FAIR EARTH FOUNDATION
  • Home
  • Our Story
  • What We Do
    • Telling >
      • Talks
      • Storytelling
      • Photography
      • exhibitions
      • Film >
        • Environmental Films
        • Nature Films
        • Society Films
        • Inspirational Talks
    • Achieving >
      • Tree Planting
      • Plastic Neutrality
      • True Fair Trading
      • True Fair Eco Tourism
    • educating >
      • Experiential Learning
      • Mentoring
      • Lesson Plans
    • Online Discussions
    • doing >
      • Groups >
        • Case Studies
      • British Expedition Society
      • Volunteering
      • Fundraising >
        • Teide Challenge
        • Adam's Peak Challenge
  • Volunteering
    • Whale and Dolphin Conservation
    • Animal Rescue
  • Key Programmes
    • EarthDay
    • Plant a Tree, Fund a Dream
    • Global Citizenship
    • Art and Nature
    • Teide Challenge
    • London Eco Film Festival
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Earth Week
    • Story Telling
    • Mindfulness
    • Nature
    • Healing
    • Creative
    • Why Tenerife
    • ED Activites

Global Citizenship Blog

Is fast fashion destroying the environment?

3/23/2021

4 Comments

 
Picture
Did you know that the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of all annual global carbon emissions? That is more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined! (World Bank Group, 2019) 

At Fair Earth Foundation, we are a community of young people trying to make the world a better place. Our mission is to educate others and raise awareness on the humanitarian and environmental issues that we face as a society. We believe that everyone can play a part in changing the world for the better, including you! Read until the end of this post to find some top tips for reducing fast fashion consumption and shopping sustainably! 

What is fast fashion?

So, perhaps you’ve heard of the phrase ‘fast fashion’ before, but what does it actually mean? Fast fashion is used to describe cheap clothing produced by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends. Some well-known brands include the likes of H&M, Zara and Uniqlo.
Picture
Image source – The Amaranta
Fashion retailers intentionally create new items of clothing and trends every few weeks, in hopes to persuade customers that they must ‘stay on trend’ by regularly purchasing new items of clothing. Since the clothing is usually of low quality and relatively inexpensive, customers will often find that they will return to stores to buy new items of clothing as it is cheaper than repairing old garments. 

The effects of fast fashion

Many of us may believe that shopping for clothes (especially cheap and on trend clothes!) is harmless and maybe even fun, but what are effects of fast fashion on the environment? How it is possible for retailers to sell stock so cheaply whilst still making a profit? 


Environmental impacts

In reality, many toxic chemicals are used to create the vibrant colours, prints and patterns that appear on fast fashion garments. These chemicals are often dumped into nearby rivers and streams by unregulated factories, polluting the water and air as well as harming the health of the workers that produce the garments. 

In addition to this, polyester garments contain microfibres that are unable to biodegrade. This means that when they are washed in domestic washing machines, the microfibres shed and pass through our waterways which eventually lead to our oceans. This adds to the increasing levels of plastic in our oceans and present a large threat to aquatic life.

Furthermore, the low quality of fast fashion garments along with the fast trends, mean that clothes are being thrown away at an unprecedented rate. In Britain, more than 300,000 tons of clothes end up in a landfill. Landfill sites produce greenhouse gases that harm the environment and contribute to global warming.

Humanitarian impacts

In order to promote such low prices, cheap labour is often sourced from sweatshops. These are factories that employ workers for extremely low wages for long hours, often in poor conditions. For example, in Bangladesh, the majority of garment workers earn little more than the minimum wage and far below what is considered a living wage. Many are also forced to work 14-16 hour days, 7 days a week in hazardous conditions. Since 1990, more than 400 workers have died and several thousand more have been wounded in 50 major factory fires. Sexual harassment and discrimination are also widespread and many female workers have reported that the right to maternity leave is not upheld by employers.

What can we do to help? 

If you would like to reduce your fast fashion consumption, here are some top tips on how to get started:

  1. Buy from ethical and sustainable brands (I have listed a few below)
    1. Bamboo Clothing: Yoga Clothing, Base Layers, Sustainable & Soft Clothing
    2. hundred club (wearehundredclub.com)
    3. Contemporary, Ethical & Sustainable Style | Thought Clothing (wearethought.com
  2. ​Consume secondhand clothing from thrift/charity stores or online marketplaces (such as Depop). You can even swap clothes with friends and family!
  3. DIY or upcycle old clothes. You can get creative with this by cutting, sewing, and even knitting fabrics!

Let us know in the comments below if you have decided to start reducing your fast fashion consumption or have followed any of the tips above. We look forward to hearing from you!

Post by: Rachel Weng

4 Comments
men's online shopping sites,men's online shopping sites in india link
5/21/2021 05:45:12 am

Thank You So Much......

Reply
thrift store in Destin, FL link
9/15/2021 04:29:41 am

Very interesting and thanks for sharing such a good blog. Your article is so convincing that I never stop myself from saying something about it. You’re doing a great job. Keep it up.

Reply
Arnold Miths link
9/15/2022 03:09:02 am

Great article! Thank you for sharing this informative post, and looking forward to the latest one.
If you are looking for General Article and deals just visit white cannon dot com

Reply
Mr. Kevin Mcdowell link
11/5/2022 07:42:23 am

Oil yet son thought discover such garden.
Option understand room effort. Reduce movie always sign. Guy white apply leave news.
Now order light what. Out quality before bit people.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Authors

    We encourage all of our volunteers to submit a blog post, on any topic, whilst they are with us.

    We also accept guest submissions! Please contact Matúš if you'd like to write for us.


    Categories

    All
    Conservation
    Creative: Film & Photography
    Ecotourism
    Enterprise
    Sustainable Living


      keep up to date!

    Subscribe to Newsletter

    Archives

    March 2021
    February 2021

    RSS Feed

The Fair Earth Foundation is a UK Registered Charity (Number 1172989)
  • Home
  • Our Story
  • What We Do
    • Telling >
      • Talks
      • Storytelling
      • Photography
      • exhibitions
      • Film >
        • Environmental Films
        • Nature Films
        • Society Films
        • Inspirational Talks
    • Achieving >
      • Tree Planting
      • Plastic Neutrality
      • True Fair Trading
      • True Fair Eco Tourism
    • educating >
      • Experiential Learning
      • Mentoring
      • Lesson Plans
    • Online Discussions
    • doing >
      • Groups >
        • Case Studies
      • British Expedition Society
      • Volunteering
      • Fundraising >
        • Teide Challenge
        • Adam's Peak Challenge
  • Volunteering
    • Whale and Dolphin Conservation
    • Animal Rescue
  • Key Programmes
    • EarthDay
    • Plant a Tree, Fund a Dream
    • Global Citizenship
    • Art and Nature
    • Teide Challenge
    • London Eco Film Festival
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Earth Week
    • Story Telling
    • Mindfulness
    • Nature
    • Healing
    • Creative
    • Why Tenerife
    • ED Activites