Introduction
In today’s world, fashion patterns and the mass market for clothing rapidly change, causing high production rates and many harmful effects to the environment. Fast fashion is increasing more than ever, but in order to save the environment and make a positive impact towards climate change, we must make an effort to both slow down the consumption of clothing as well as the production of textiles. The fast fashion industry harms the environment and people through the many types of waste it creates. This paper will highlight the negative effects that fast fashion causes as well as ways people can do their part in creating a more sustainable path toward creating and consuming clothes.
Section 1: What is fast fashion?
Fast fashion is defined as “highly fragmented, complex, highly competitive, fast-paced and driven by profit, with fashion items becoming increasingly affordable and disposable, involving ever-shortening life cycles” [6]. This means that cheap and fast production, profit, and short usage of clothes is prioritized over any other factors in the market. While this is appealing for large companies (because of the cheap and fast production) and consumers (because of the low prices of clothing), the harmful factors on the environment are considerable. Our challenge then is to determine how it may be possible to positively impact the way fast fashion works.
An important factor that enables the pace of fast fashion is technology. Not only does the internet and online shopping make purchasing clothing easier which then increases consumers’ rates of consumption, but digital design tools that companies use increase how fast they are able to create and adjust clothing designs. Some examples of these tools are Adobe photoshop and illustrator, Gerber technology, Lectra, VStitcher, and Modaris 3D. Each of these tools have different uses which include creating sketches, patterns, and prototypes. Some are more advanced and have the ability to demonstrate how certain designs would fit on people, using avatars [6]. While technology is beneficial, the technology enables rapid product creation because it speeds up the design process and increases the negative impacts on the planet.
Viewing the fashion industry for the ways it benefits economics has also caused an increase in fast fashion in recent years. In order to understand how large of an issue this view is causing, we must understand the consequences on the environment to realize if this way of fashion is worth the environmental trouble. Fast fashion is even recognized as a global issue as it falls under the category of the 12th sustainable development goal which “calls for sustainable consumption and production as a part of national and sectoral plans, sustainable business practices, consumer behavior, and the reduction and elimination of fast fashion” [2]. The Sustainable Development Goals exist so that all people can learn key changes we can make that will rapidly help heal our planet. Calling for the elimination of ‘fast fashion’ on a global scale can clearly help us see how this one industry, fast fashion, can have serious consequences and environmental impacts on the planet.
Section 2: What types of waste does fast fashion create?
One of the greatest consequences of rapid clothing production is the amount of waste and pollution it generates. On a global scale, approximately “92 million tonnes of textile waste is created each year” and 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gasses are put into the atmosphere due to the fashion industry [9]. All of this solid waste ends up in landfills and the greenhouse gasses end up in the atmosphere. Because there is so much waste, more landfills have to be built, meaning that the land can not be used for a better purpose. There is so much clothing waste because fast fashion allows people to see clothing as disposable material without thinking about the impact of throwing these important items away. In order to implement methods to be more sustainable with clothing, society must reverse this damaging mindset that there is no impact in throwing away important resources.
Water waste
Clothing becoming solid waste is not the only waste that the fast fashion industry causes. The production process itself is responsible for waste of other natural resources, including water. Many types of materials used to make fabrics, like cotton, require lots of water to be produced. One kilogram of cotton can require up to 29,000 liters of water [7]. Chemicals are also typically mixed with the water that is used in order to create fabrics. Using such an important resource in such large quantities can lead to a depletion of these resources that are needed for other uses, such as drinking water. While the amount of water used is part of the water waste problem, the chemicals and dyes used can also contaminate other water resources. The untreated water is “often discharged into local water systems, releasing heavy metals and other toxicants that can adversely impact the health of animals in addition to nearby residents” [2]. This gives a clear idea of the negative impacts of the untreated water. Water can be treated in order to get rid of the dyes and chemicals that contaminate it, but runoff into larger water sources causes more problems because larger amounts of water must then be treated. It’s also important to consider the locations where water sources are contaminated. Typically, it happens in lower income countries and they do not have the access to technologies required to make the water usable again. This demonstrates the serious damage that just one type of waste from textile production can cause.
