HOW FAST FASHION IS CREATING A PROBLEM TO THE ENVIRONMENT

HOW FAST FASHION 
IS CREATING A
PROBLEM TO THE 
ENVIRONMENT

As I have discussed a lot about fast fashion and it's effects on the environment in my earlier blogs, so you may be now well versed about it. 

Let's read and know, how is it actually causing damage to the environment.

These are many ways by which it causes harm: 

• Water usage
• Microfibers
• Greenhouse gases
• Deforestation
• Toxins
• Human rights

Tones of toxic waste from the factories are dumped into the rivers that are extremely harmful to the human and aquatic life.

Eventually it is also polluting the water bodies.

The cheap fast fashion clothes are putting plastic into our food chain. As whenever we wash our clothes, around 700,000 microfibers are shed at each wash, which are eventually consumed by us and the aquatic animals.

These microfibers comes away from the synthetic fibers like nylon, polyester, rayon, etc.

According to The Ethical Consumer and Greenpeace’s Journal, ‘Unearthed’, if the demand for fast fashion continues to grow at its current rate, we could see the total carbon footprint of our clothing reach 26% by 2050.

Producing, manufacturing and transporting the millions of garments produced each year uses a lot of energy. And the synthetic fibers are generated from fossil fuels.

Chemicals used in the production of fabrics leads in the degradation of the soil.

The fashion industry degrades the soil in different ways:

Overgrazing of pastures through cashmere goats and sheep raised for their wool; degradation of the soil due to massive use of chemicals to grow cotton; deforestation caused by wood-based fibers like rayon.

Working conditions are also a problem in the fashion industry :

• Low wages
• Long working hours
• Child labor
• Health and safety conditions
• Forced labor

IMPACT OF SYNTHETIC FIBERS ON THE ENVIRONMENT

The SYNTHETIC FIBERS , even are huge problem and damages the environment on a large scale.

These are the man made fibers, most of which are prepared from petroleum, called petrochemicals.

These include nylon, acrylics, polyester, polyurethane, and polypropylene.

Synthetic fibers are the main reason for our planet being poisoned .

Now- a - days, textile and fashion industries are using synthetic fibers like rayon, nylon, polyester at a huge level. This is because these fibers are cheaper to produce.

They are non - biodegradable and unsustainable to the environment.

The production of nylon emits nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 300 times more dangerous to the ozone layer than carbon dioxide.

As synthetic products take long to decompose, they create long term pollution.

They taint the water bodies.

Some manufacturers of fast fashion even use lead to create bright hues. This is because using lead salts is common practice to color inexpensive fabrics like vinyl and plastic.

Clothing industry is accountable for over 20% of industrial water pollution in the world.

The water gets polluted forever because of these fibers. Some chemicals which are waste products of the manufacturing process are washed into the water while most of them are non- biodegradable.

CAN WE FIND A SOLUTION ?? TO ALL THESE  ASPECTS THAt's CAUSING DAMAGE TO THE ENVIRONMENT ??

REFERENCES

360, E., n.d. Synthetic Fibers and Fabrics Information. [Online]
Available at: https://www.globalspec.com/learnmore/materials_chemicals_adhesives/composites_textiles_reinforcements/synthetic_fibers_fabrics_polymer_textiles
[Accessed 4 December 2020].

Donato, J. D., 2018. Why Fast Fashion is Killing the Planet and Your Ethics. [Online]
Available at: https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/articles/why-fast-fashion-is-killing-the-planet-and-your-ethics/
[Accessed 4 December 2020].

Style, S. Y., 2020. What's wrong with the fashion industry?. [Online]
[Accessed 4 December 2020].

Style, S. Y., 2020. What's wrong with the fashion industry?. [Online]
Available at: https://www.sustainyourstyle.org/en/whats-wrong-with-the-fashion-industry
[Accessed 4 December 2020].

Sustained, S. S., 2018. The Dangers of Synthetic Fibers and Fabrics on the Environment. [Online]
Available at: https://superegoworld.com/blogs/the-world/the-dangers-of-synthetic-fibers-and-fabrics-on-the-environment
[Accessed 4 December 2020].

Young, P., 2020. What’s Wrong With Fast Fashion?. [Online]
Available at: https://pebblemag.com/magazine/living/whats-wrong-with-fast-fashion
[Accessed 4 December 2020].