Creating material (U7: P5)
P5 (U7): Write an original article for an identified purpose
Fist draft:
Our addiction to clothing trends is killing our planet!
Currently, the fashion industry is valued at $1.7 trillion as of 2022. This industry is clearly very successful across the globe as the increase for following the trends produced by fashion companies is rising. But at what cost?
It is
estimated that the global fashion industry is responsible for
approximately 10% of annual global carbon emissions. Scientists have warned
that this is devastatingly harmful to our environment and say that buying just
one t-shirt is comparatively equivalent to driving 35 miles in your car.
'Fast fashion' might not be a term everyone is familiar with but it is having a huge impact on our planet. The idea of 'fast fashion' first began in the 1990's as the New York Times coined the term after the Zara clothing conglomerate began producing clothes soon after they appeared on the runway. This level of mass production of trendy clothes caught on quickly with many other labels following in Zara's footsteps, forever changing the consumption of clothing. This will be hugely negative for our environment.
Whilst proving popular, fast fashion has proven increasingly harmful to our existence, having damaging impacts on our environment as well as our humanity. In addition to the environmental impacts, there are also many human rights issues linked to the industry. In order to produce these mass quantities of clothing each year at a profit, big brands employ workers at low wages and often without much regard for fundamental human rights and safety regulations. Some of these brands include your favourites such as Zara, Shein, H&M, ASOS and even Nike!
Only a few people are unaffected by these shopping
habits and it needs to change before the world starts feeling the impacts on a
more personal scale. The planet is suffering, with landfills heaving with our
discarded clothes that are no longer 'in season' or 'on trend'. Toxic dyes
used to produce the clothing, are poisoning both animals and plants by
affecting groundwater and oceans.
In the UK, more clothes per person are consumed than in any other country in Europe. One should ask if one is happy being associated with this fact? Does one want to be personally responsible for the demise of our planet? How can the individual change?
According to primary research amongst audiences aged 16-25, over 75% of consumers will buy there clothes online and in malls from fast fashion brands discovered to be influenced primarily by the current clothing trends. This is an alarmingly high percentage of consumers being negatively influenced to buy from fast fashion companies. Off this group, only 50% say they actively practice an alternative to fast fashion. Greta thunberg, an environmental activist stated, ‘We are facing a disaster of unspoken sufferings for enormous amounts of people.’ It feels undeniable that the problems facing the environment are down to human fault. The emissions caused by fast fashion have been reported on and are bound to increase by 50% by 2030 if current growth continues. These facts need to be recognised and that a change in our actions needs to occur rapidly or else there will be dire ramifications.
What positive changes in our actions can be made.
One should actively shop with brands known to be
sustainable and that hold environmentally-friendly values within the production
of products. By shopping at second-hand shops unwanted clothes can be
recycled, thereby ensuring they never end up in landfills, thus preventing the
pollution of our planet. Additionally, one can repurpose old clothes by using
one's unwanted garments for other activities such as cleaning rather than using
environmentally unfriendly paper towels. This will save money.
People can also boycott brands that practice fast fashion habbits such as low wages for mass production. In in this way, the guilty brand is more likely to re-evaluate its actions and overall reduce carbon emissions. Another different option is to buy from sustainable brands producing high-quality garments in order to reduce the need for new clothes. By reducing the need for new clothes money can be saved while also saving the planet for everyone. It is really obvious that our obsession with clothing trends is not going to go away anytime soon but it appears there is hope. Environmentally-friendly consciousness is on the rise and with it the desire to seek out companies seeking to do the right thing. One could maybe say, sustainability and a responsibility to our planet whilst looking good, is becoming more fashionable.
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