Fast Fashion: Let's slow it down
A special report surrounding the effects Fast Fashion is having on today's society
The environmental injustice of
fast fashion
The environment is deteriorating slowly, and the only people who can fix it is us. Large quantities of clothing at low prices are essentially hiding the truth. Do we really know the harm 'Fast Fashion' is really bringing.
By Rachel Johnston
The term ‘Fast-Fashion’ was coined by the New York Times in the 1980s to describe high street brand Zara’s 15-day turnaround rates upon the store’s arrival in the US.
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It’s an approach that promotes mass production for fast-moving trends; leading to over-consumption, over-production, environmental degradation and mass waste.
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Not only this, but the values behind Fast Fashion can see garment workers being overworked for little money. According to Sustain Your Style, "Garment workers are often forced to work 14 to 16 hours a day, 7 days a week."
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Living waste-free is increasingly becoming a part of people’s daily lives. Many people now realise how damaging humans are towards the world we live in.
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Zero Waste Leeds is a Leeds-based initiative, building a movement to help make Leeds a zero-waste city by 2030. It has different movements within the initiative, including Leeds Fashion Futures.
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Co-director of Zero Waste Leeds, Rob Greenland explains the benefits of a waste-free lifestyle. “Sharing kind of useful tips on how to level a more waste-free life is essential. Also using social media a lot to just share kind of ideas and practical things, you know, again, very much focusing on what people can do in their daily lives.”
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The movement has a 2030 goal, in which they hope to make Leeds a Zero-Waste city by 2030. “This might take some time, but it is a big ambition that we as a movement are extremely excited to move towards,” Rob adds.
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Leeds Fashion Futures explores how we can create a more sustainable future for clothing as a collective.
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The movement offers workshops and videos to educate those on how much waste we go through and according to their website: “Leeds throws away around 4000 tonnes of clothing into their households bins every year.”
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Rob explains the origins of the movement.
“Leeds Fashion Futures is built on another piece of work that we started last year about Zero Waste Fashion. The starting point was when we saw a stat suggesting 4000 tonnes of clothing and textiles ends up in black bins every year.
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“People are just throwing clothing and other textiles away. And that's just a waste in terms of those raw materials. This is clothing that some of which could be worn again, could be recycled.
Image: Rachel Johnston
“We assume that most people, not everybody, but most people, want to do the right thing. This is why we want to make things easy for people and kind of create an environment where people can then start doing the right thing,” he adds.
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“So, we invested in some practical work, basically, mainly based around how to make it easier for people to know what to do when they didn't need clothes anymore. We have on offer plenty of information about textile banks and charity shops, we are trying to be more practical in order to help people, even just letting them know where they can go.”
Leeds is not the only city that has taken this initiative, with cities from Bristol to Paris aiming for a more sustainable future.
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People from around the globe are slowly becoming more aware of the increased levels of ​consumption, which needs to be acted upon before the world is affected in a way that could be irreversible.
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Fast Fashion has allowed for a culture of disposability, with people now striving to become a part of the ‘a new item a week’ trend.
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Nowadays, clothes are often regarded as disposable and that they hold little value and worth. Our parents and grandparents handed down items from their youth, but what will happen when today's generation grows old. Will they hand down wardrobes full of cheap and poorly made T-shirts and leggings.
Madeline Mchugh, a Fashion Buying and Merchandising student at Manchester Metropolitan University says: “Studying and working within the fashion industry has educated me on how wasteful consumerism can be.”
“I want to keep in mind sustainability during my path to becoming a fashion buyer. It is so easy for consumers to buy clothes they do not need, and the companies selling these clothes know exactly how to sell the amounts they do."
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"Sourcing ethical clothing that is also trendy is my aim, so I can give consumers fashionable clothes without the guilt."
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Ethical fashion can also ensure that consumers know where and how their clothes are made.
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A garment worker in large factories will more than usually receive a minimum wage, which is not to be mistaken for a living wage. An example of this is that in China the minimum wage is 174.60 Yen, yet the living wage is 376.05 Yen. This shows the inherent inequality which fast fashion perpetuates.
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Many large corporations, such as Inditex and Boohoo, have factories located around the world.
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There are an increasing amount of reports of these companies under fire. Inditex, the parent company of the well-known Zara, was accused of ‘employee abuse’.
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According to a report, published in 2017 by The Brazilian Ministry of Labour, 7,000 employees have been poorly treated from 2012-2017 in Inditex factories.
Source: Parliament.uk (2019)
People must not forget the facts.
According to World Bank Org, “The aviation industry creates the most carbon emissions in the world, with the clothing industry coming second.”
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However, many people would not even associate carbon emissions with the production of clothes.
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Mckinsey reported that the fashion industry must cut its greenhouse gas emissions to ‘1.1 billion metric tons of c02 by 2030.’, but taking into account covid19, the fashion industry
However, to reach this the fashion industry would have to cut its Greenhouse gas emissions to ‘1.1billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent by 2030’.
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With Covid-19 taken into account, the fashion industry will have emissions of 2.1 billion metric tons of c02 equivalent by 2030.”
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The textile industry is also responsible for 10% of carbon emissions, representing a heavy environmental impact. Acting as stewards for our planet is crucial, and it is so simple to do when the impact is easily changeable.
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The first step can be easy. Beginning a new hobby, learning how to sew or ‘upcycle’ (a term used to transform your clothing), donating your clothes to the local charity shop or evening swapping clothes with your friends.
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The map below shows charity shops and textile drop of points in Leeds city centre and the surrounding areas, a simple way to recycle your unwanted clothing.
According to Statista, there are 3,943 stores specialising in selling second-hand goods in the UK, so it should not be hard to find one local to you.
You could even start with an application on your phone. Apps are circulating that are doing all the work for the user. 'Good On You' is one of them.
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The "Good On You' application allows users to search for fashion brands and gives you a rating for the said company. For example, Zara is rated with an unhappy face, and it is simply stated as ‘Not Good Enough’.
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This is just one simple measure that can be used to think more about your clothing before your press buy.
It can be seen that Fast Fashion is a growing issue within society. As it has been shown, people have begun to notice the problems, and have been taking personal measures to tackle this, something that big corporations are failing to do.
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Consumers must carry on tackling the norm of buying news items when they feel, and in general, beginning to live a more sustainable, zero-waste life.