400%. The amount that global clothing consumption has increased over the past two decades.
3.8 billion. The amount of clothing (in pounds) that ends up in landfills every year. It’s approximately 85% of all the clothing Americans consume. The estimated loss? $500 billion U.S. dollars.
200 years. The amount of time it takes for polymer-based clothing (manmade fibers) to break down.
Our markets are flooded with fast fashion; clothing that is cheaply produced and priced to the point of disposability. Or, at least, that’s how people perceive it. However, the social and environmental costs of this industry are very, very expensive.
To make the 80 billion pieces of clothing sold every year requires 43 million tons of chemicals, 342 million barrels of oil, 24.5 trillion gallons of water, and the labor of more than 300 million people around the world, a significant portion of whom are working in poor or dangerous conditions while severely underpaid. In fact, of the millions of factory workers employed by the fashion industry, less than 2% earn a living wage.
How on Earth did we get here?
How Fast Fashion Came to Be
Fast fashion, or the market of mass-producing cheap, trendy clothing, has its roots, like the whole of the fashion industry, in the post-World War II consumerism boom. Around the same time that luxury fashion house fame was skyrocketing, another invention hit the scene that would revolutionize the clothing industry forevermore: synthetic fabric. These manmade fibers are developed using chemicals derived from fossil fuels (a.k.a. plastics), are often cheaper to produce than their natural fiber counterparts and, in some cases, far more durable.
Nylon was the first to debut, revealed to the public at the 1939 World Fair in the form of stockings. After consumer demand launched this new fiber into mainstream popularity, other forms of synthetic fiber followed shortly, including polyester in 1946, acrylic in 1955, and spandex in 1958.
Prior to these fibers being widely accessible, most people owned significantly fewer clothing items, choosing to mend or alter existing clothing rather than frequently purchase new. However, with the rapid expansion and usage of synthetics, clothing became cheaper to make and, therefore, cheaper to buy. Over the decades, the introduction of standard clothing sizes (thanks to the industrial revolution) and cheaper materials led to people buying more clothing. Simultaneously, the quality of clothing—in order for brands to further reduce prices and meet consumer demand—began to drop.
The 1970s saw a mass export of fashion industry jobs to countries outside of the United States and Europe, many located in the Global South with cheaper labor costs and less oversight and worker protections. Then, starting in the 1980s and moving into the 90s and 00s, the popularity and accessibility of fashion began to rise. Suddenly, clothing brands were able to bring trending styles from the runway to market in a short amount of time, producing more frequent releases and accelerated garment output. As the cost of synthetic fibers became cheaper (to create from scratch) than natural materials, this too cut the cost of manufacturing clothing.
The result? More people are buying more clothes than ever before but keeping them for only half as long. In other words, clothing has become more or less disposable.
This is fast fashion. Brands producing fast fashion products include Amazon, Fashion Nova, Forever 21, GAP, H&M, Primark, Shein, Uniqlo, Urban Outfitters, and Zara among others.
Why Fast Fashion Is a Problem
If you’re even somewhat familiar with the dialogue taking place about fast fashion, you’ve likely heard one term come up over and over again: overconsumption. The reality is, to make as much money as possible, brands are pushing out more clothing than ever before, utilizing trends that are here one second and gone the next. Marketing and consumer-to-consumer promotion (such as user-generated videos on YouTube and TikTok) increase consumer demand, which increases rapid output—often leading to worse quality clothing being created in order to achieve tight timelines. At the end of the day, worse quality + more turnover = more profits for brands.
Good for them, but pretty terrible for the rest of us.
Why?
Two main reasons: 1) people, and 2) the environment.
The Negative Reality of Workers in the Fashion Industry
We can’t talk about fast fashion without also acknowledging one of the most glaring issues of the textile supply chain: human rights violations. After all, humanity and the environment are inextricably linked.
Most clothing production today takes place in the Global South where laborers have much fewer protections and wages are not livable. It’s not uncommon for many garment workers (some children) to work every day of the week, 16 hours a day or more, and be exposed to countless harmful synthetic chemicals (many that have been linked to cancer), extremely high temperatures, and workplace violence and retaliation. There are, unfortunately, countless examples of these harms taking place (such as the Rana Plaza Factory collapse in 2013) and the long-lasting toll these harmful working environments and conditions have on human beings and local communities.
But the problems don’t stop there.
The Harmful Environmental Impacts of Fast Fashion
The environmental impact of fast fashion is well-documented and equally well-hidden. By focusing the global conversation on changing trends and the new “it” items, major corporations have been able to distract from the unimaginable amount of waste taking place behind the scenes. But new social movements and campaigns have begun to reveal the truth.
