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Fast fashion or segment fashion brings cheap and affordable clothes to the market. But these clothes end up being expensive for the society. In this article, we have introduced this type of fashion and its effects in society. Stay with us.
These days, we see a lot of people going to branded clothing stores and looking for newer and more affordable fashions. Clothes that are usually provided by retail brands such as Zara, H&M and Gap, which are active in fast fashion.
But temporary fashions, which are also known as fast fashions, have positive and negative effects on our society and environment, of course, the negative effects are much more than the positive ones.
What is fast fashion?
Fast fashion is a way of designing and manufacturing fashionable clothes that emphasizes the mass production of cheap luxury clothes and accessories, so that the distance between the design of the clothes and its mass production and placement in retail stores is very small.
By using cheap labor and the lack of strong environmental laws in poor countries, as well as using low-quality fabrics, fashion companies have mass-produced cheap clothes. The customers of these companies are usually middle-income people who welcome this type of brand clothes.
One of the main policies of fashion producers is to encourage people in society to be consumerist. They usually encourage people to buy more clothes and throw away clothes that have not yet worn out.
Positive and negative effects of cross-sectional fashions on the economy of societies
Seasonal fashions have made it possible for consumers to buy some kind of fashionable clothing every week. This type of fashion, which was first introduced by the Zara fashion company, has been able to grow rapidly since the last 20 years and meet the society's need for affordable and fashionable clothes. Fast fashion has had an important economic effect on societies.
These days, it is hard to imagine the absence of colorful fabrics of different materials. The fashion industry of clothing, bags and shoes plays a prominent role in the world economy.
In the past, usually every 2 or 4 seasons new fashion clothes entered the market and people went shopping every now and then. But now in the fashion and clothing market, instead of a maximum of 4 seasons, sometimes up to 50 seasons are seen. In fast fashion, new products are quickly designed, produced and sold in stores.
This method has caused the clothes to be thrown away sooner than it should be and a new model takes its place. Consumers are more interested in buying clothes than before.
In the past, people used to save on buying clothes and considered each piece of their clothes as an investment. But the situation is different today. For example, American people buy 5 times more clothes these days than they did 20 years ago. In this way, the fashion industry has been able to grow a lot and the income of this industry is expected to increase by 400% by 2050.
Those involved in this industry have employed many people and by creating job opportunities, they have reduced the problem of unemployment to some extent. In the surveys, it has been determined that about 300 million people from all over the world, most of whom live in the poorest countries, are working in the fashion industry.
On the other hand, the people who work for the owners of fake fashion industries in these countries have low wages and most of the economic benefits go to the pockets of the employers.
Also, because these employers produce their products in a country that usually does not have strong laws for working conditions, they do not have to pay taxes to their own country and also to the country where they set up their factories.
The next problem is exporting second-hand clothes from advanced countries to third world countries. These clothes cause the destruction of the domestic clothing industry of the importing country, and at the same time, the responsibility of burying these clothes after they are thrown away falls on these countries. Also, due to the fact that poor countries do not have proper methods for recycling waste materials, the environment and as a result the health of the people is endangered.
What are the environmental effects of sectional fashions?
UNESCO has set long-term goals for sustainable development to end poverty in all its forms while preserving the environment and land. But the fashion industry, especially fast fashion, jeopardizes all these goals, which are briefly explained below.
The negative effect of fast fashion on the world's water resources
The fashion industry is the second largest consumer of the earth's water resources because it relies heavily on water for its survival.
Cotton is the most important natural fiber in fabrics and fashion industry. But not all cotton in the world is produced in rainfed areas. Almost half of cotton production is planted in areas that require additional irrigation. Cotton cultivation puts a lot of pressure on the water in the area where it is located.
The fashion industry is known as a “thirsty business,” and cotton isn't the only fiber it needs. Polyester, viscose and other materials that need a lot of water should be added to this product.
11 thousand liters of water are needed to produce just 1 kg of cotton. Therefore, the production of a 250-gram shirt consumes 2,700 liters of water, which is the amount of water needed by a human for 2.5 years. Also, fabric production requires 3625 liters of water to sew a pair of normal jeans.
In order to get from the farm to the market, cotton has to go through different stages, which have different effects on water resources in all those stages. Surveys have shown that about 53% of the world's cotton fields, which produce 73% of the cotton needed by people in the world, are irrigated.
Most of these farms are located in Mediterranean countries and countries with warm climates that are in need of fresh water, such as Egypt, Uzbekistan and Pakistan. In fact, the fashion industry consumes the water needed by 110 million people per year.
In this way, cotton production alone endangers several UNESCO sustainable development goals, such as preserving fresh water and sanitation, improving the climate, and the health and well-being of communities, and the fast fashion industry does the most damage to the environment.
Contamination of the fashion industry
Another negative effect of producing fibers like cotton is environmental pollution due to the use of agricultural chemicals, especially pesticides. The amount of pollution, as well as soil degradation and erosion, varies depending on the amount of pesticides and fertilizers used.
Fertilizers containing nitrogen and phosphorus are used in cotton production. In fact, 4% of the world's nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers are consumed in the cotton production process. This situation has caused that the amount of biochemical substances entering the soil from phosphorus in fertilizers has reached 220% of the permissible and safe level.
