Fast Fashion Creates over 17 million Tons of Textile Waste Annually
Did we know that people over the world are now consuming 400 further apparel compared to 20 times ago? The Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) estimates that Americans induce more than 17 million metric tons of cloth waste annually, which is about 47 kilograms or 104 pounds per person each time. Only 15 of that quantum is collected for resale or recycling. The average American generates 82 pounds of cloth waste every single time. People are buying further clothes than ever but wearing them a lot lower. Data analysis can explain this by the explosive growth fast fashion has known in the last few decades. The demands of the US fashion assiduity have been evolving over the once 20 times. So Fast Fashion Creates over 17 million Tons of Textile Waste Annually, we are discussing this in this article.
To meet the high demands of the rearmost trendy fashion, numerous retailers produce production-expensive sustainable apparel products. Professor at Cornell University’s Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design, Tasha Lewis explained,” It used to be four seasons in a time; now it may be over to 11 or 15 or further.” Every time nearly 1.5 million pounds of used clothes are exported from the USA, some of which end up in African countries.” Fast fashion is leading to a mountain of apparel being thrown down each time and has a huge impact on the environment. However, an estimated 93 million tonnes of fabric waste is created each time and the fellow of a rubbish truck full of clothes ends up on tip spots every second If we suppose encyclopedically. By 2030, we’re anticipated as a whole to be discarding further than 134 million tonnes of fabrics a time encyclopedically just 12 of the material used for apparel ends up being reclaimed.
The main difference between fast fashion and sustainable fashion is the quantum of waste produced. currently, the term fast fashion becomes a new content in the garments assiduity. This is a content of concern because this fashion trend does expansive damage to the living earth, damages the ecological balance, and takes ill advantage of workers. How does it harm? Fast fashion can be defined as affordable, trendy, hyped apparel that samples ideas from the fashion show or fame and celebrity culture and turns them into garments products in roadside retailer shops at dangerous speed to meet the guests ’ conditions. How do we fete fast fashion-related brands? Fast fashion brands promote disposable fashion. And utmost fast fashion brands release new collections of apparel every week and use marketing ways to encourage consumers to buy into new trends. These companies are frequently veritably vague and not entirely transparent about their suppliers and how products are made. They also don’t give substantiation that they offer their workers decent and safe working conditions, as well as a living stipend. As a result, fast fashion creates a negative impact on the people and terrain including its use of cheap, poisonous cloth colorings which makes the fashion assiduity one of the largest polluters of clean water encyclopedically.
On the other side, sustainable fashion decreases waste by making cloth products that are significantly better quality. It does waste operation with maintaining ecological balance and is also concerned about socio-profitable aspects. Some characteristics of sustainable fashion assiduity make the client feel dependable. Green and clean products, high quality and dateless design, fair and ethical business policy, form, redesign & recycling, and secondary and quaint collections are the features character of sustainable fashion. Some features of fast fashion may look seductive. Like fulfilling the demands of guests at an affordable price, and quick and easy access to fashion in original stores, dealing seasons are frequently short and a tremendous variety of styles is veritably charming to online shoppers and general people. But on the other hand, its holistic massive negative impact is wreaking annihilation on people, profit, and the earth. In a nutshell, the famed fashion diligence of the USA is now continuously developing new fashion brands in keeping with the new trends. It’s delicate to ignore fast fashion because it takes place far and wide. numerous Americans contribute their used and discarded dresses to charities when they’ve finished with the trend, under the supposition that the cloth product will be reused again. But the reality is, that because of cheaper quality, only a small quantum about 10 to 30 is resold. Some are downcycled into lower-grade products like rags, mats, and millions of discarded garments are put into bales and packed abroad every time substantially to East & West Africa.
Fast Fashion creates Textile Waste and it is increasing day by day for popularity of Fast fashion. The world needs to fully move to the sustainable clothing process to save the environment.
- References: https://www.nist.gov/blogs/taking-measure/your-old-clothes-can-come-full-circle-textile-recycling
- https://www.sustainably-chic.com/blog/fast-fashion-brands-to-avoid
- https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200710-why-clothes-are-so-hard-to-recycle
- https://worldfashionexhibition.com/colombia-humberto/f/a-list-of-fast-fashion-brands-to-avoid-why
- You may love to read: Materiality and Sustainability in Fashion and clothing
- Sustainability Issues for the Textile and Clothing Industry
- Fast Fashion Environmental Impact | Fast Fashion Brands
- Author: Shafiun Nahar Elma
- Industrial & Production Engineer
- National Institute of Textile Engineering and Research (NITER), Bangladesh.