The Climate Crisis Under the Microscope - Part One:The Role of Fast Fashion
Analysis by Roa Daher, Staff Writer
April 3rd, 2021
The fast fashion industry encompasses many different moving parts that are hard to isolate and identify, which makes it difficult to assess the sustainable profitability of the fast fashion industry and its environmental costs. Fashion remains a significant part of everybody’s daily life, but there is a lack of awareness about its harmful impacts on the environment.
The Growth of the Fashion Industry
The massive negative environmental impacts of fast fashion are essentially due to the growth and evolution of the fashion industry which started in the nineteenth century, catalyzed by social change after the Industrial Revolution; as capitalism emerged from the Industrial Revolution and French Revolution to place an emphasis on ‘capital’ which included clothing (Entwistle, 2015). Additionally, industrialization stimulated a demand for a different kind of clothing; instead of the elaborate attire associated with high social class, there was now a need for different kinds of clothing to cater to a modern and industrial society that distinguished clothing for versus clothing for other purposes. This continuously evolving change in lifestyle created a new demand for clothing that was suitable for leisure activities (Crane, 2000).
The post-industrial society of the twentieth century gave people the freedom to construct new identities that were independent of economic status and social class (Crane, 2000). Furthermore, in an urbanized world, clothing takes on more meaning than ever before because of its ability to act as a medium for self-expression which was particularly important with the growth of large cities promoting anonymity (Entwistle, 2015). With increased anonymity, came a desire to make a good impression on strangers, hence allowing the fashion industry to capitalize on it by promoting the consumption of material objects (Entwistle, 2015).
Moreover, the elevation in the standard of living of a post-industrial society, the emergence of leisure time, and all the activities that came about with it opened up new dimensions for the fashion industry to target. For instance, sportswear fabric differs greatly from cocktail dress fabric. That important distinction coupled with the social mobility meant that fashion had to cater to all of modern society’s clothing needs, thus creating an ever-growing fashion industry capitalizing on new consumer needs. While large-scale social change provided the fashion industry with the right conditions for growth, globalization provided it with the resources that would result in the birth and exponential growth of fast fashion.
The Fast Fashion “Business Strategy”
According to Barnes & Lea-Greenwood (2006, p. 259), fast fashion is “a business strategy which aims to reduce the processes involved in the buying cycle and lead times for getting new fashion products into stores, in order to satisfy consumer demand at its peak.” The modern globalized fashion industry is built on the model of fast fashion which relies on lower quality products and ethically-questionable practices like outsourcing labor and purchasing cheap and hazardous materials (Ledezma, 2017). These practices push down the cost of the product and decrease its lifespan which helps companies sell their product at a lower price and encourage unnecessary consumerism because of the disposable nature of low-cost clothing. The speed and method of the production and consumption of these items have had several environmental consequences.
Outsourced labor guarantees a low cost because of the workers’ low wages and unsafe working conditions. In the fashion industry, this happens because each brand is trying to cut costs and therefore lower prices at the expense of workers who are underpaid and abused in garment factories (Benatti, 2016). The competition between different fast fashion brands promotes the exploitation of labor at any social and economic cost.
Unsustainable Industry Practices
Every step involved in the creation and sale of clothing, from the production and dyeing of fabrics until the consumer buys the item, plays a role in the lack of sustainability in fashion. Fast fashion makes the fashion industry so environmentally harmful because of the tremendous volume of items produced which require a lot of resources to manufacture. Furthermore, the lack of transparency in the supply chain when it comes to raw materials and human labor makes it difficult to make fast fashion sustainable. After all, it is not possible to make sure that the fabrics you use to manufacture clothing are cultivated in an environmentally sustainable manner if you don’t know where the fabric is coming from in the first place (Jacobs, 1998). For the reasons mentioned above, it is important to examine how certain practices in the fashion industry result in direct harm to the environment and therefore are inherently unsustainable. Such practices include excessive consumption of limited resources like water and supply chain obscurity both of which contribute to the negative environmental impact of fashion.
