Out with the old and in with the new; This motto is exactly what fast fashion companies use to justify their constant production of clothing based on fleeting trends. But in reality, it’s what needs to be said to the fashion companies themselves.

Let’s say goodbye to fast fashion and welcome sustainability. 

The idea of sustainable fashion has been a topic of discussion for years leading up to 2023. Sustainable fashion refers to the environmentally friendly designing, manufacturing, and distribution of clothing to the public. A sustainable industry is precisely what our consumerist society needs. 

In recent years, fast fashion brands, specifically Shein and H&M have reached a wide audience and gained immense popularity. These brands heavily promote a “throw away culture”which influences young people to consistently swap their “old” clothes for something new. 

Shein adds about 500 products to their website each day at extremely low prices. The constant factory production of new clothing creates large emissions of greenhouse gasses, which perpetuates both climate change and global warming. 

Additionally, many of these fast paced brands unethically dispose of unsold clothes. On  the Danish television program, Operation X, a team of journalists exposed H&M for burning 12 tons of clothes a year in 2017. Unfortunately, other popular brands dispose of clothing through burning and shredding instead of donating. These methods are the exact opposite of eco-friendly as they create waste and produce harmful gasses that pollute the air. 

Most concerning to consumers should be the many potentially unsafe dyes and chemicals often found in fast-fashion apparel. Some of these components include bleach, lead, mercury, and formaldehyde which can cause skin conditions and harm ecosystems. Clothing made from these kinds of materials are not biodegradable meaning they cannot compost back into soil. Additionally, clothing waste that makes its way into bodies of water can seriously hurt its inhabitants and exacerbate water pollution. 

Our current solution is to implement a sustainable industry. It’s impossible for every big fashion brand to become completely eco-friendly overnight. Instead, we can individually make more sustainable choices to better the world we live in and set change in motion. 

Here’s some ways we can make a difference: 

• Shopping second hand to keep clothes out of landfills 
• Donating to thrift stores & clothing drives
• Buying from companies that use renewable energy facilities 
• Purchasing clothing made from recycled fibers

It’s up to us to protect the environment and we can start by making our closets greener over time. By becoming aware of how clothing is truly made, we can make smarter and more conscious choices about what we put our money towards. Not only is sustainable fashion more eco-friendly, it will last you for years to come. Feeding into the cycle of fast fashion may presently benefit our wallets but in the long run, we are only aiding in the harm of our planet.