Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last two decades, you have definitely heard of the drastic effects of climate change in recent years on the environment as well as everyone’s lives. The clothing industry is an important industry that plays a large role in the negative effect industrialization has had on the world’s ecology.
Every year, like a lot of other things, a lot of clothes are wasted and thrown away which in turn impacts the environment. According to a Bloomberg survey, the United States alone throws away 11.3 million tons of textile each year which roughly sums up to over 2,000 pieces of clothing items.
Here’s everything you need to know about the ecological impact of fast fashion and relevant sustainable practices:
How are Fast Fashion Clothes Made
To understand the ecological impact of fashion on the environment, you need to first know how fast fashion clothes are made. The term ‘fast fashion’ refers to the cheap and trendy clothing that is popular and high in demand. The high demand is due to fast fashion’s affordability and how easy it is to manufacture them.
The problem with this kind of fashion lies in the manufacturing process itself. Aside from using large quantities of water, these clothes use harmful chemicals and dyes that don’t break down like the fabric when thrown away. The production of these dyes and chemicals uses up a lot of fossil fuels and emits greenhouse gasses when manufactured. In fact, fast fashion is responsible for five percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
There is a particular chemical called benzothiazole, which is abundant across all clothing brands that have been linked to several types of respiratory dysfunctions and cancer. These chemicals and dyes not only affect the health of humans but also animals. As you might have already surmised, all of this leads to a high carbon footprint per person which contributes to the destruction of the environment.
Not to mention, the harrowing conditions that workers who make these clothes have to endure such as long hours, inhumane wages, and inadequate working conditions for many young mothers who make a significant part of the labor force. To quote Lucy Siegle, “Fast fashion isn’t free. Someone somewhere is paying.”
Plastics, Plastics, Plastics
One of the main reasons fast fashion textiles don’t break down easily is due to the presence of plastic. Synthetic fabrics such as polyester use plastic as the base ingredient which has already polluted large parts of the world’s oceans. As a result, many species of marine life have already gone extinct or are on the way to extinction if the current rate of pollution keeps going.
According to a 2015 study, 63 percent of global fabric production used virgin plastic in production. The problem with so much plastic usage is the fact that fast fashion clothing items are usually thrown away by consumers within six months to one year of usage. Polyester is the biggest culprit since it’s the most commonly used synthetic fiber in fast clothing.
Sustainable Practices
It can be easy to ignore the environmental impact of fashion due to the overly forbearing climate change messaging in mainstream media. Despite the tiresome nature of climate change fear-mongering from mainstream media, adopting sustainable practices is an integral part of creating a better future for generations to come.
The best choice you can make to do your part for the environment is to engage in sustainable and minimalist lifestyle practices. This means buying and using things that have longevity instead of buying new things on a frequent basis. The sustainability movement has created an entire genre of clothing and accessories that are environment-friendly. For example, you can order glasses online made of environment-friendly materials that have a smaller carbon footprint than conventionally made glasses.
Other sustainable lifestyle choices include taking public transportation, using reusable water bottles, riding a bike, using and buying less plastic, composting food scraps, etc. Try to integrate as many of these practices as possible into your everyday life.
When shopping for furniture, consider second-hand options before opting for new pieces. If more and more people move away from the consumer-focused lifestyle that has become the social norm, future generations and the environment will benefit greatly in the long run.
Leaving a Better Tomorrow
Engaging in environmentally friendly practices and lifestyles is not too difficult if you’re willing to seek out alternative sources for the goods and services you need. It’s important to understand the impact of the small decisions we individually make on a day-to-day basis and how those decisions are multiplied in the whole population. Individual choices may not seem to be important in the grand scheme of things, but if enough individuals make the same choices a difference be made.
