?Looking at the numbers only gives us a hint of what we are going to face in the coming few years if we do not start action on it.
Fast fashion is a trendy word, but what does it actually entail? A design, manufacturing, and marketing strategy called "fast fashion" is geared toward producing large quantities of garments quickly. Fast fashion clothing is produced using low-quality materials (such synthetic fabrics) and trend replication to provide consumers affordable fashions.?
In our childhood days?there were typically four seasons in the world of popular fashion. Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter were all seasons. However, major fashion companies dismissed this notion. They didn't believe that clothing remained in style for three to four months. They thought fashions changed every week. Thus, they effectively reinforced this point. Thus, there are now 52 "micro seasons" per year. Additionally, fashion companies can increase their profits by selling more clothing each year.
Factor leading to Fast fashions:?
Many people argue whether the industry's top players convince us that we're behind trends as soon as we see them being worn or the worrisome yearning for new looks arrived first. It's difficult to tell, but there's no denying that in our consumer-driven and hyper individualism existence, we constantly yearn for the "next best thing." and constantly feel FOMO(Fear of missing out)
- Waste: The average individual buys 15% more today than they did 20 years ago(We have 4 times more clothes than our parents had), but they discard half of it, which results in waste and landfills, both of which have an adverse effect on the environment. Fiber like Polyester and blended fiber which are majorly used further take around 200 years to decompose.
- Environmental Cost:?
- Water Pollution :Toxic wastewater from textile mills is thrown untreated straight into rivers. Toxic compounds found in wastewater include heavy metal lead, mercury, and arsenic, among others. The aquatic life and the health of the millions of people who live along those riverbanks are seriously harmed by these.Some times even rivers become dead.
- Air: 10 % of CO2 comes from the Fashion Industry which makes it 2nd most polluted industry after oil and higher contribution as compared to Travel and shipping.
- ?Scarcity of natural resources: Excessive use of scarce resources such as fresh water in growing fiber and dying. For example, bringing a jean to a retail store (fiber, dying) would cost you 3800 liters of water, which we as humans drink in three years.
- Soil : Degradation of the soil due to massive use of chemicals to grow cotton; deforestation caused by wood-based fibers like rayon .Chemical used to growth fiber impact natural soil microorganisms which further degrade soil texture ,chemistry .Today, it takes 8 oranges to get the same amount of Vitamin A that our grandparents used to get from just 1 orange.
- Consumer: Chemicals frequently used to make our clothes that contain toxins, which???lead to skin cancer and hormonal changes as well.?
- Worker :Workers in the manufacturing industry must work long hours, typically 14-16 hours per day, to meet the fashion brand's deadline for producing more clothes. They are forced to work in hazardous conditions, such as the Rana factory in Bangladesh. In some cases, it has even resulted in forced child labor.
How to improve it>> Ethical Fashion
?Replace Take>Make>Dispose??to Take>Make>Reuse(Recycle)?
Choices which are based on ecological and holistic principles of closing loop on material ,that prioritize community value, environment ,respect all people in Supply chain.
Way to contribute in Ethical Fashion:
- Buy less using apparel cost for exta 1 month can reduce your CO2 emission by 30% .Focusing on the essentials, on what we need, investing in more classic, timeless pieces, instead of cheap and disposable high-street clothes.
- Wash cloths less frequently: Single wash leave 700K microfiber major of them are microplastic in water waste which were create danger for marine life?
- ?Air dry clothes and cold wash?
- Rent for special occasions as we dnt wear that cloth frequently. Dnt get emotionally attached to cloths
- ?Buy clothes from a sustainable brand who gives your transparency about the complete life cycle of?clothes.?????
- Use Rational thinking while buying: Don't look for a cheap price tag, Think about?who made this cloth ,what he was paid, what they are made from?
- Recycle and upcycle old clothes.
???????????????????????????????????????????????“Understand your fashion footprint”
- Shorten your soft supply chain: Decrease distance between producer and consumer.It has increased 95% more as compared to our grandparents time.Use Local resources as much as possible.It will make an impact on consumer buying behavior as they can visualize complete life of item..
- Bring accountability and transparency in the supply chain.
- Make Policy wisely to improve the life of a producer in?wages,financial literacy,health and nutrition,and skill development .
- Measuring a company’s entire social and environmental impact.
???????????????????????????????????????????????????“ B Corp Certification”