Energy used during waste processing
Many materials and resources are used in production of textiles and processing of waste. Research has been conducted to know how to productively process waste and create energy while doing so. In 2017, they specifically looked into “energy recovery from solid waste proposed an incineration plant with electrical configuration” [5]. This means that they studied how energy created during the burning process could be collected and reused in a different way. It was found that 370 kg of CO2 could be collected for each ton of waste. While some methods have been productive in creating thermal energy, other ways of reducing waste have caused more environmental problems. Burning textile waste causes more water vapors, ash, and carbon dioxide to be released which results in toxic emissions [5]. This is why it is important to consider both the positive and negative outcomes of any type of solution. This leads to the type of energy sources used and the limited options in sustainability. “The consumption of fossil fuels, still the main source of energy production, is not a good option in a ‘green economy’. Any other source of energy like waste processing as an alternative source for energy is a good opportunity for the future” [5].
While clothing still does need to be manufactured since it is a necessity that all people use, the industry and consumers must work to find more productive and sustainable approaches that can reduce the negative effects of this industry in order to protect the environment and prevent its growing pollution and carbon impact.
Section 3: How do microfibers affect the environment?
Fibers that shed from any textile material into the environment are called microfibers and can shed when any type of wearing or washing occurs to clothing. These microfibers released from fabrics can contaminate water, soil, and the air, harming all living things. Microfibers are a main concern for marine environments because they make up 35% of the microplastics in the ocean and can be found in ice in the arctic as well [1]. The many ways that microfibers can be released which are shown in the diagram below.
The diagram below illustrates the cycle of microfiber generation and the environmental impacts. It begins with the production of clothing. Materials used, like cotton, are collected and made into yarn and then weaved or knitted into fabric. The fabrics are then sewn into clothes. The clothing items are then sold, worn, and washed. Using clothing, such as wearing and washing the clothes, causes microfibers to be released into the air or water. More microfibers are released in the disposal process through burning or throwing out the used clothes because it causes more pollution and destroys the clothing. The wastewater treatment plants (WWTPS) also contribute to this issue as the waste from the plants end up in other water sources. The small fibers can also be found in sewage, indicating how they can end up anywhere. This cycle continues as fabrics are thrown away or burned. This cycle of what happens to clothing and what causes microfibers to be released creates more pollution [1].
These fibers are dangerous for sea animals as they end up digesting them. Fish which are commercially used and sold to eat can be found with microplastics inside of them, which then greatly impacts food sources for people. Chelsea Rochman, a postdoctoral fellow in conservation biology at the University of California at Davis and the University of Toronto, conducted work on how these fibers contaminate seafood that we eat in the US and Indonesia. It was found that “all [human-made] debris recovered from fish in Indonesia was plastic, whereas [human-made] debris recovered from fish in the US was primarily fibers” [14]. This information can tell us that there is a significant amount of microfibers in the fish that people can potentially eat and that there are more microfibers released into the water in and around the US versus waters near Indonesia. Another way that this issue affects people is when microfibers contaminate drinking water. This concern of ingesting microfibers and microplastics is only growing because “the potential negative impacts of microfibers on human health are still largely unknown” [1]. The release of microfibers into the environment which harms life will only continue if there is no effort to create fabrics and materials that are more sustainable for the environment. It is important to recognize this as the only solution to prevent this problem because current efforts to capture the microfibers initially after release are ineffective.
In 2019, Francesca De Falco and others completed a study in order to discover more information on microfiber pollution and what fabrics release more fibers than others when washed. The results are shown in the graph below. Two different polyester tee shirts (BT and RT), a polyester blouse (GB), and a shirt that was half polyester and half cotton (GT) were tested. It is clear that when cotton is in the mix of what the fabric is made of, more microfibers will be released into the water and environment [13]. These results are surprising because the shirt that contained cotton ended up releasing the most microfibers after being washed. “Such result is almost three times those obtained for BT and RT. GT has the most complex textile structure with a front polyester woven part and a back cotton/modal knitted part that could have different behaviors in the release” [13]. The polyester blouse released the least amount because the yarns are more tightly woven together.
Creating more sustainable fabrics will greatly reduce the amount of microfibers released from clothing. However, understanding the larger concept which includes making more sustainable fabrics is slow fashion. Slow fashion is the idea that clothing will be produced for quality over quantity, while also being mindful about how the environment could be impacted.
