3 weeks ago 
Big headlines have been made over recent years thanks to fast fashion and its environmental impact.
Whether it be on the high street or online, fast fashion is hard to ignore.
Fast fashion is exactly what it says on the tin: fast. It’s the term that’s used to describe on-trend clothing that’s created quickly and in mass. However, it’s the speed that clothing items need to be created as well as the mass amount being made, which is the reason behind fast fashion’s environmental impacts.
Now more than ever, we’re buying clothes at an alarming rate. The creation of fast fashion items is destroying the planet thanks to various manufacturing processes. Plus, the rate at which garments are discarded by consumers is also a key player in the damage that fast fashion is having on the environment.
Unfortunately, fast fashion doesn’t seem to be slowing down as statistics show how sales of clothing nearly doubled from 1 trillion dollars in 2002 to 1.8 trillion dollars in 2015. This is even projected to rise to $2.1 trillion by 2025. These are alarming numbers and will only continue to get worse if something isn’t done.
Fast fashion’s impact on the environment
There are multiple reasons why fast fashion should be avoided at all costs, and why it has such a negative environmental impact.
Because of fast fashion’s high turnaround and with a continuous demand, there is an ongoing need for materials such as cotton. So, the growing of cotton for fast fashion ends up requiring huge amounts of fertilisers to boost growth, as well as pesticides to avoid the risk of harm from pests.
These fertilisers and pesticides can end up in nearby water and can be toxic to humans, animals and plants.
The factories themselves, in which the fast fashion garments are made, are working intensely, using vast amounts of chemicals as well as energy, which contributes to climate change and global warming.
There are also many chemicals used and released into the atmosphere when creating fast fashion garments.
At the other end of the chain is the damage caused by distribution of garments -think planes, lorries and boats, and then the excess waste when people throw out their items at an alarming rate.
And, when clothes are binned, they end up in landfills.
Fast fashion toxic chemicals
One of the main ways that fast fashion is destroying the planet is via the chemicals released when these garments are being made.
Naturally, clothing requires dying or bleaching, or perhaps certain treatments need to be applied for a particular style.
Dying in particular is a huge issue. To ensure that the colour of the clothes doesn’t fade, a long list of chemicals are used to treat the fabric. A sky-high 72 toxic chemicals are used for dying, according to The World Bank. Many of these end up in rivers and waterways causing serious contamination, and also killing animals and plants, which then causes harm to the ecosystem.
If this contaminated water is used for crops, it can end up in our food supply, and can then be detrimental to human health.
Plus, the creation of polyester to make garments, is a real issue in itself. Polyester is used in 60% of fast fashion garments, and according to research, 70 million barrels of crude oil are used each year to make polyester fibre. The use of this fossil fuel releases greenhouse gases, causing immense amounts of harm to our planet.
Water pollution and contamination
Sadly, research has found that the fast fashion industry is responsible for a staggering 20% of the world’s waste water.
You might not associate fashion with water pollution, but interestingly, the many dyes used for fast fashion items are responsible for 3% of global C02 emissions, according to stats.
This is due to the fossil fuels required to produce the energy to power these processes.
In fact, there’s even research that states how the dying of fabrics require five trillion litres of water each year. And that’s just one part of the puzzle when it comes to creating fast fashion garments.
Water usage itself is pretty intense when it comes to fast fashion. Did you know that the speedy production of cotton – needed to make the garments- requires 20,000 litres of water to produce just one kilogram of cotton? This 1kg of cotton only makes up to around five t-shirts, so you can imagine the vast quantities needed to keep up with fast fashion’s demand.
Clothes in the landfills
More than ever, people are buying fast fashion, only to throw it away as soon as trends change, to replace these items with more fast fashion.
The average person now buys 60% more items of clothing than they did 15 years ago. What’s worse, is that consumers are only keeping these clothes for half as long. In the UK, an estimated £30 billion worth of clothes are in people’s wardrobes and drawers, having never been worn.
The clothes being thrown out aren’t necessarily worn out, they’re simply unwanted and easy to replace.
