The way we shop for clothes is unsustainable. Fast fashion has a huge impact on the environment – but it also has a damning record when it comes to human rights.
Featured image (top): Garment employees work at Fakhruddin Textile Mills Limited in Gazipur, Bangladesh, February 7, 2021. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain.
The reason fast fashion items are so cheap is in part because brands take advantage of low-paid labour, often in poorer countries.
Much of our clothing is made in factories are known as sweatshops – places typically offering low pay for long hours in uncomfortable and unsafe conditions. Clothing sweatshops have been known to use child labour and garment workers are often at risk of sexual abuse and violence.
Sweatshops are not only found in developing countries. Watch the video below about LA sweatshops where workers were paid just $3 an hour.
Some good news: A campaign to protect garment workers led to California’s Governor Gavin Newsom signing a bill in late September 2021 which ensures workers are paid at least minimum wage ($14 an hour).
The environmental impact of our garments is also high. For instance, chemicals and dyes pollute waterways, affecting human health and destroying ecosystems.
Stop the fast fashion cycle
- Be a more conscious consumer – avoid purchases that you’re only likely to wear a handful of times and don’t be lured in by slashed prices and sales.
- Shop at places that are transparent about where and how their clothes are made. Ask questions!
- If you can, consider spending more on items that will last.
- Even better – buy second hand at charity or thrift shops.
- And if you have the time, skills and equipment, bringing your own designs to life is about as ‘slow fashion’ as it gets.
- Treat your clothes well – wash them as instructed and fix them up as they get old.
- Donate, swap, rent or sell unwanted clothes in good condition (don’t throw them out).
- Repurpose and recycle anything beyond repair.
Sources
Ethical Consumer, What is fast fashion and why is it a problem?
good on you, What Is Fast Fashion and Why Is It So Bad?
McKinsey, Style that’s sustainable: A new fast-fashion formula
The Good Trade, What Is Fast Fashion, Anyway?
The Guardian, Abuse is daily reality for female garment workers for Gap and H&M, says report
The Guardian, Child labour in the fashion supply chain
UN Environment Program, Putting the brakes on fast fashion
World Resources Institute, The Apparel Industry’s Environmental Impact in 6 Graphics
