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One of the biggest buzzwords in sustainable living is fast fashion. But, as often as you hear this word, you might find yourself wondering, what exactly is it? What’s wrong with it? And what are some alternatives? We talk about this at The Wellness Feed all the time, so let us give you some quick answers.
What is fast fashion?
Fast fashion is a style of production that focuses on making many affordable and trendy garments throughout the year. Some fast fashion brands even design and produce an average of 1 micro-collection per week. Affordable fashion brands with an endless array of styles sounds perfect, right? Unfortunately in order to do so, fast fashion brands use the cheapest and easiest materials that make several environmental and ethical sacrifices.
What’s the environmental impact?
Fashion production can have an impact on nearly every part of the environment. Here are a few facts from United Nations News and GreenPeace.
● The textiles industry uses about 93 billion cubic meters of water annually.
● Even producing just one cotton t-shirt can take 2,700 liters of water. Much of this water is used just in harvesting cotton.
● The fashion industry produces 20% of the world’s wastewater.
● The wastewater from fast fashion is dangerous. In Indonesia, cases of health conditions such as tuberculosis, birth defects, and cancer, as well as several deaths have been associated with water pollution from a fast fashion supplier in 2018.
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● Traditional textile dyeing is the world’s second largest water polluter.
● Washing just one synthetic garment can release 2,000 microfibers into the water.
● Nearly 85% of all textiles in the United States are thrown away.
● In 2018, the fashion industry was responsible for 4% of the world’s greenhouse-gas emissions.
You might have noticed that most of these statistics focus on fashion as a whole industry, not just fast fashion. The environmental problems with the fashion industry are all heightened in fast fashion production. This is because fast fashion focuses on making more clothes quickly and cheaply. More clothes means more emissions and water waste and pollution, regardless of what materials are used.
What’s the human impact?
Unfortunately fast fashion is not much better for its workers. Many garments you find on the racks today are the result of exploitative labor practices, non-livable wages, and unsafe working environments.
The reality is that to make sure brands receive the garments necessary to stay on schedule, factory workers log in anywhere from 10-14 hours a day plus overtime. And overtime in a fast fashion factory isn’t just picking up an extra hour here or there. In regions where unions face physical harm and workers’ rights aren’t protected, reports of threats, wages withheld and physical persecution are often reported by Human Rights Groups. For instance, the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) spoke with a gentleman explaining how he puts in 96 hour work weeks when deadlines are close. He mentioned that some factory managers force garment workers to put in 18 hours or more in a day or risk being fired.
Equally horrific is that workers in these factories are often earning poverty wages. The CCC broke it down to show that for making that trendy $35 t-shirt you just brought, a garment worker was likely paid $0.15. So, just how much is that per hour? Fast fashion retailer Fashion Nova’s labor practices came under fire when reports of Los Angeles-based workers earning as little as $4.62 an hour. In many cases, pay in factories is based on productivity; how many pieces you make determines how much money you make. Unfortunately for the workers, some pieces are only worth 3 cents.
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Adding to the exploitative labor practices and wages, many of these factories have reports against them of physical and verbal abuse and unsafe environments. In 2018, 540 reports from garment workers based in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Cambodia were filed from January to May alone against fast fashion retailers.In 2016, fast fashion retailer Zara cam under fire when a BBC investigation found that they were exploiting the Syrian refugee crisis by putting children into production lines for less than $1.30.
Is there a change coming for fast fashion?
Although brands continue to use unethical and unsustainable factories and practices, they’re starting to get called out for it. Social media plays big role with #PAYUP or #WHOMADEMYCLOTHES campaigns demanding justice for garment workers. From fast fashion retailers to celebrity entrepreneurs like Kylie Jenner, Kendall Jenner, followers aren’t shy about calling them out for exploiting workers. And, that’s great, because these individuals, activists, and campaigns help to bring to light the harsh reality of life as a garment worker and remind us that our clothes are made by real people who deserve to be paid and treated well.
Sure, there are a few popular fast fashion brands like H&M, Zara, Uniqlo, Mango, and Asos who have all committed to becoming more sustainable and ethical down the line. But many of these changes are slated for 2025 or 2030. So what can we do in the meantime?
What’s the alternative to fast fashion?
One easy way to avoid fast fashion is to buy pre-loved clothes. Check out your local thrift or consignment shop or do some online thrifting through websites like Goodfair or thredUP.
You can also buy new and still shop consciously. From brands that use recycled materials (including their own recycled garments), to brands that use organic natural and plant-based fabrics as alternatives to high-impact textiles, there are so many incredible and innovative places to shop right now. Here are six Wellness Feed loved and approved, affordable alternatives to popular fast fashion brands.
Organic Basics
What You’ll Love: The softest underwear, socks, basic tanks and tees, and accessories.
Why They’re Better: Organic Basics makes their clothes from sustainable materials like certified organic cotton, TENCEL™, recycled textiles, and other organic blends. Plus they’re transparent. You can take a look at their factories, their impact report, and their guide to fashion and the environment.
Pact
What You’ll Love: Underwear, organic cotton basics, casual wear, bedding, and bath towels
Why They’re Better: Pact uses Fair Trade Certified cotton or recycled materials for all of their products and ships sustainably with recycled materials and low-carbon transport options.
Threads 4 Thought
What You’ll Love: Basics in lots of colors, activewear, and casual wear
Why They’re Better: Threads 4 Thought’s clothes are made from sustainable materials, like beech trees, organic cotton, recycled synthetics and blends, plastic bottles, and fishing nets.
Toad and Co
What You’ll Love: Casual wear and outerwear that you’ll wear year after year
Why They’re Better: Toad and Co. uses sustainable, organic textiles like hemp, organic cotton, recycled and vegan textiles, and TENCEL™. And they’re a member of 1% for the Planet, meaning they give 1% of their sales back to the environment.
Kotn
What You’ll Love: Unisex Casual wear and loungewear
Why They’re Better: Kotn is a certified B-Corp, meaning they’re committed to using the best ethical and environmental practices possible. They employ fair labor practices, work with family-run farms, and even support education in the Nile Delta where they get their cotton.
For Days
What You’ll Love: Your favorite new t-shirt and loungewear
Why They’re Better: For Days uses a closed-loop model. This means all of their garments are made from recycled garments and scraps! You can even trade in your For Days clothes for a discount on your next purchase.
Those are some great places to start, but we’ll be featuring plenty of other alternatives to fast fashion here on the Wellness Feed all year long. Here’s to saying goodbye to fast fashion in 2021!