing.
Although these efforts are positive, they are still not enough to compete with the damage fast fashion continues to cause. H&M itself is a fast fashion company and their recycling program gives the idea that they are a sustainable business, but they are really a contributor to the problem.
A CBC Marketplace documentary looked deeper into H&M’s recycling program and revealed that H&M stores get new shipments of clothing three times a week, so they are physically unable to recycle textiles fast enough to keep up with this volume and speed.
Textile recycling is still in its early stages and the technology is not advanced enough yet. The problem with this recycling process is that all textiles are made up of different blends of fibres which makes them very difficult to recycle, and actually diminishes their quality. Due to this, most of the donations the stores receive are not really recycled, but instead sold to a middle man to be sold to other countries.
Additionally, because consumers purchase so many garments each year, they end up donating large amounts of clothes each year as well. When consumers donate old clothing, they feel great for giving back to the less fortunate, but they have no idea what really happens to the clothes they donate.
In the documentary “Clothing Waste: Fashion’s Dirty Secret”, Charlsie Agro follows the trail of clothing donated by families in Canada to discover the truth behind where these clothes go. She found that thousands of garments were being held in warehouses owned by the charities. All the clothing no one wants, and even clothing that was unable to be sold in thrift shops are all sent to these charities.
While interviewing an industry professional, Agro learns that there are more unwanted articles of clothing than there are local people who need them. Due to this, these garments end up sent to landfills or sent overseas to developing countries to be sold in markets there.
Agro follows these garments to Africa to the markets where they are sold second-hand. A local used clothing importer reveals to her that all of the clothing they are unable to sell in these markets are either thrown in the garbage, dumped into a big lot behind the market, or they are burned.
Environmental health experts also report that “clothing not sold in markets become solid waste, clogging rivers, greenways, and parks…”. Most of these garments that are dumped are made from synthetic fibres, which are not biodegradable, so they stay there as solid waste. Because synthetic fabrics are made using chemicals, and so are the dyes used on these fabrics, burning them only releases these chemicals into the air as well. In the end, more waste and environmental pollution is the result.
Fast fashion leads to the overproduction of clothing and the more it continues, the more waste we create.
Climate change is a detrimental issue, and with this current crisis, the fast fashion industry is only contributing to this issue because it is so unsustainable.
Through every step of the garment lifecycle, large amounts of pollution and damage to our environment are caused. During the production of textiles, toxic chemicals are released into the air and our water systems. After production, this same pollution continues to happen through the washing and drying of garments, as well as through the massive amounts of textile waste.
As people become more aware of our climate crisis, more sustainability efforts are beginning to arise, but despite this, the fast fashion industry is still dominating the market and only major changes will be enough to make a real difference.
As consumers, in order to help, we must change the way we shop by moving toward a slow fashion model, which is buying less, and buying better quality clothing. We must eliminate clothing waste and help the environment by buying clothing made of recycled or recyclable materials and carefully assess the companies you are buying from.
To understand more ways you can do your part as a consumer, check out “The Conscious Closet” by Elizabeth Cline, which is a great book with many ideas of how we as consumers can make more sustainable choices!
