Fast Fashion, the environment and possible solutions.
This post was written by a student. It has not been fact checked or edited.
I always think that the most amazing thing to do for Earth is to respond to its needs. The environment always reacts to what humans do. Any projects people do have their effects on the environment.
I tried to think of "fast fashion", how the environment reacts to it, and possible solutions to lessen its bad effects of it.
Fast fashion is defined as "cheap, trendy clothing that samples ideas from the catwalk or celebrity culture and turns them into garments in high street stores at breakneck speed to meet consumer demand."
Being cheap and trendy is not the problem. I guess the problem is the "breakneck speed" of producing these clothes and products. Of course, high-speed production means more emission of carbon. Carbon emissions will dry up water sources. Polluting and drying up water sources is the worst that can happen as water is the most important element of nature.
When I heard of "fast fashion" the first thing that comes to my mind is "plastic". I decided to dig deep to make sure what plastic has to do with fast fashion. I found out that the main material used in fast production is "virgin plastic". It was the first time I hear of this kind of plastic. It means that the plastic used is not previously recycled which means more damage to the environment; specifically creatures that live in the oceans.
Also, the word "fast" makes me think of how long we can use the products of "fast fashion", only to discover that those who buy such products throw them away within a year. I can imagine millions of people around the world getting rid of these products only to buy new ones. The damage is even indescribable.
An amazing thing I learned from "Topical talk" is to think creatively about problems to find solutions. Consequently, reading about and thinking of fast fashion and its damage made me think of possible steps we can do to alleviate the damage. Thinking logically, I know that government can't ban producing such products thoroughly, but at least governments need to make sure that the plastic used in production should be recycled. As youngsters are the targeted audience for fast fashion, schools and universities need to launch awareness campaigns about the side effects of "fast fashion". As a student who now knows all about the disadvantages of fast fashion, I always try to talk to my friends about the damage that such products do. I lead broadcast programs at school to make sure all students in the school know about fast fashion's side effects. By dedicating my standpoint to be about "fast fashion", I invite all students to be aware of such fashions and to use and buy them wisely.
Comments (2)
You are right poetic_banana. You are very analytical and you have through your curiosity provided new information on the fashion industry that is completely new. You have analyzed this topic very well. I never knew that main material used in fast production is "virgin plastic". This is new and eye-opening information. You are right, the fast fashion industry has a lot of disadvantages and harmful effects to the environment. According to www.earth.org, "Of the 100 billion garments produced each year, 92 million tones end up in landfills. To put things in perspective, this means that the equivalent of a rubbish truck full of clothes ends up on landfill sites every second."
Banning products of fast fashion industries could be a solution to the problem. But...
On one hand, the fashion industry is highly labor-dependent and it provide a source of employment for a lot of people.
For the fashion industry in general,
According to www.zippia.com, "Out of the global workforce of 3.4 billion people, approximately 430 million work in fashion, clothing, and textile production. This means that about 12.6% of people working around the globe are contributing to making the world's clothes, shoes and accessories."
And... in the fast fashion industry,
According to www.livefrankly.co.uk, "The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that 300 million people work in the clothing industry, with around 25 to 60 million people directly employed, most of them women."
This information proves that the fast fashion industry provides a source of employment for people and banning fast fashion products will cause the industry to crash and all these people to lose their jobs.
On the other hand, banning fast fashion products in the world will greatly help to make the environment more waste-free and sustainable. It will greatly help to reduce climate change.
According to www.oxfam.org.uk,
"That amount produces nearly 50 tonnes of carbon emissions, the same as driving 162,000 miles in a car. In one month alone, the carbon footprint of new clothes bought in the UK was greater than flying a plane around the world 900 times."
"The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions. "
This information proves that the fast fashion industry contributes a lot to climate change a banning fast fashion products will be a big step towards stopping climate change.
With all this information, weighing the pros and cons of the fast fashion industry, I think though fast fashion products should be banned, those industries should not close down but instead turn to the use of more organic materials in making fabrics. This will also help to make sure all those people do not lose their means of earning a living. This way but the climate and the fast fashion workers win. What do you think? Is this a good idea?
Thanks for sharing all of this information which added even more to my knowledge about fast fashion. Thank you very much for reading my standpoint and I really appreciate your kind words. Using organic materials is a great idea for sure. However, organic materials are very expensive, which will make these clothes unpopular to people. What people like about fast fashion, I guess, is its nice, trendy designs and its cheap prices. Using organic materials will decrease the production of such products and so many workers will lose thier jobs. That's why I thought that using recycled plastic can be a soulation. People will keep their jobs and the bad effects of fast fashion will be alleviated.
You are right amazing_computer.You are very analytical and you have through your curiosity provided new information on the fashion industry that is completely new. You have analyzed this topic very well. I never knew that main material used in fast production is "virgin plastic". This is new and eye-opening information. You are right, the fast fashion industry has a lot of disadvantages and harmful effects to the environment.