With the homecoming dance having passed and our winter formal in just a few months, a question many students are asking themselves is “What am I gonna wear?” With events like these, it’s common for outfits to be bought and worn only once for the sake of wearing something popular or modern. Unfortunately, this single-use practice also extends to casual clothing. As high schoolers, we are more prone to this phenomenon—fast fashion—and its effects are worse than you might think.
To learn more about this issue, I interviewed Stellamaris Scott, a senior at Helix and leader of its fashion club. Scott defines fast fashion as “clothing that’s not sustainably sourced, the labor or the clothes [themselves].” Fast fashion companies like Shein and Zara commonly outsource their labor to countries such as Bangladesh or Indonesia, where wages are cheaper and production costs less in general. Already looking to cut costs and take shortcuts, these companies are dismissive of their workers, and it can lead to disaster. In 2013, a garment factory called the Rana Plaza in Dhaka, Bangladesh collapsed due to neglect. 1,134 people died, with thousands more injured, while the roof of the building was noticeably cracked the day before.
While tragedies like this happen outside the US, Scott comments how clothes like these are only “sold for current trends that aren’t gonna last that long.” Fashion trends come and go often, and social media is a big driver of this cycle. Influencers, often paid by fast fashion companies, lean into this and market their cheaply made clothing as must-buy trendy items. As a result, a whole generation is sucked into the market of fast fashion.
Unfortunately, this practice is not only a threat to human rights and livelihood—it’s also taken a significant toll on the environment. The fashion industry alone is responsible for a whole 10% of annual CO2 production. This statistic is twice as much as the 5% that flight and maritime transport worldwide contributes to the atmosphere. Fast fashion companies contribute immensely to these emissions as they own and outsource production to large factories based solely on making clothing.
In addition, microplastics are a common byproduct of cheaper clothing that uses synthetic materials, and when they make their way into the environment from factories, they can cause digestive issues, reproductive health problems and respiratory harm, among other negative effects.
Luckily, there is a solution to this myriad of issues. As of late, thrifting has become a popular alternative to buying clothes online. Thrift stores have been around for much longer than our generation has, but with a resurgence of fashion trends from the 90s and 2000s, they’ve made a big comeback. However, there is a side to this convenience which can be abused. With thrifting now becoming much more popular, it’s important that we learn from the shortcomings of fast fashion and don’t make the same mistakes. While thrifted clothes may be cheap, remember that thrifting should prevent overconsumption, not contribute to it.
Wear out your clothes, keep them for a long time and repair them when they break!
You may very well help the environment in the process. While looking fashionable is a big plus to thrifting, it’s important to be responsible when it comes to clothing and look after our planet.