{"id":15274,"date":"2022-09-08T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/?p=15274"},"modified":"2022-09-01T14:18:06","modified_gmt":"2022-09-01T13:18:06","slug":"fast-fashion-what-it-is-and-what-you-can-do-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/sustainability\/fast-fashion-what-it-is-and-what-you-can-do-instead\/","title":{"rendered":"Fast Fashion: What It Is and What You Can Do Instead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


\u201cBuy less, choose well and make it last.\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Vivienne Westwood

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Let\u2019s start with a definition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast fashion: where consumers buy cheap clothing, wear them a few times, and then throw them away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think TikTok Shein mega hauls<\/a>, Missguided\u2019s \u00a31 bikini<\/a>, and fashion company, In the Style, reproducing a bodysuit worn by Kylie Jenner for cheap<\/a> mass production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast fashion means fast production, fast sale, fast delivery. Clothes get made with speedy turnaround, in less-economically developed countries like Bangladesh or Vietnam, or in British factories with poor working conditions<\/a>. Online searches for \u2018cheap clothes\u2019 increased 46.3%<\/a> during the first coronavirus lockdown \u2013 those who cannot afford them can use Klarna and other credit services, allowing you to defer payment. And next-day delivery is in such high demand that it\u2019s become the fastest-growing service<\/a> in the last-mile environment, even though it would take a single tree over a month to absorb the carbon emissions of a single express delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So fast fashion is just that: fast. It\u2019s made fast, it\u2019s sold fast, it\u2019s delivered fast. In keeping with the theme, it\u2019s also used fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the UK, the average item is worn only 14 times<\/a> before we get bored of it and throw it out. So we\u2019re wearing cheap clothes that puts the environment and lives<\/em> \u2013 let\u2019s not forget the Bangladeshi Rana Plaza garment factory collapse<\/a> in 2013 \u2013 in danger, only to wear them a handful of times before throwing them out for the next trendy thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image description: a dingy warehouse with workers at their sewing machines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But, Oh, <\/em>you think, as you scroll down the website of your favourite fast fashion brand or wander the high-ceilinged rooms stocked with mass-produced cheap clothing, this isn\u2019t actually that bad. How can buying one t-shirt really be a problem?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll tell you. Or, I\u2019ll tell you with a little help from the National Geographic<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the cotton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cotton, that material all your favourite clothes are made out of, takes 2,700 litres of water to make into one t-shirt. One.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s enough water for one person to drink for 900 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And you might think \u2013 Oh, but we have so much water. <\/em>And you\u2019d be right, there\u2019s an approximate 333 million cubic miles of water on Earth \u2013 but 97% of that is salty. Another 2% is trapped in snow and ice. That leaves 1% of the world\u2019s water as a drinkable source for us, and of that 1%, a whopping 70% is used on our crops. And cotton is an incredibly thirsty crop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, we\u2019re using so much of our water on fashion manufacture, that the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development considers fashion to be the second most polluting industry in the world<\/a>, after oil. And it\u2019s not difficult to see why: with 2,700 litres of water to make a t-shirt and 7,500 litres for a single pair of jeans, the fashion industry is consuming 93 billion cubic metres of water every year. As a bonus, it\u2019s also dumping around half a million tons of plastic microfibre into the oceans each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Image description: a rack of patterned shirts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, we\u2019re in agreement. Fast fashion: bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what is there to do about it? What are the alternatives?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a few:
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SHOP YOUR WARDROBE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before you shop, take a look at what you already have. What\u2019s crushed at the bottom of your drawers or hidden in the depths of your wardrobe? What do you already own that can function the way you want your new piece to?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might be surprised to find things you\u2019ve forgotten about when you unearth them from underneath everything else \u2013 and if you find things you don\u2019t want, you\u2019re more than welcome to donate or sell them and put that money towards buying something better made that will fill the void.
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SHOP YOUR FRIENDS\u2019 WARDROBES<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is your wardrobe a little lacklustre? What about your best friend\u2019s? Why don\u2019t you propose a trade?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the olden days (AKA the year 2000) \u201cswishing\u201d became popular: throwing parties with the sole purpose of trading items of clothing with friends. While this practice has died out quite a bit, the theory is sound: give something away, get something new, spend absolutely no money and cost the environment nothing at all.
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SHOP SECONDHAND<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thrift shops! Charity shops! Vintage shops! If you need to use the internet: eBay! Depop! ThreadUP!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why buy brand new when you can buy something pre-loved?
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SHOP ETHICAL<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the mainstream turn against fast fashion, ethical and sustainable brands are popping up everywhere to provide more options for your shopping. These items will be a little more expensive and the delivery will take a little longer \u2013 but they\u2019ll also be better quality, with organic cotton, ethical production and \u2013 usually \u2013 plastic free.
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MAKE & REPAIR<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t just throw your novelty pizza slice socks away when you\u2019ve worn a hole in the heel. Take up the age-old art of darning (trust me, it\u2019s actually very easy) and fix it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in 2014-or-so, upcycling became all the rage on YouTube. This means there\u2019s a massive archive of videos teaching you how to give your clothes a new lease of life \u2013 whether that\u2019s through cropping, cutting, bleaching, tie-dying, or using the fabric for something else entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you get into it, you might even start looking at making your own clothes too and getting total choice over what goes into them.
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To finish up, here\u2019s a little extra reading on the subject (and a handy listicle of sustainable clothing brands) plus a challenge you can get involved with if you\u2019re interested in turning away from fast fashion:
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