According to a Guardian article last year, Fast Fashion accounts for 10% of global CO2 emissions annually, which is more than contributions from aviation and maritime shipping combined.
The problems with fast fashion don’t even stop with emissions: from water use to microplastics, the careless way in which these companies operate destroys habitats and exploits workers. Still, Fast Fashion is one big issue that remains to be tackled on any large political scale.
A Forbes article published in September of last year explains how in 2015 the fast fashion industry used 79 billion cubic metres of water, and according to the UN 80-90% of this water was returned to the environment untreated. Whilst the production process contaminated the water through chemicals from the dying process and microplastics released by washing the clothes, the issue starts right at the source. The large-scale production of cotton creates water runoff that washes fertilisers into rivers, creating algal blooms and destroying ecosystems (a process known as eutrophication). As these clothes are usually produced in developing countries this can have disastrous impacts on the local people, who fish and live from the streams.
So what are governments and companies doing to combat this?
A 2019 New York Times article narrates how the 18 suggestions in the report released by the Environmental Audit Committee were rejected by the government. Suggestions included a 1p charge per garment to fund recycling schemes and environmental targets for fashion retailers with turnover above 36 million pounds. The government rejected these suggestions and said they could not be considered until 2025.
Britain is committed to net zero by 2050, however failure to police this polluting industry brings into question how reasonable the target is.
The creation of ‘micro-trends’ on social media platforms has also created a culture of buying clothes whilst they are popular, and then throwing them away in a couple of months when they are no longer in fashion.
Issues such as ‘greenwashing’, when fast fashion brands produce ‘sustainable’ clothing lines to reduce consumer guilt whilst having very little impact on the issue, also contribute to Fast Fashion consumption. Recycled clothing fibres can only make up 20% of a garment, so virgin fibres still need to be used in supposedly recycled clothing.
Many high end brands destroy unsold clothes to ‘maintain brand value’, rather than donating or reselling clothes. In 2018 Burbury announced it would stop burning tens of millions of pounds worth of unsold clothes and cosmetics, but there are still countless other brands yet to make the same commitment.
Lack of legislation to regulate these companies means that they are not held accountable for their actions, and so have no incentive to find more sustainable methods of production
So if political measures have failed us, how can individual action help?
Consider the outfit you are wearing right now, and where each item of clothing is from. If you’re wearing a T-shirt that’s 2.6kg of CO2, and 2,700 litres of water. For jeans that’s 11.5 kg of CO2 and over 7000 litres of water. Keep these figures in mind when shopping for new clothes. Ask if you really need it or if it has to be from this place- ask yourself if there is a more sustainable alternative.
Buy second hand, rent clothes, share clothes, support sustainable fashion brands. Research which businesses you’re supporting by buying their clothes. Educate yourself on the choices you are making every day, and be aware of your impact.
Fast fashion isnt going anywhere anytime soon, but by changing the way we shop and which companies we support we put pressure on governments and businesses to change as well.