3 Problems With Fast Fashion
You Can't Ignore

What Is Fast Fashion?

Fast fashion is a business model followed by some of the most popular clothing brands worldwide. In this model, the brands use cheap materials and inexpensive labour to produce clothing collections at fast paces. They make each collection trendy, and in most cases, sell these products at a low price point.

With this definition, you might be asking what the problem is with fast fashion since, as a consumer, everything mentioned benefits you. But if you look deeper into the processes behind it, you would be surprised about the types of problems it brings. 

Environment Journal

The Negative Impacts That Fast Fashion Brings

#1: Inhumane Working Conditions

It’s likely that most of the clothes in your closet are made in countries with limited or non-existent laws for protecting workers' rights. Many clothing companies take advantage of this to produce fashion at a dirt cheap rate, thus maximising their margins and profits.

Companies often make job provision an excuse for this inhumane practice, but it is a way of exploiting these people's human rights. The low and unlivable salary the workers receive, the hazardous working conditions they experience daily, child labour, and gender discrimination are just some things fast fashion workers are subjected to.

#2: The Problematic Production Process

Creating a clothing collection is not as simple as waiting for the seamstress to bring your design to life. The process involves working with different suppliers, including sourcing raw materials, producing the garments, adding finishing touches, and transporting them to different parts of the world.

Companies in the fast fashion industry speed up these steps, widening their carbon footprint and sometimes not knowing what kind of processes their materials go through—with no consideration about whether these processes are sustainable or not.

#3: Environmental Impact

The fashion industry is the second-largest polluter in the world, and it continuously grows. Therefore, its environmental impact constantly evolves too. Here are some ways it affects the environment
• The toxic waste from textiles gets dumped into rivers, bringing harm to aquatic life and public health.
• A considerable amount of water and other resources are needed to produce cotton and other raw materials for the textiles.
• Harmful chemicals are one of the main components of cloth creation. Chemicals are used in dyeing and bleaching garments, which could harm the workers' health and the planet.
• The fashion industry brings microfibre pollution. Plenty of organisms ingest these tiny microfibres - you included.
• There is no proper disposal for these clothing items. Since they are made from cheap materials, they get worn out easily and discarded. On average, only 15% of these produced clothes are recycled or donated. Others go directly to landfills. 

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