“The shift in consumer behavior from fast fashion to slow fashion will directly decrease the disposal of textiles and fashions and mitigate microfiber emission during laundering” [1]. Because fast fashion produces clothing cheaply and causes more materials to be thrown away, the amount of microfibers put into the environment has increased. In the United Kingdom, nine trillion fibers can be released a week for the country as a whole [1]. There is a need to slow down this process because rapid production clearly increases the amount of microfibers released, increasing the harm done on the environment more.
Section 4: How can we reduce the impacts?
In order to reduce the negative impacts that the fashion industry as a whole is causing, new solutions must be found. It is important to recognize that there is not just one way to solve the entire problem. Individuals, larger companies, and governments must all work on ways they can contribute to the solutions that will help society be more sustainable for the environment, therefore reducing the impacts of climate change.
Individual level
Understanding how individuals can be made aware of their role in expanding negative consequences that fast fashion causes is important to recognize in order for consumption behaviors to change and to drive the industry to become more sustainable. It may seem like one person working to be aware of their consumption may not benefit the environment, but if all individuals work on slowing down their own consumption then there can be many positive effects towards slowing down fast fashion.
Consumption behavior is the habits and rate that people purchase items and clothing at. Recognizing how much clothing you are purchasing and the amount of use that you get from each item provides critical knowledge required in order to learn just how much one’s clothing consumption behavior needs to be altered or changed. Fast fashion encourages more consumption and less use of clothing items because of how fast new styles are put in stores. When there is “high quality, well-designed, and well produced clothing, especially that with cultural connection will encourage consumers to retain garments longer and perceive more value for what they buy rather than discarding them shortly after purchase” [1]. This reinforces the fact that individual consumers and clothing companies have an impact on each other. If clothing companies create better quality clothing that lasts longer, then people will be more inclined to pay more and buy it. If those are the types of clothing that people continue to buy in the future, the companies will continue to create items that will last longer. This expands the “life” of the clothing items and therefore encourages people to be more sustainable.
Some groups are dedicated to helping consumers become aware of their fashion consumption behaviors and want to aid them in reducing purchases. One example of this is an app called Save Your Wardrobe. The app allows users to input and take pictures of each clothing item one owns and then categorize and view all items at once [4]. Save Your Wardrobe was founded by Hasna Kourda and Mehdi Doghri. Deirdre Shaw, a professor of marketing and consumer research, and Kat Duffy, a senior lecturer in marketing, joined as partners because their research about sustainable clothing consumption lined up with the mission of this app. Hasna Kourda and Mehdi Doghri knew more of the “technical knowledge around the app but were less knowledgeable about the consumers and users” [4]. This is why the partnership with Deirdre Shaw and Kat Duffy was critical for the app to succeed. This app is a way for people to think about what they do and don’t use in their closet, therefore encouraging users to recycle unused clothes and reduce consumption. The creators were concerned that the time it took to upload all items that one person may own would make people hesitant to use the app, but this was not the case. The ability to re-engage with all clothing items outweighed the process of uploading the wardrobe. This concept is very important when it comes to reducing fast fashion and helping others become more sustainable and mindful about their personal consumption.
Another way for individuals to be more sustainable with clothing and consumption is to recycle clothing and shop at second hand stores or thrift stores. While there are currently certain complications to recycling clothing, as will be discussed later, the general concept and execution of this is productive and helpful for the environment. “Due to a high volume of textile waste that is produced around the world, textile reuse and recycling can be a sustainable solution for reduction in solid waste in landfills, reducing the production of virgin materials and energy consumption as well as producing a smaller environmental footprint” [7]. This supports the idea that if consumers buy clothes from second hand stores more often, there will be less amounts of new clothing purchased and thrown away into landfills. Reducing the amount of waste that goes into the landfills is what reduces the amount of microfibers released and reduces the ecological burden on the environment [1,7]. This would also slightly reduce the amount produced because there would be less of a need for new clothing from fashion companies.
