By Bruce Piekarsa
Website Editor
Unfortunately, the fast fashion industry is rising in popularity, whether from impossibly low prices, stylish clothes or social media.This trend is not only detrimental to the environment, but also incredibly problematic due to stolen designs, forced labor and harmful, toxic clothes.
The two major companies behind fast fashion, Shein and Temu, exploit garment workers. Typically in Southeast Asia, employees clock in over 75 hours a week and make at most a measly $1,361 per month. This toxic work environment leaves its workers with less time for their families and personal lives, producing lethargic and distressed citizens. The fast fashion industry’s practices are unconscionable and consumers are fueling it.
As a consequence, we must use the ethical and sustainable alternative, buying second hand clothes. It’s beneficial to both your wallet and carbon footprint and surprisingly similar to buying new clothes.
Waste occurs at every stage of the garment manufacturing process. It takes 1,800 gallons of water to produce the cotton in a pair of jeans. Fast fashion is a significant contributor to the climate crisis, responsible for as much as 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions. This industry is contributing to the growing issue of the loss of sea ice, the melting glaciers and ice sheets, the sea level rise and the increasingly intense heat waves. Regular clothing producers still add to the issue of global warming, but fast fashion is far worse in comparison.
There’s a stigma around shopping second-hand, it’s gross. Thrifted clothes are often clean after a single ordinary wash cycle, so the only room for concern is through the process of looking through clothes. Thrift stores discard anything questionable before putting it on display, whether there’s any odor, damage or stains. Plus, a majority of clothes are washed by donors before entering the store. The fear of buying used clothes is irrational, and formed from baseless, fabricated fears.
Why do we need to buy used clothes when we could buy new ones? It’s cheap, still stylish and less harmful to both workers and the environment. There is an abundance of treasure troves waiting for lucky owners. Feel good contributing to the effort to save natural resources. To putting your money towards a better future.