Paying the Price of Fast Fashion

  The breathtaking lands of Chile’s Atacama Desert, known for towering volcanoes, stretching sands, and limitless skies, are corrupted by pollution. Dunes of discarded clothes pile high, looming at around 39 thousand tons. This is only a fraction of the 92 million metric tons of textile waste produced globally by the fast fashion industry every year. 

   Similar to fast food, the fast fashion industry creates products in mass quantities, aiming to maximize speed and profitability. These companies don’t particularly care about workers’ health or the environment as long as they can get people to keep buying, no matter how many corners have to be cut. 

   These corners include using materials like polyesters. Non-biodegradable microplastics in these fabrics make their way from the water in your washing machine into our oceans, and eventually the food we eat. Microplastics are linked to respiratory issues, neurotoxicity, and cancer. 

  Cotton isn’t much better. While it is biodegradable, on average, it takes about 2,730 liters of water to produce a single cotton t-shirt, enough drinking water to last a person around two and a half years. In addition, the treatment of cotton causes water pollution.  

   The fast fashion industry has also been known to violate workers’ rights. Kimberly Crist (11), a voice against fast fashion consumption, argued, “There has never been any sort of system of making clothing for a society that is not directly based in oppression,” citing the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire as an example. 

  In 1911, during the height of the Industrial Revolution, the incident became one of the most deadly industrial disasters in U.S. history caused by a lack of safety regulations. Around 600 workers were locked inside the building as it caught fire. As smoke billowed throughout the building, firefighters and witnesses stood in helpless horror as women hurled themselves out the blazing windows. 146 people died, including many immigrants exploited for cheap labor. 

   Even today, workers’ rights violations have become commonplace, targeting women in poverty where they are denied living wages and maternity leave, and experience sexual harassment. This will only get worse as the demand for clothes increases.  

   Not buying fast fashion brands such as Shein, Urban Outfitters, and Forever 21 is easier said than done with pressuring factors such as social media. With sites such as TikTok and Instagram, a simple click of a button can spread “micro-trends” overnight. Chunky FILAs, cropped sweater vests, the infamous House of Sunny Hockney dress: all micro-trends that rose to popularity and faded in less than a year. 

   According to McKinsey Sustainability, clothes are lasting in consumers’ closets only about half as long as they did 15 years ago. Peer pressure and social acceptance is one factor. The term “cheugy” was coined by TikTok users to describe an outdated trend. Influencers have made videos detailing what is cheugy, urging consumers to throw out certain items for those more socially accepted. But this speeds up the fast fashion process. To take part in micro-trends, a person has to buy new clothes. Isabel Reynolds (12) had a similar experience: “You see all these girls during the summertime, dressing up in their cute, little 12 dollar bikinis. You just saw that person and you were like, ‘Oh, I want that.’” But after learning about the horrors of the fast fashion industry, she changed her habits to avoid this mentality. Reynolds argued that “as long as you like it, as long as it’s in good condition . . . you shouldn’t have any shame about a piece of clothing.”

   There is a privilege in being able to choose more sustainable options. But we must realize we have collective control over the destructive actions committed by fast-fashion retailers: shift the consumers, shift the production. 

   There are many small changes you can make to your shopping habits. Instead of tossing clothes, donate. Reynolds recommended Uptown Cheapskate or Depop for students who want to make money while getting rid of unwanted clothes. But if you are looking to buy a new item, Crist put it simply: “Buy fewer clothes. If you do not need it, if you cannot imagine yourself wearing it five years down the line, do not buy it.” 

   We are constantly hearing about the climate crisis and how damaging human activity is to our planet. It can make our efforts seem hopeless and pointless. Crist explained, “Part of the reason why this is so hard to fight is because it is just the system that we’ve been brought up in and because we’re all tired.” But Crist urged that, even though we are tired, “If we all try just a bit harder to reduce how much we consume, we can make an impact.” 

 *The opinions expressed in our Opinion articles are the author’s own and do not necessarily express the views of the Signals Staff or West High as a whole.