Large companies and the industry
Currently, many well known companies contribute to the encouragement of fast fashion because they are able to make more profit when they sell clothing faster and produce it at cheaper prices. Some examples of this are Zara or H&M, who release 16 to 24 collections on clothing a year [10]. These types of clothing companies are why the fashion industry causes such a large negative environmental impact. Companies occasionally fill out Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports, in which they report information such as carbon emissions and volume of production. Unfortunately, even with these types of reports, it is noted that “with no standardized language or regulated frameworks, deciphering what companies are actually doing is extremely challenging” and it is often that brands are not fully aware of “where their stuff comes from in the supply chain, and even fewer of them have entered into active relationships with their suppliers to reduce their carbon footprint” [8]. In addition, CSR reports are not mandatory or enforced so there are no consequences of reporting no information. This is one example of how few regulations exist to limit the amount of carbon emissions or pollution companies may release into the air. Therefore, companies are not as concerned with the amount of burden they place on people, animals, and the environment.
Laws and regulations also do not give much protection to the designs that certain brands create. This allows for many “knock-offs” of higher end fashion designs to be created by other companies for cheaper prices, fueling “the fast fashion business model’s wasteful approach to natural resources as well as its reliance on carbon-intensive supply chains and methods” [3]. While putting more regulations and laws governing the behavior of companies sounds like an idea that would be beneficial to working towards a slow fashion, laws currently in place are ineffective for improving sustainability. This is because large profits are still being prioritized. These profits and increasing shareholder value are more important than sustainability for most companies. In order to change companies’ mindsets, the importance of sustainability must be emphasized by the government and consumers.
Section 5: Recycling and its effects on LMICs
Recycling textiles is generally effective because it can be sold as second hand clothing or made into other products, such as insulation. Yet, large-scale recycling does not ensure that all of the clothing is being recycled because of the process they go through. All clothing that is sent to second hand sellers is not sold because there are too many items to put on the sales floor, the clothing is out of style, or it is not able to be sold because of wear or tears in the clothing. Countries such as the United States and other richer countries ship used clothing to lower middle income countries, also called LMICs. “Approximately 500,000 tons of used clothing are exported abroad from the United States each year, the majority ending up in LMICs” [2]. LMICs attempt to sell the used clothes in their counties but are often unsuccessful in doing so. This causes more landfill waste in locations of the world that are not able to handle these increased levels of waste. This causes environmental problems for those countries such as “solid waste, clogging rivers, greenways, and parks, and creating the potential for additional environmental health hazards in LMICs lacking robust municipal waste systems” [2]. These places face the same negative environmental impacts due to overproduction and waste of textiles while also dealing with the clothing that other countries no longer want. This confirms that waste and environmental impacts due to fast fashion are not being handled on a global scale, despite this being a global issue.
One recent environmental disaster that took place just a few months ago began directly due to exporting recycled clothes to other countries. A fire started in the Atacama Desert located in Chile because of the buildup of clothes thrown into the desert, as shown in the image below. Recycled and old clothing is sent to Chile and the importers and sellers categorize the clothing received into new, like new, used, and trash [12]. Even though it is illegal to do this, it has been happening with no consequences for the people who dump the clothing into the desert for many years. Currently, there are 100,000 tons of clothes sitting in this desert alone, creating the large mound. Up to “59,000 tonnes of clothing arrive each year at the Iquique port in the Alto Hospicio free zone in northern Chile.Clothing merchants from the capital Santiago, 1,800km (1,100 miles) to the south, buy some, while much is smuggled out to other Latin American countries. But at least 39,000 tonnes that cannot be sold end up in rubbish dumps in the desert” [15].
The huge pile caught on fire and burned for over two weeks and it was up to city workers to put the fire out with sand. Tibisay Zea, a reporter for The World, said that “the toxic smoke from the burning clothes reeked into nearby communities and polluted the air for large sectors of the town” [11]. This was clearly harmful to the environment and to the people who live in the towns located nearby. This unfortunately shows just how textile waste can have large negative impacts on our world. Obviously, there needs to be a change to this treatment of textile waste immediately.
Fortunately, people in Chile that live near the Atacama Desert have decided to take action in order to reduce the amount of clothing in this desert. Some factories use the clothing and recycle them into insulation panels for houses and other factories, such as the Ecotex factory, use these clothes to make yarn to create new clothes. Efforts like this will help reduce the negative effects on the environment in these lower middle income countries, but more must be done to reduce the problem entirely.