Excessive Resource Consumption
Excessive resource consumption results from the constantly growing demand for fast fashion which promotes clothing of poor quality and a short lifespan. For instance, the very first step in creating clothes is growing the fabric and dyeing it, which is very demanding in terms of land and water usage for the growth of natural resources required, like cotton, and because of the large amounts of chemical substances used for the dye (Brito, Carbone, & Blanquart, 2008). Additionally, the growth of cotton and wool plants not only requires large volumes of water but also uses pesticides that are harmful to both humans and the ecosystem. In the United States, which is the world’s biggest cotton exporter, a quarter of all pesticides are used on cotton plants (Nagurney & Yu, 2012).
Moreover, the alternative to natural fibers ,like cotton and wool, is synthetic fibers which are derived from non-renewable sources (Myers & Stolton, 1999). Claudio (2007) found the following:
For example, polyester, the most widely used manufactured fiber, is made from petroleum. With the rise in production within the fashion industry, demand for man-made fibers, especially polyester, has nearly doubled in the last 15 years, according to figures from the Technical Textile Markets. 0. of crude oil and releasing emissions including volatile organic compounds, particulate matter, and acid gases such as hydrogen chloride, all of which can cause or aggravate respiratory disease. (para. 4)
Therefore, it is important to note that the production of such fabrics is not only harmful to the environment, but also to human health. Additionally, the unsustainability of textiles is related to both the type of fabric produced and the quantity in which it is produced. For example, cotton would be a more environmentally sustainable option if it did not have to be grown in such large quantities because of the high demand.
Lack of Transparency in Supply Chain Management
Fast fashion has long benefitted from a symbiotic relationship with the global supply chain since the former’s increased popularity being facilitated by the latter. However, while the global supply chain has increased profit for companies by giving them the ability to outsource cheaper labor and materials, it has also helped corporations escape accountability for their supply chain’s obscurity that has environmental consequences.
The obscurity of the fast fashion supply chain can be attributed to the nature of fast fashion. For example, the involvement of chemical compounds, land use, water utilization, and the shift of labor to East Asian countries are all constituents that can hinder fast fashion’s supply chain sustainability (Brito, Carbone, & Blanquart, 2008). Fashion companies often rely on external partners to execute the different processes involved in production such as weaving, cutting, and sewing (Jacobs, 1998). The abundant use of subcontractors in the fast fashion supply chain can make it challenging to ensure environmental sustainability. Other factors that make a sustainable supply chain difficult to achieve include price competition and responsiveness.
Even outsourcing human labor is environmentally unsustainable because it results in the need to transport clothing from the country of production to the country of sale, thus emitting greenhouse gases in the transportation process. Additionally, the high product turnover in fast fashion results in the need to transport new items from the country of production to consumers more frequently (Borghesi & Vercelli, 2003).
The Effect of Unsustainable Industry Practices
Fast fashion and the methods of manufacturing it follows have had and will continue to have detrimental effects on the environment which in turn can harm human health. Every step in a clothing item’s life cycle has a corresponding negative impact on the environment. For instance, the growth of raw materials leads to the uptake of natural resources, the pollution of air and water resources, and the creation of solid and hazardous waste as byproducts (Ali & Sarwar, 2010).
Waste Production
When discussing waste production as a result of fast fashion, it is important to note that the generation of waste is not limited to the extraction of raw materials or the manufacturing process; instead, the production of waste in fashion continues for long after the purchase of the item. In fact, clothes themselves are disposed of in the same manner other waste is. After all, less than one percent of the material used to create clothing is recycled into new clothing, and only thirteen percent of the total materials used are recycled in any way at all (Ellen Macarthur Foundation, 2017). As much as 73% of the material used to manufacture clothing is lost after final garment use, and 2% of it is sent to landfill or incineration from garments that are produced, yet never sold in the market (The White Paper, 2017).
On the other hand, another category of waste that is significant in the examination of waste in fast fashion is chemical waste. Chemical waste is produced as a result of coloring, cleaning, and washing in the process of textile manufacturing. Salts, acid, and cleansers are all examples of chemical compounds that dissolve in water as a result of the dyeing process in textile manufacturing (Muthu, 2018). When not disposed of in the appropriate way, these toxic chemicals end up in water thus polluting it and making it unsuitable for human consumption.
