Fast fashion is an environmental, engineering, social, and political issue - that needs addressing.
You may have heard of fast fashion: the unethical, environmental, social, and political issue that needs addressing. However, there is also science deeply entrenched within this problem. We can make a difference by learning about it.
One massive misconception is that tremendous amounts of wasted clothing are due to the consumers. That it’s the consumers who want these brand new, cheap styles practically every week who cause the retailers to then rapidly make clothes in order to meet demand. This could not be further from the truth.
Fast fashion relies on retailers, instead of topping up their current stock, replacing it with some completely different styles. You may have already guessed what this means for you. Your clothes, that you may have just recently bought, quickly become outdated and unfashionable - you have to then buy a whole new wardrobe every time clothes go out of stock.
Fast fashion means that we’re incessantly on the lookout for trendier and trendier clothes that become more and more outdated, quicker and quicker.
The worst part is that these clothes are made in sweatshops - factories where the wages are pathetically low and hours are extortionately long. These factories, however, tend to be the only source of income for families in places where climate change has already ravaged their agricultural land and city landscapes. As well as earning less than half of the living wage, women working there are frequently subjected to sexual harassment. The child workers there are exposed to toxic fumes for 16 hours a day.
These very chemicals can enter our bodies, they already pollute the streams and soil. The flimsy nature of these garments makes it inevitable that 5 percent of the UK's total annual carbon and water footprint came from clothing consumption. More than 300,000 tonnes of used clothing goes to landfill in the UK every year. On average, each UK citizen throws into already overcrowded landfills 4.5 kg of clothing a year. The textile industry emits more greenhouse gas than international shipping and aviation - combined! This emission of gas and water use is only increasing day by day.
Landfill, also known as “tips” or rubbish dumps are a key issue. Toxic technological waste (aka: “waste electrical and electronic equipment” – “WEEE”, “e-waste”, or “techno trash”) is often - illegally - exported to developing countries where they can be disposed of cheaply.
In the North Pacific, a gyre has been renamed ‘The Great Pacific Garbage Patch’ and is composed entirely of over 6 million tonnes of non-biodegradable waste. It is estimated that its area is twice that of Texas.
Synthetic materials, essentially plastic materials that take 15 decades to decompose, are the unfriendliest to nature. However, ‘more natural’ fibers, such as cotton also face problems such as being extremely water thirsty.
This is why, I would argue, fast fashion is an engineering issue. For example, companies are even re-thinking the entire process through more sustainable methods of production:
the use of replaceable, locally-sourced, recycled or organically-grown materials (such as organic cotton, which does not rely on heavy use of pesticides)
exploring the concept of “zero waste” (where garments are designed to eliminate any waste fabric in production)
or “closed-loop production systems, which have no detrimental impact on the environment.
Closed-loop means a stop to the linear fashion economy of buy then throw and a focus towards it being a cycle. Perhaps you buy, wear it 30+ times, give away to someone who can do the same.
Tremendous technological advances can also be made supporting nature: biologically-cultured textiles, recycled fibers, environmentally-friendly dyes, and 3D printing.
This is called “green” fashion.
I urge you to come up with your own amazing, scientific solutions. The goal is to end fast fashion, by stopping it - once and for all.
By: Hemlata Pant
Sources:
AlterNet. “Fast Fashion Is the Second Dirtiest Industry in the World, Next to Big Oil.” EcoWatch, 1 Apr. 2019, www.ecowatch.com/fast-fashion-is-the-second-dirtiest-industry-in-the-world-next-to-big--1882083445.html.
Boseley, Sarah. “Child Labourers Exposed to Toxic Chemicals Dying before 50, WHO Says.” The Guardian, 14 Feb. 2018, www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/21/plight-of-child-workers-facing-cocktail-of-toxic-chemicals-exposed-by-report-bangladesh-tanneries.
“Fast Fashion - an Overview | ScienceDirect Topics.” Https://Www.Sciencedirect.Com/Topics/Engineering/Fast-Fashion, www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/fast-fashion. Accessed 16 July 2020.
“Fast Fashion Explained In Under 5 Minutes.” YouTube, uploaded by Kristen Leo, 26 Sept. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR7bXsoNwwE.
“OCC News - The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Is Growing Exponentially.” Https://Oceancruisingclub.Org/Newsitem/394/The-Great-Pacific-Garbage-Patch-Is-Growing-Exponentially, oceancruisingclub.org/newsitem/394/The-Great-Pacific-Garbage-Patch-is-Growing-Exponentially. Accessed 16 July 2020.
Sax, Sarah. “Fashion’s Crippling Impact on the Environment Is Only Getting Worse.” Https://News.Vice.Com/En_us/Article/437egg/Why-Fashion-Is-the-Worlds-Most-Polluting-Industry, 18 May 2020, www.vice.com/en_us/article/437egg/why-fashion-is-the-worlds-most-polluting-industry.
“The World’s Top 13 Fashion Brands Are Worth $175 Billion Combined.” Business Insider, www.businessinsider.com/most-valuable-fashion-brands-in-the-world-2017-3?international=true&r=US&IR=T. Accessed 16 July 2020.
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