Fast Fashion: Sabotaging Sustainability

It's one of the most serious problems facing the modern fashion retail industry - clothes being produced cheaply and thrown away soon after. The results can be disastrous for the environment. Dima Kanani investigates.

Confession: I have never shopped sustainably. I have always viewed my hobby of shopping as fun and frivolous, even exhilarating. Fashion, I regarded a little bit more seriously. As a form of expression, a work of art. However, with the knowledge that we have attained of the horrors lurking behind fast fashion, I can honestly say that my enjoyment of shopping has significantly waned. Each purchase pricks at my conscience. My many rows of clothes increasingly appear as little demons cackling, ‘We will gratify your greed.’ Fast fashion has been among us for years, and we must all grow to understand that this disastrous issue must be stopped.

The devastating impact of fast fashion on our environment is a hot topic within the media, political and educational establishments, and society more broadly. The fashion industry has been reported to be the second most polluting industry in our modern world, after oil. According to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee, “Textile production contributes to more climate change than international aviation and shipping combined.” 

As preposterous as this may sound, I cannot say that I am extremely surprised. Ultimately, we are the source of many problems affecting this planet. We must all attempt to shield the earth from the multiple catastrophic impacts of climate change and global warming as a result of our own actions such as.

Can we tar all fast fashion retailers with the same brush? Apparently not. I find it extremely reassuring to hear that there are some major retailers in New Zealand, such as Icebreaker, Lululemon and Levis, who have taken a far more sustainable approach in recent years making improvements such in their creation of material and reducing water wastage. For example, Levis claims that they are “working towards industry-leading targets including: 100% sustainably sourced cotton by 2025... 50% reduction of water use in manufacturing in water stressed areas by 2030.” This is brilliant, because it means that companies, such as Levis, have been identifying issues within today's market and have attempted to act against the mass pollution of our planet.

Sadly, however, these stores are in the minority with many other retailers still a long way behind in terms of their approach to sustainability and environmental management. There are many realistic alternatives for materials that can be used by the companies, and I believe that they should be put to use - instead of opting for cheaper options and causing havoc and destruction towards our environment. For example, I was deeply upset to discover that many of my high street favourites were among some of the worst offenders of fast fashion, including, Max, Ralph Lauren and, shock horror, Farmers. Armed with this uncomfortable knowledge, where will I allow my mum to shop going forward?

So, is it just the high street fast fashion retailers that are polluting our air, land and seas? How do our designer brands fare? We’d assume that the extortionate price tag could be in part, justified, by a more sustainable outlook. Unfortunately, this is not the case. It’s absolutely ridiculous that companies such as Burberry, have been reported to have burned any leftover merchandise with the sole reason to ‘protect their brand name.’ While they did this to preserve the exclusive nature of their brand, they have also proven themselves to be an environmentally irresponsible brand, with little to no social conscience. This opens another reason as to why we must stop supporting these brands, so they can change their form of manufacture, as well as disposal methods. In fact,all this damage could have been avoided if Burberry sold their items for less or even gave away some of their merchandise, this would have presumably helped those who needed the clothing such as their own poorly paid workers, who diligently stitch these tartans for endless hours.

It’s very easy for us, as consumers, to lay the blame on the manufacturers and retailers, but we must be more aware of our own responsibility. Clearly, we need to reflect on our spending habits, our attitudes towards clothing and our overall greed. Our excessive buying is driving the excessive manufacture, and many of us don’t dispose of our clothing any more responsibly than the retailers. Currently, we consume 80 billion new pieces of clothing, an alarming 400% increase from 20 years ago. Furthermore, due to the consumption rate of clothing, the industry creates, on average, 92 million tonnes of waste annually, most of which ends up in landfill or is exported to developing countries to clog up their landfill. 

Many of us, to our grandparents’ horror, view clothing as pretty much disposable these days, with one in every three young women, like myself, considering garments to be ‘old’ after being worn once. We must control our compulsive behaviour, especially, with all this deeply depressing knowledge circulating us on the lasting effects of clothing.

We as consumers and as people have the power to turn this market around, by changing our spending habits, to steer shops to hopefully more positive ethical outlooks. We need to support companies that are creating a difference in today’s market and are aiding the environment.  This includes companies such as the TearFund Foundation, who produce ethical ratings for the world’s most popular store brands, allowing us to have an insight in what brands have the most sustainable outlooks, and which stores don’t.

Fast fashion can be stopped, but only if we become more aware that the fashion and clothing industry isn’t all glitz and glamour. There are huge sacrifices made in order to manufacture the shirt or sweater that you may be willing to purchase right now. Would you still feel comfortable in that cosy jumper, knowing that to be manufactured, it wasted over 3000 litres of fresh water?