It would not be a huge problem environmentally if this was the only landfill that consisted of clothing in a location where recycled clothes are not allowed to be dumped, but this is happening in different locations across the world. From data taken between 2015 and 2019, the top five countries that have exported the most clothing to other countries are the US, Germany, United Kingdom, South Korea (Korea Rep.), and China. The top five countries that import these clothes are Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Kenya, and Angola.
The countries that import the most clothing cannot handle the amount that they receive and do not have the tools to process and contain the chemicals from the clothing. Many of these countries are not able to prevent this trade either. Many countries in East Africa attempted to eliminate recycled clothing from the US. This did not work because “in March of 2017, the Office of the United States Trade Representative threatened to remove four of these six East African countries from the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, a preferential trade deal intended to lift trade and economic growth across sub-Saharan Africa” [16]. This leaves certain countries in a position where they have no other choice but to continue importing recycled clothing, then leaving more environmental impacts for them to deal with.
Section 6: Are there any companies working towards sustainability?
Many companies claim to be sustainable but continue to produce many styles very quickly each year, so it’s important to research deeply about what brands are truly sustainable and work towards reducing their footprint on the earth. Fortunately, there are some that do their best in order to protect the environment. One of these companies is Patagonia.
Patagonia was founded in 1973 by Yvon Chouinard, who is an environmentalist. The company’s mission statement is “We’re in business to have our home planet” [17]. 70 % of their products are made from recycled materials and they donate 1% of their yearly sales to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment. In 2019, Patagonia won the Champion of the Earth award from the UN for putting sustainability first. Inger Andersen, who is the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program, announced that “Patagonia offers a perfect example of how the private sector can join the battle against climate change, biodiversity loss and other threats to human and planetary health” [17]. Brands like Patagonia are important to know about so people and other companies know that sustainability within fashion and clothing is possible while also being successful in making profit. On Patagonia website, you can find many articles about what they are specifically working on in order to be more sustainable. Some articles that seemed especially interesting are What We’re Doing About Our Plastic Problem, 2025 or Bust: Patagonia’s Carbon Neutrality Goal, or even Teaming Up to Get to the Bottom of Microfiber Pollution [18].
Smaller clothing companies have the ability to be sustainable as well. One clothing brand that I found during my research is called Girlfriend Collective. All of their clothing is made from recycled materials. They mostly sell athletic clothing, which is made from plastic and polyester. The polyester and plastic they use was recycled or collected so that they could recycle it into clothing. They use eco-friendly dyes on the clothes that they create and make sure the fabrics are BPA free. The dyes they use do go into the water, but the company has wastewater treatment plants that the water is sent to directly after being used in producing clothes. Girlfriend Collective even addresses the problem of microfibers. They recognize that it is difficult to produce fabrics that do not release microfibers, so they sell filters made to collect the microfibers that are able to attach to home washing machines. What was surprising was that they shared their certifications on their website for everyone to see to ensure people that they really are doing their best in helping the environment and reducing the effects that fast fashion causes. They state that “our factory is SA8000 certified. This certification promises that our operation adheres to those super strict regulations that keep factory employees well-paid, safe, and living healthy lives.
Our recycled fabric is certified Standard 100 by Oeko-Tex, the world’s leader in testing fabrics to regulate harmful substances. They make sure every fabric’s origin and contents are totally upfront, so you know exactly what you’re putting on your body” [19]. This shows how if any company really put the effort into caring about the environment and letting people know how they are helping reduce fast fashion, that it is possible.
Conclusion
Fast fashion is very unsustainable for the environment because of the negative impacts and pollution it causes through increased production and excess waste, such as water, microfiber pollution, and overflow of landfills. While there are solutions that can improve the impacts it is causing such as recycling and being aware of consumption, it is difficult to find one solution that will solve the entire problem on a global scale. This is why both individuals and companies in the fast fashion industry must work together in order to slow down these effects and transition to a slow fashion model. Companies like Patagonia and Girlfriend Collective are both great examples of how clothing brands can be sustainable while still creating fashionable clothing and making profit. If individuals decide to be more conscious of their purchases and where their clothing is coming from, they can make a difference too.
References
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