When I think fashion, I think of putting together fun outfits to express myself. Behind the racks and stores, though, there is a growing consumption problem quietly devouring our planet from under us.
Fast fashion includes cheaply produced garments, frequent “drops,” and low prices. While it seems great to the consumer, the retail phenomenon is actually creating an environmental crisis behind the scenes.
Morgan McFall-Johnsen at Business Insider wrote a 2019 article stating that the fashion industry accounts for around 10% of global carbon emissions, which is more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. The energy consumption doesn’t stop there, she said — fashion is also the second-largest consumer of water worldwide.
Even after all of this energy use, roughly 85% of the textiles created end up burned or in landfills each year; that’s a garbage truck-sized pile of clothes every second. These numbers are absolutely off-the-charts. This just goes to show that our society treats clothing as disposables, rather than as lifelong pieces.
Why should we care, though? Because this current model is ruining the planet we need to live on and depleting the resources it provides us. When affordable clothing comes at the cost of emissions, water use, pollution, and microplastics, the environmental toll is enormous.
The core of this problem is the speed and scale of production. The fast fashion model demands brands bring new styles to market with increasing frequency — companies averaged two collections per year in 2000, and now they average more than five, according to Johnsen. She also added that in 2014, people were buying 60% more clothes than they were in 2000.
This data tells me clothing is being overconsumed, and then is quickly discarded after purchase, which isn’t sustainable in the slightest. We need to shift our mindsets from “cheap, new, now” to “good quality, durable, fair.” The instant gratification of fashion has to go.
The argument can be made: isn’t fashion art, and also a contribution to the economy? Why should we create guilt around it? Certainly, buying and wearing fashion is an art and is essential to the economy; however, when the financial benefit relies on overproduction, overconsumption, and loss of precious resources, we lose sight of long-term consequences.
As consumers, we need to stop and think before putting in our card information. Ask yourself, will I wear this 5 times or 50 times? Think about the materials being used (synthetic vs. natural) and the brand’s ethics. Every choice we make matters.
Shopping at thrift stores is also a great way to keep fashion sustainable. Not only is the hunt for new pieces fun, it’s also giving a second life to a garment that would otherwise be tossed.
In addition, we should be urging brands and retailers to redesign their business models to avoid this. They should move away from the “more, faster, cheaper” framework toward slower production cycles and recycling old materials. We can also demand transparency in materials and trade information before buying.
If we care about the planet, we have to stop treating our closets as streams of cheap, disposable clothes. Instead of buying more, let’s invest in higher quality and buy less. We must ask tough questions with each purchase in order to make fashion sustainable. If we don’t, we are choosing fashion over the future. Let’s choose better.
https://www.businessinsider.com/fast-fashion-environmental-impact-pollution-emissions-waste-water-2019-10
Danielle Carlisi 
Carlie Smith 
Riley Hurley