A staggering 100 billion fast fashion garments are made every single year, which in itself is astounding, but then consider the fact that 92 million tonnes of fast fashion and textile waste ends up in landfills every year. According to stats, this means that hypothetically, every second, a rubbish truck full of clothing is being dumped onto a landfill site. It’s been suggested that 95% of the clothes we throw out, could be used again.
When clothes end up in landfills, they release dangerous greenhouse gases, damaging our planet and environment. Plus, the space these landfills take up is astronomical.
Whilst second hand shopping is a trend in itself these days, the poor quality of fast fashion garments doesn’t really make it easy to re-sell and reuse.
However, in an ideal scenario, to help reduce the environmental impact of clothing, items would be worn, revamped, sold on, exchanged, and/or donated so that the life cycle of clothing never ends.
Fast fashion and greenhouse gas emissions
We hear the words ‘greenhouse gases’ all the time, but what are these gases? Essentially, they trap heat in the atmosphere, hence why they’re known as contributors to global warming. Carbon Dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide as well as other fluorinated gases are all examples of greenhouse gases, although CO2 is the main greenhouse gas.
Burning fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal, is the primary way in which CO2 is emitted into the atmosphere. Fast fashion is a major contributor to climate change, and these greenhouse gas emissions.
In fact, just last year, fast fashion was named as the world’s third-largest polluter with 10% of all greenhouse gases being released by fast fashion alone.
Dumping of clothes in landfill sites is playing a big role in fast fashion’s considerably large environmental impact. There’s also the use of chemicals, dyes and other materials which is contributing to damage.
Let’s not forget the pollutants released by the transportation of these fast fashion garments.
Plastic waste
You might not associate plastic with fast fashion, however there’s research to suggest that nearly 10% of microplastics which end up in the ocean every year, come from the textile industry. Between 200,000 and 500,000 tonnes of microplastics from textiles enter the global marine environment each year.
Microplastics are essentially extremely small pieces and fragments of plastic which come from the breakdown of waste.
Many of the materials used to make fast fashion items are made from plastics and metals. These cheaper fabrics include polyester and nylon.
There’s research to suggest that 35% of all microplastics come from these cheaper, synthetic fibres. When they end up in oceans, they can damage habitats and marine species, causing harm to the ecosystem.
Microplastics tend to be released the first time (or the first few times) an item is washed. As fast fashion garments typically account for a high share of these first washes, they’re the main culprit when it comes to the release of microplastics.
Research has found that washing a single synthetic garment just once, can generate more than 1900 microplastic fibres.
What you can do about it
There are some simple ways that you can help stop fast fashion from having such a negative environmental impact. The easiest way is to keep clothes for longer; wear them, take care of them, share them with colleagues, family, friends and try to keep them ‘on trend’. This can be done by changing how you wear the item, pairing it with other clothes or perhaps tailoring it to suit a new trend.
Statistics have shown how doubling the life of clothing from one year to two, reduces emission over the year by an impressive 24%.
If you have fast fashion garments that no longer fit, or you simply don’t like, why not get together with friends and host a clothes swap evening? Or, give them to a homeless centre or charity shop, so others can enjoy them.
Research states that every kilogram of virgin cotton displaced by second hand clothing saves approximately 65 kWh, or 90 kWh for polyester.
When you buy second hand, you’re not only decreasing the demand for new, fast fashion items, but you’re also helping to reduce the exploitation of natural resources, which are being burned out by fast fashion.
When shopping for new clothes, aim to hunt out labels that show the item is eco friendly or fair trade.
If we all pull together as consumers, we can fight back against fast fashion, and force clothing manufacturers to pay more attention to the destructive patterns they are causing.
The takeaway
If nothing is done soon about fast fashion, the environmental impact will continue to increase.
It’s predicted that global emissions will increase by 50% by 2030, so it’s time to do our bit to slow down the devastating impact that fast fashion is having on our planet. There are several things we can do such as buying second hand, giving old clothes away to family and friends, turning our backs on fast fashion brands and getting savvy on sustainable, planet-friendly brands.