On the other hand, organic and inorganic toxic substances enter water streams and pollute the water, which ultimately endanger human health and make him suffer from acute diseases and various cancers.
Polyester fibers
Polyester is the cheapest and most popular fiber in the fashion industry, unfortunately this type of fiber is one of the most harmful materials for the earth and its resources.
70 million barrels of oil are used annually to produce polyester fibers. Polyester not only consumes a lot of fossil fuels to produce, but it is also difficult to get rid of its waste. Polyester fibers do not decompose like natural fibers. In fact, the plastics used in the production of our clothes are the major polluters of the planet's oceans.
Use of toxic dyes in fabric production
Fabrics that have bright colors are great for making clothes. But these colors are another polluter of our environment. Many brands in the fashion industry use chemical dyes that are harmful to our environment and eventually pollute our rivers and oceans.
Emission of greenhouse gases
The fashion industry, especially sectional fashions, also has a negative effect on the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide. In fact, this amount has already exceeded its safe zone by 20%.
The emission of carbon dioxide caused by the activities of the fashion industry has increased by more than 60% every year, which is estimated to reach 2.8 billion per year by 2030. This amount of public transport pollution is equivalent to 230 million people per year with average driving patterns.
A lot of waste production
Humans produce about 1.2 billion tons of waste every year, and with the fashion industry and temporary fashions, it is expected that by 2030, another 57 million tons of waste will be added to this waste. Most manufacturers of luxury brands in the fashion industry get rid of so-called “out-of-date” clothes, even those that are great.
With this performance of the fashion industry, it is estimated that by 2030, the collection of waste in the fashion world will reach something like 148 million tons.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Stefano Ricci's workshops in Tuscany, Italy, burn a collection of unsold clothes, including cashmere suits and silk ties, every year. Also, the retail brands H&M and Bestseller are accused of burning several tons of new and unsold clothes every year.
Lack of recycling in fast fashion products
Today's technologies regarding product recycling are not yet advanced enough to recycle fabric fibers in an effective way. Especially since many fast fashion manufacturers use a combination of synthetic fibers and petroleum-derived fibers such as polyester in their products.
Fabric recycling means breaking the fabric into its main fibers, which is not possible in reality. In fact, only one percent of fabric waste is recycled.
Some of these wastes are used for reuse as scrap or building insulation. But a large part of the wastes of this industry must be burned or buried, which in the first method leads to the production of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane gases into the atmosphere and an increase in greenhouse gases.
Know the bad social effects of sectional fashions
Cross-sectional fashions not only have negative effects on the environment, but also have left negative social effects on societies.
Most fast fashion brands such as H&M and GAP have set up their factories in poor or developing countries and employ people in need at very unfair wages. Also, the working environment is in very unfavorable conditions and gender inequality and all kinds of injustices are applied to the employees. Meanwhile, the working environment of these workshops has been described as unsafe and dangerous.
It doesn't matter how many jobs these brands have created, the conditions in their factories are very bad, especially in Asian countries, and many female employees are victims of violence.
For example, in 2017, a Bangladeshi female employee who worked for the H&M brand was a victim of violence by a factory supervisor. He said, when he was busy sewing, the supervisor came behind him and yelled at his work, and then he pulled him out from behind the wheel and hit him hard on the ground and beat him in the wind.
This Bangladeshi widow was forced to work in this factory despite having a disabled young daughter, and when she reported this behavior to the human resources department of the factory, she was threatened with dismissal and asked to remain silent, and in this regard, with Don't say anything. The only thing that was done for this woman was the supervisor's apology.
This type of behavior is observed in most of the factories of these brands and it seems that there is no will to end it.
According to the report of the International Labor Organization, working women in Dhaka, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and some other countries are exposed to a wide range of violence.
In addition to the violence they suffer, these women have very low wages. Most of these workers receive a third of what they should be paid.
It is also common to use child labor in these workshops. For example, the United States Department of Labor reported in 2018 that child labor is used for very low wages in fashion industry workshops in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Turkey, Vietnam, and several other countries. .
what should we do?
Ever since fast fashion entered the fashion industry, it has caused irreparable damage to the environment and its consequences have directly targeted the people of different societies. If the current trend of the world economy continues, the fashion industry will continue to grow and expose the environment to more risks.
It seems that the only way to fight fast fashion is to weaken its source of nutrition, i.e. “demand”.
Fast fashion can survive only because companies artificially create a consumer need for a product. In fact, they reduce the quality of their products and allocate huge budgets for advertising.
Fast fashion companies are constantly looking for new consumers and using new and innovative ways to convince people to spend more.
In order to prevent the excessive growth and as a result the potential dangers of seasonal fashions, we must make an informed choice when buying clothes and other products of this industry and be sure of the good quality of the clothes and use any clothes we buy for a longer period of time. Do not get caught up in fashionable temptations.
See examples of sustainable fashion clothing
at the end
Never accept low-quality and seemingly cheap clothes. Because in the long run it will be expensive for you and others by destroying the environment.
You can also change the design of your current outfit to give it a fresher vibe. Or when buying clothes, bags or shoes, go for natural materials and accept less artificial materials such as polyester. Natural materials are environmentally friendly.
This procedure causes less waste materials to be produced and consequently the oceans and other water bodies of the planet are not harmed.
What other solutions do you suggest to prevent further destruction of sectional fashions?
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