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Avoiding fast fashion
The UN considers fashion to be the second most polluting industry in the world. Fast fashion is simply not sustainable. The ‘‘slow fashion’’ movement teaches consumers how to build a healthy wardrobe, while also protecting the planet.
Environmental Ethics
70% of clothing items end up in landfill and 30% are incinerated. They release toxic gases when decomposed in landfill. When this clothing goes into the other items in the landfill and break down, they release toxic greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane into the environment which increases global warming. This is why it is vital that we think about the alternatives to
throwing clothes away. The cotton industry uses more pesticides than any other crop and it takes over 20,000 litres of water to produce the cotton for one t-shirt and one pair of jeans. Around half a million tons of microfibre, which is the equivalent of 3 million barrels of oil, is now being dumped into the ocean every year. Most of our clothes are made from conventionally produced cotton that uses unsustainably damaging amounts of pesticides and freshwater.
Humane Injustice
Ask #WhoMadeMyClothes - was this made in a safe environment? And was everyone in the factory paid a living wage? On top of that, the use of child labour and slavery is widespread in the industry. Animals are often hurt and sometimes killed in the makeup industry by being tested on with harsh chemicals.
Societal Pressure
For a lot of people, what they wear is directly because of marketing or because of peer pressure particularly with the use of social media. In a world where social media is constantly growing, many people online now are paid to influence us into buying more items. Do you really just want to wear what everyone else is wearing or just buy what big companies have chosen for you to see? You do not have to give into that.
When you’re at the top of mount Everest, does it really matter what you’re wearing? There is an initial spike in our happiness level when good things happen to us, and a drop when we experience a sad event. New fashion trends are constantly being produced and so fast fashion cannot sustain happiness. There are other, more ethical ways to produce the same levels of happiness which are more consistent and more sustainable.
Environmental Ethics
70% of clothing items end up in landfill and 30% are incinerated. They release toxic gases when decomposed in landfill. When this clothing goes into the other items in the landfill and break down, they release toxic greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane into the environment which increases global warming. This is why it is vital that we think about the alternatives to
throwing clothes away. The cotton industry uses more pesticides than any other crop and it takes over 20,000 litres of water to produce the cotton for one t-shirt and one pair of jeans. Around half a million tons of microfibre, which is the equivalent of 3 million barrels of oil, is now being dumped into the ocean every year. Most of our clothes are made from conventionally produced cotton that uses unsustainably damaging amounts of pesticides and freshwater.
Humane Injustice
Ask #WhoMadeMyClothes - was this made in a safe environment? And was everyone in the factory paid a living wage? On top of that, the use of child labour and slavery is widespread in the industry. Animals are often hurt and sometimes killed in the makeup industry by being tested on with harsh chemicals.
Societal Pressure
For a lot of people, what they wear is directly because of marketing or because of peer pressure particularly with the use of social media. In a world where social media is constantly growing, many people online now are paid to influence us into buying more items. Do you really just want to wear what everyone else is wearing or just buy what big companies have chosen for you to see? You do not have to give into that.
When you’re at the top of mount Everest, does it really matter what you’re wearing? There is an initial spike in our happiness level when good things happen to us, and a drop when we experience a sad event. New fashion trends are constantly being produced and so fast fashion cannot sustain happiness. There are other, more ethical ways to produce the same levels of happiness which are more consistent and more sustainable.
Alternatives
- For many people, the minimalistic lifestyle is better for happiness and wellbeing. Having less means a lot less cluster and less stress. It also means the objects you do own mean more to you. Instead of spending money on clothes you could be putting it elsewhere on experiences for example. Following this kind of lifestyle means people around you will most likely like you for you, and not the clothes you are wearing, leading to happier and healthier relationships.
- DIY! For example, if you have pieces of clothing in your wardrobe that you’d like to change, perhaps grab some scissors and start changing them to fit you better, or style them up to how you want them. You could turn some normal jeans into ripped jeans. You could also add more design to them. If you feel you cannot do it yourself, there are affordable tailors out there or stylists who can help.
- Borrowing clothes. You could ask a friend or family members or swap!
- Second-hand shops. You could save a lot of money with this alternative.
- Find eco-friendly brands and ones that do not endorse underpaid workers, use slavery and child labour.
- Put your money to a good cause. Instead of buying clothes every month that you do not necessarily need, you could join our monthly tree planting subscription which would decrease your carbon footprint.
