Madalynn Wilson
Lantern Staff
Trends in the fashion world continue to change at a rapid pace and fast-fashion retailers continue to make cheap, throw-away clothing to keep up, no matter the cost to their workers and the environment. Forever 21, H&M and Zara are a few examples of huge fast-fashion retailers that fit this description. Their business models revolve around quickly making low-quality clothing items that are typically worn a few times by the consumer and then thrown away because of cheap material and fast-moving trends. You should choose to shop second-hand or slow fashion retailers because of the negative effects the fashion industry has on its workers and environment.
One of the biggest issues with fast fashion companies is their treatment of their workers. Their clothes are often made in factories in third world countries where the workers are paid sub-poverty wages and work in dangerous working conditions. Since many of these countries where these factories are stationed have very low minimum wages, even if they aren’t technically breaking the law, the workers are still paid under a livable wage. For example, if a piece of clothing costs you $19.99, the person who made it was probably paid 19 cents. As for the treatment of the workers, according to the Guardian, abuse is rampant in H&M and Gap factories in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The workers, specifically women, reported being physically and sexually abused at the factories due to the pressure of keeping up with the increasingly high demand for more and more clothing to be made.
Not only are the conditions for garment workers in these factories appalling, but the negative effect fast fashion has on the environment rivals that of the oil industry. According to Business Insider, fast fashion produces 10% of our total carbon emissions and is the second-largest consumer of water worldwide. Our consumption of fast fashion has also increased drastically over the years. On average, people have purchased 60% more clothing than they did in 2000 and kept it for half as long, which means most clothing is going straight to the landfill.
This is why more people need to focus on not only shopping sustainably and ethically, but also slowing down their consumption. If you do want to purchase clothing, there are slow-fashion retailers like Everlane, Reformation and Los Angeles Apparel that focus on sustainability and ethically sourced clothing. However, if you need a lower price tag option (like me), you can always shop second-hand. There are thrift stores all over and many of them have high-quality clothing that will last. There are also online options like Depop or Thred Up if that’s more of your thing. No matter what option you choose, it’s important to think about what environmental and personal impact your purchase will have and to only buy clothing that will last you a very long time and you will get a lot of use out of.