According to pebble magazine, fast fashion is a "Mass production of cheap, poor quality disposal clothing" (Young). Due to the growing demand of global needs, companies are now required to make clothing for cheaper and much faster. More clothing means a greater affect to our environment. Here are five ways how the fast fashion is polluting our environment.
Factor 1: "toxic waste water"
When the factories produces clothing, they create a byproduct contenting toxic waste water. That toxic water is often not disposed properly, and it gets directly released to the near waterways seriously affecting the rivers, oceans and its surrounding environment. Not only does this pollutes its surrounding environment, it destroys the eco system there, and causes negative impact to the health of those who lives alongside the waterways.
Factor 2: "polyester pollution"
Fast fashion's clothing is made out of synthetic fibers which releases thousands of microfibers when washed. To be specific, they shed around 700,0000 microfibers in each wash. Microfibers are tiny pieces of polyester, and you might wonder how this is going to affect our environment, Since microfibers are extremely small, it does not get filtered properly, then get released into oceans. The tiny aquatic organisms mistakes it for food, then fish eats those aquatic organisms which eventually gets consumed by humans. Again, fast fashion causes negative impacts to the eco-systems, surrounding environment, and the health of humans.
Factor 3: "fossil fuels"
The whole process of fast fashion is powered by fossil fuels, which releases toxic gas to our atmosphere which destroys the ozone layer which causes the temperature rise. Also the fabric that fast fashion uses is called the synthetic fiber, which is also made out of fossil fuels.
Factor 4: "chemicals"
As I discussed about it earlier, the fabric that fast fashion is called the synthetic fiber. The production of synthetic fiber like cotton degrades the soil causing erosion.
Factor 5: "Endangering rain forests"
Rain forests around the world are decreasing rapidly. These endangered rainforests are destroyed and replaced by plantations to provide fabrics and materials for these fast fashion companies.
Today, I discussed about 5 ways that fast fashion is endangering our environment. It is important to be informed with these information as it helps us become more conscious and aware of our actions.
Reference
Young, P. (2020, March 9). What's Wrong With Fast Fashion? Our 5 Min Guide Will Catch You Up. Retrieved July 25, 2020, from https://pebblemag.com/magazine/living/whats-wrong-with-fast-fashion