Air and Water Pollution
Air and water are both subjected to pollution during the process of manufacturing clothes. According to Tucker (as cited in Nagurney & Yu, 2012), the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) found that a textile manufacturing factory pollutes approximately 200 tons of water per one ton of fabric. The pollution of water takes place because of the use of synthetic dyes and the discharge of toxic chemicals produced by the dyes into wastewater (Kant, 2012). For instance, Xintang, located in the northeastern part of the Pearl River Delta in China, annually produces approximately 200 million pairs of jeans and that has resulted partially in the pollution of the Pearl River due to the dumping of chemicals like bleach and dye into the river (Nagurney & Yu, 2012). The presence of toxic chemicals in the river’s water makes it an unsuitable habitat for many marine organisms and it also makes it unsuitable for human consumption. Additionally, marine environments are harmed by the use of chemicals like pesticides and herbicides during the cultivation of cotton and wool. This may result in water pollution because pesticides and herbicides are present in low concentrations in the end product but are released from fibers upon exposure to heat or water by washing and ironing (Luongo, 2015).
Unlike water pollution, where the only source of pollution is synthetic dye, air pollution in fast fashion comes as a result of several processes including the operation of factories and transportation. For instance, a textile factory in China burns approximately seven tons of coal for each ton of fabric produced (Nagurney & Yu, 2012). The burning of fossil fuels like coal results in the release of greenhouse gases (GHG) that pollute the air and amplify the greenhouse effect. In 2015, GHG emissions from textile production amounted to 1.2 billion tons of CO2 equivalent, which is more than the emissions of all international flights and maritime transport combined for that year (International Energy Agency, 2016). Therefore, it is clear that the most environmentally harmful aspect of fashion is the process of textile production, which is where water and air pollution occur due to the dyeing process and burnt fossil fuels to create the fabrics.
Dwindling Resources
As mentioned previously, the fast fashion industry is a major resource-intensive industry which poses a problem because of diminishing resources; in the same way, diminishing resources are only a problem because of the excessive resource consumption caused by fast fashion. Textile production, including cotton farming, consumes around 93 billion cubic meters of water annually (Ellen Macarthur Foundation, 2017). At present, many of the major cotton-producing countries are under high water stress because of the water-intensive nature of cotton; such countries include India, the United States, Pakistan, Turkey, and China where 80% to 90% of fabric and plastic-based fibers are made in water-scarce areas (Maxwell, 2015). Furthermore, this issue is exacerbated by the fact that the fashion industry is also highly reliant on non-renewable sources. For example, manufacturing plastic-based fibers for textiles uses an estimated 342 million barrels of oil every year (Muthu, 2014). Therefore, not only are the processes involved in manufacturing clothing environmentally harmful, but they also use a great deal of non-renewable natural resources which makes them unsustainable.
Potential Solutions and Alternatives
Due to the harm inflicted on the environment by the fast fashion industry, more environmentally sustainable options must be examined. One way to make fashion more sustainable is by shifting the industry towards renewable resources and upcycling through remaking new clothes using materials from old clothes. However, the burden does not all fall on the fast fashion industry to shift towards more sustainable practices on its own. After all, it responds to the demand of consumers so there is also a burden on the consumer to adopt more sustainable shopping habits. For instance, the easiest to adopt and arguably the most effective way to shop in a more environmentally-friendly manner is to reduce one’s consumption as much as possible and only buy items when something is really needed. Simple habits like repairing clothes instead of throwing them out can go a long way. Even thrift shopping and choosing to buy clothes second-hand can reduce the negative impact on the environment. While it is also possible to support fashion brands that implement sustainable practices, fast fashion is a more alluring choice because of its cheaper, and thus more suitable, price range. Therefore, options like trading clothing with friends or buying second-hand or reducing overall consumption would be a more suitable choice while staying on a budget.
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