Fast fashion: what is it and what impact does it have on the environment and workers?
Compared to the past, from the 90s onwards, buying clothing has become less and less expensive, thanks to chains such as H&M, Zara and Primark, which offer the latest fashion clothes at a very low cost. However, this production method has strong consequences, both on an ethical and an environmental level. There are other ways, in fact, to dress well at a low price: for example, you can buy it during the sales. In this video we explain how to buy at a discounted price!
So is fast fashion
The definition of fast fashion refers to a clothing sector that produces clothing and accessories with a very low price, in the face, however, of an "equally low quality of the garments. The items are in the latest fashion and are designed to last a few seasons, in an incessant turnover that pushes consumers to buy more and more. The large manufacturing chains take their cue from the trends proposed by stylists during Fashion Weeks and in a very short time, thanks through the optimization of production processes, they are able to put the latest fashion garments on the market.
The goal of these chains is to produce items in the shortest possible time to meet the needs of consumers and push them to buy more and more; the factories are based on the so-called "Quick Response Method", which is an extremely efficient production method. which, thanks to extremely short times, makes the user frequent the shops very often because he knows that he will always find new items there to satisfy his desire for shopping.
Fast fashion is a term that in recent years has become synonymous with disposable fashion, based on the unbridled consumption of low-cost and poor quality garments: used for a season and then thrown away. The main fast fashion chains are Zara, H&M, Primark, Pull & Bear, Bershka, Forever21, Uniqlo, Mango, ... In recent years, however, a new trend that is opposed to fast fashion is becoming increasingly popular: slow fashion, or a sustainable fashion in which the consumer pays the right price for an item that he will use for several seasons. From the idea that an article will be used only a few months in search of a new sustainability: this is the principle of slow fashion.
The impact of fast fashion on the environment
Fast fashion has profound consequences on environmental sustainability, as fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world. According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, for example, the fashion sector is responsible for 20% of global water waste and 10% of carbon dioxide emissions, as well as producing more greenhouse gases than all air travel and ships of the world.
In addition to all this, due to the pesticides used for the production of textile fibers, the rivers and land near the factories would be heavily polluted as most of the toxic substances (such as chemical dyes and bleaches) would be discharged into them. Furthermore, the fast fashion industry is also among the top producers of waste: these can accumulate both in the form of unsold goods (in 2018 H&M found itself with excess goods in stock for almost 4 and a half billion dollars), and as clothes thrown away by consumers because they are no longer "fashionable".
All this useless merchandise is burned and, unfortunately, not recycled.According to research by the Sustainable Development Foundation and Fise-Unire of Confindustria, in our country every year some 240,000 tons of textile products end up in landfills, mainly items of clothing that users throw in the trash.
Fast fashion and the exploitation of workers
In addition to the negative consequences on the environment, fast fashion also has heavy repercussions on the countries of the so-called Third World, in which clothes destined for Western countries are produced. Factories often use underpaid and exploited labor (even minors), imposing inhuman rhythms and failing to comply with safety regulations Faced with a meager wage, workers are forced to work stressful shifts in unsafe environments.
The countries where the giants of fast fashion open their factories are those where there are fewer controls and less respect for the rights of workers (who are mostly women): Bangladesh, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Pakistan, ... Recently this exploitation attracted the attention of the media when a factory in Bangladesh, the Rana Plaza, caught fire in 2013. More than 1000 people died and 2500 were injured, due to non-compliance with safety regulations.
What alternatives to fast fashion?
Anyone who has watched the documentary "The true cost" has had the perception that there is something wrong, both for the planet and for our society, in this way of production so pushed to excess. The individual responsibility not to consume an excessive amount of clothing should guide our choices, in order not to take part in the ruin of the environment.
The textile industry that produces at a frenzied pace can never be a sustainable choice. However, there are alternatives, just buy brands that respect the production chain and avoid imposing inhumane working conditions on their workers. Another option fully in line with respect for the environment is, for example, vintage. In this case the product has already been created, so there is no resource consumption. The new independent brands, then, are generally very attentive to the ethics of their products: an extra guarantee for us consumers too. Companies have become very careful, in recent times, to offer garments made in an ethical way, a sign that a new awareness is emerging from the frenzied search for ever faster productions.