The fashion industry is responsible for somewhere between 8% and 10% of all global emissions and is the second most water-demanding industry after agriculture.
A study from the University of Galway found that clothes made from synthetic fibers shed microplastics throughout the whole of their lifecycle, including during manufacturing and every time they are washed. Scientists are only just beginning to uncover how much of the 14 million tons of microplastics in our oceans stem from synthetic textiles but current estimations have it somewhere between 16% and 35%.
From the air we breathe to the water we drink to landfills overpopulated with synthetic fibers that don’t biodegrade, every part of our environment—and, as a result, our communities—is suffering the consequences of fast fashion.
So, what do we do about it?
What We Can Do About Fast Fashion Right Now
Where the fashion industry is concerned, the current economy is very much a linear one.
Demand → Make → Purchase → Use → Toss → Repeat
To fix our overconsumption problem, we need to start by address the way this system works. That’s where circular economies come into play. As the name suggests, a circular economy keeps products in-use far longer through reuse and recycling, only sending to waste those items that no longer have any usage remaining.
Demand → Make → Purchase → Use → Reuse → Recycle → Repeat
But what does this look like in practice?
Reuse Clothing and Treat It Well
For the clothing you already have, extend its lifetime of use by treating it with care. This means hanging (or laying) clothes to dry rather than sticking them in the dryer, especially delicates such as sweaters, blouses, and undergarments. You can also learn to repair your own clothing or find someone in your local community who can. That way, when a hole appears in your favorite sweatshirt, it’s not cursed to a life in the landfill—you can keep supporting That One Sports Team with pride!
When Purchasing Clothing...
- Buy less. As simple as it sounds, we understand that this may be a challenge, especially amidst the online pressure to always have the newest and coolest. However, just remember that quality is always better than quantity when it comes to clothes. (Don’t be fooled by luxury brands. Do your research about the true quality of the clothes you’re buying. Check out our quiz about luxury and fast fashion to learn more.)
- Purchase from brands that are actually sustainable. Any brand can label itself as sustainable. Sadly, these days, that doesn’t actually say much. Brands need to walk the walk. That means using sustainable ingredients and building their business on sustainable, ethical supply chains. This can be difficult to research, we know. Here’s a great resource to get you started—simply search the brands you want to learn more about to see how their sustainability efforts stack up.
- Opt for natural fibers over manmade ones. This list includes cotton, wool, bamboo, hemp, silk, and linen among others. While some natural fibers, like cotton, can be water intensive to grow, they ultimately result in less usage of chemicals and fossil fuels, making them the more sustainable option. Bamboo is a great, slightly newer alternative that’s becoming widely available in clothing, bedding, and more.
Recycling Clothing
When you’ve used your clothes past the point of donation (they’re in poor quality), you can recycle them by:
- Tearing up cotton and other strong fiber materials to become household rags (old fuzzy socks make for great dusters!) You can also consider donating items for non-wearable use, such as to animal shelters for bedding or cleaning.
- Send them to a textile shredder for recycling. Tip: Check in with local nonprofits and second-hand clothing retailers to see if they have existing partnerships with shredders who will take clothing that is unable to be reused.
- Look for clothing take-back programs in your community.
- Compost items made from natural fibers like cotton, hemp, or bamboo (just make sure to first remove any tags, buttons, zippers, elastics, etc.)
Long-Term Solutions to the Clothing
The clothing industry needs a full-blown overhaul if we’re going to achieve global sustainability goals and ensure fair labor practices across the board. That means addressing supply chains, the materials used in manufacturing, clean energy—the works. This will be achieved through multiple avenues:
- Consumer pressure. Consumers need to demand that brands do better and show it with their spending. We’re seeing this play out right now as consumers refuse to support major brands who removed their DEI programs, policies, and pledges—and the impact is significant.
- Corporate sustainability. Brands need to prioritize sustainability and turn these business plans into concrete action, and quickly. The time for pushing goals into the far-distant future is over.
- Government and 3rd-party oversight. We need better monitoring of progress (or the lack thereof) of businesses, NGOs, governments, and other entities to ensure that positive change is being made on a reasonable schedule. This may be through regulations or other forms of oversight. But oversight is needed nonetheless to ensure consistency.
Bringing the Circular Economy into Fashion
The only long-term solution for a truly sustainable future is to transition the fashion industry to a circular economy format. It’s estimated that this transition could improve the industry by as much as $192 billion. However, it won’t be easy. Companies will have to take a look at every step of their supply chain, sourcing renewable raw materials, maximizing use and reuse, reproduction and recycling—the list goes on. While this is certainly doable, it will take time and a collective effort to move toward a positive future for everyone involved.
