Fast fashion: is it worth it?

Their working conditions have no ventilation, which isn’t safe due to breathing in toxic substances, like glyphosate and heavy metals, from the clothes.

The workers also regularly deal with verbal and physical abuse. In some cases when they fail to reach their outrageous daily target and are insulated, denied breaks, or refused drinking water.

Child labor is also a main use of labor in the fashion industry, because they rely heavily on low-skilled workers. Even though they are children their working conditions are not any better, and they work the same amount of hours.

Fast fashion has also been linked to labor trafficking, labor trafficking is when victims are forced to perform a task through fraud or coercion. This is a factor that makes the clothing so affordable.

Environmental Effects

Greenhouse gas is harmful for the ozone layer, and generating polyester is liable for about 706 billion tons of emissions annually.

If fast fashion companies, such as SHEIN and Romwe, continue to constantly produce products, they will increase the harmful gasses that make it to the Earth’s atmosphere. This can lead to mass depletion of the ozone layer, causing global warming. Global warming can lead to serious skin problems in humans because the ozone layer is what protects us from the sun's harmful UV rays.

With ozone depletion, the UV rays can also harm plant life which holds up every ecosystem, this can cause animal species to die off.

Even washing the clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the oceans, that is the equal to 50 BILLION plastic bottles.

Waste Created by Fast Fashion

The waste created by fast fashion is an issue too. The world makes 92 million tons of textile waste each year, making up 7% of the total amount of waste in global landfills.

80 to 100 billion new clothing garments are produced worldwide each year, and 87% of those materials and fibers will end up in incinerators or landfills.

Only 20% of discarded textiles are collected and 1% will be recycled into new clothes.

So next time you want to buy cheap clothing, do some research on the clothing brand you want to buy from. Ask yourself: is it sustainable? For something to be sustainable it must meet the three pillars of sustainability: economy, environment, and society. How much waste does it produce? And, are their workers treated fairly?

Some ways you can help the effects of fast fashion are: donate or upcycle garments, repair your clothes instead of buying new ones, wash your clothes correctly, and buy second hand garments.