Fashion is ever changing and it can be hard to keep up to date with trends without buying new clothing. As exciting as it is to buy and style new pieces, it is damaging to the environment for many reasons.

Today I will be looking at the effects that fashion has on the environment and those working in the industry in the production factories in poorer countries such as Africa

This infographic will tell you more.

More often than not, the point of fashion is to make the consumer feel as though they are no longer dressing on trend so they chase up and coming fashions, keeping them up to date with everyone else. This makes them buy more items and therefore making fast fashion brands make more money. They easily make a huge profit because their production costs and the value of the items themselves are so low. It is consumerism and despoliation at its finest. This is also known as ‘fast-fashion’:

“Fast fashion can be defined as cheap, trendy clothing, that samples ideas from the catwalk or celebrity culture and turns them into garments in high street stores at breakneck speed.” – Good On You

According to Huffington Post, these companies are also guilty of making the clothing badly do they break and the consumer has to buy more; again making them more money.

Despite clothing being cheap to make and companies making so much money, those working in sweat shops in countries such as Africa are hardly ever being paid the living wage. The harsh reality is that adults and young children are working 7 days a week, 22 hours a day and people have to decide between working the long hours to support their family, or see their family and not have money to afford food. Sadly, many take their own lives due to this hard way of life as it is too difficult for them to live that way.

Although it’s practically impossible to help directly, there are some things that you can do as a consumer of fashion to help those working in terrible conditions, and help the environment too.

– Revamp old clothes and give them a new life

– Swap clothing with other people

– Rent clothing

– Buy second hand e.g. charity shops/thrift stores/vintage sales

– Shop from sustainable brands such as Aryha and TALA

– Donate old clothes

– Buy clothes made with sustainable materials such as hemp and bamboo

SOURCES

EXPRESS Ten things you never knew about… oceans [Online image] Available from: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/top10facts/971224/ocean-facts-world-oceans-day [Accessed 27/11/2019]

NETCLIPART Water Drop Droplet Clipart Kid Transparent Png – Water Droplet Clipart Png [Online image] Available from: https://www.netclipart.com/isee/iTohRoR_water-drop-droplet-clipart-kid-transparent-png-water/ [Accessed: 27/11/2019]

TRAVEL + LEISURE The Top 5 Cities in Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific [Online image] Available from: https://www.travelandleisure.com/worlds-best/cities-in-australia-new-zealand-south-pacific [Accessed: 27/11/2019]

DAILY MAIL UK Perhaps they’d had purple rain? Residents of Taiwanese town wake to find local river that supplies their drinking water has turned a rather unnatural colour [Online image] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/peoplesdaily/article-3009188/Perhaps-d-purple-rain-Residents-Taiwanese-town-wake-local-river-supplies-drinking-water-turned-unnatural-colour.html [Accessed: 27/11/2019]

FREEWORLDMAPS Free Printable Maps of Europe [Online image] Available from: https://www.freeworldmaps.net/printable/europe/ [Accessed: 27/11/2019]

KIRA SIMPSON (n.d.) 36 Facts About Fast Fashion That Will (hopefully) Inspire You to Embrace the Slow Fashion Movement [Online] The Green Hub. Available from: https://thegreenhubonline.com/2018/01/16/20-facts-about-the-fast-fashion-industry-that-will-shock-you/ [27/11/2019]

JASMINE CHINASAMY (2019) ‘A monstrous disposable industry’: Fast facts about fast fashion [Online] Unearthed Available from: https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2019/09/12/fast-facts-about-fast-fashion/ [Accessed 27/11/2019]