Replace Fast Fashion with More Ethical Alternatives – The Daily Utah Chronicle

The term “fast fashion” has gained a lot of traction over the past few years, but what exactly does it mean? Fast -paced fashion consists of relatively inexpensive “trendy” clothing items that are easy to move to retail stores. Because trends are constantly changing, fast fashion emphasizes fast shipping and production times. What consumers don’t see is the bad stomach of the fast -paced fashion industry.

Employees are often underpaid and under unsafe working conditions. Environmental problems are just as severe, with the fashion industry contributing more than 20% of industry-related water pollution and 25% of chemicals used worldwide.

Fast fashion consumerism remains unethical and harmful to the environment, despite our support, has grown on many proportions. We can cut it by shopping sustainably, wearing the clothes we already have and reducing compulsive shopping.

Who Contributes?

Many popular retail stores are fast fashion empires. Some of these brands include H&M, FashionNova, Forever21, BooHoo and SHEIN. These brands are all cut as much as possible between design, production and delivery. However, their products are more disposable. Poor quality clothing encourages consumers to throw away clothing afterwards some worn. Many young adults consider a dress to be worn “once or twice old. ” Young people – the biggest consumers of fast fashion – constitute the target audience for these brands.

Unethical Exploitation

In 2013, a warehouse for the production of many garments collapsed in Dhaka, a major city in Bangladesh. Called the “Rana Plaza Incident,” it forces people to question the morality of fast -paced working conditions. Numerous structural problems at the factory caused the collapse, killing at least 1,132 people and injuring more than 2,500.

No one can forgive the negligence shown by management, who ignore the many concerns expressed by their employees. This is just one of the many examples we need to recognize of the bad conditions in fast fashion empires.

An Unsustainable Business Model

Fast fashion companies follow a volume -based business model. Following this model, products are sold, used and then discarded. Overproduction plays an important role in the process, and products that cannot be sold disappear. Wasted, little -used clothes lead to landfills. More than three out of five fast-fashion clothing items from 2018 ended up in landfill.

Many environmental factors also act when factories manufacture too many garments. The fashion industry accounts for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions. The fast shipping promised by the fast fashion industry also requires more energy than aviation and ground shipping combined.

Be a Thoughtful Consumer

Being a thoughtful consumer can effectively help us reduce fast trends on an individual level. A thoughtful consumer is one who buys and consumes things that are in line with their own beliefs and behaviors. Finding out if a piece is ethically and sustainably made supports thoughtful consumerism. Quality pieces can be more expensive, but the materials used to make them are usually of higher quality. Deliberate shopping for high -quality, durable clothes especially restricts usable fashion.

Personal shopping can also help reduce the environmental impact of fast -paced fashion. And most importantly, it’s also about wearing what you already have in your closet. Reducing impulse buying can reduce the number of clothes that are wasted when not in use.

Buying second hand is one of my favorite ways to avoid fast fashion while staying on a budget. Local thrift stores and small businesses have a lot of variety, you need to be willing to put in the work. Some of the thrift stores in the SLC area that I would like to support include Revive Thrift Boutique, Uptown Cheapskate and The Other Side Thrift Boutique. The added benefit of supporting small businesses is also not detrimental.

Finding a Compromise

Many people enjoy fast fashion because of the lower price. The ability to buy many different cheaper items as opposed to a higher quality piece can attract seekers to save money. Thrift stores represent a great way to compromise and meet in the middle. Sometimes while saving, you get lucky and find something high quality. At other times, you can find many different, undressed SHEIN shirts. In any case, buying and wearing discarded clothes widens the circle of continuity.

Fast fashion is a global problem but is not widely recognized due to lack of information. More attention has been attracted to the issue in recent years, but it has still not been taken seriously. Learning how to reduce your support for fast fashion as an individual may seem small, but it is an important part of making any changes. By saving, buying locally and resisting the urge to shop online, we as individuals can help combat the negative local, global and environmental effects of fast -paced global trends.

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