How Fast is Your Fashion? #20

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Fast fashion is widely considered to be low-quality clothing produced quickly to follow current industry trends and sold at very low prices. Although the monetary cost is low, textile workers and the environment are paying a high price.

In the European Union, fast fashion is responsible for 8 to 10 per cent of total carbon emissions, is the second largest consumer of water resources, and around 85 per cent of all textiles end up in landfill every year. What's more, since the quality of the clothes is very low, every time they are washed, they release tonnes of microfibres (such as polyester, nylon, and acrylic) into the water, with estimates that more than 500,000 tonnes of microfibres are released into the ocean every year.

In addition to this huge environmental impact, fast fashion also has a tremendous social impact. The clothes are mainly made by young people, if not children, under forced labour and in very precarious conditions, usually in underdeveloped countries.

The solution? Slow fashion with conscious purchasing.

Yes, companies need to change their approach, but it's up to us as consumers to choose which brands to buy from and buy less and better. A good tool to help you is the application “Good on You”, which shows you the rating of the brands into three categories: labour, environment, and animal welfare.

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