Fast fashion’s impact on the environment comes as no surprise considering that, according to the same article in The Guardian, global clothing production has doubled in the last 15 years, and more than half of fast fashion items are thrown away less than one year after their purchase. The business model of the fast fashion industry encourages fast-paced turnover of clothing that are designed for short-term wear.
Caroline Polak, a freshman at the University of Denver, was made more aware of the negative impacts of fast fashion after working at Urban Outfitters, another major chain retailer that uses the fast fashion business model.
“Everything would come in and it would be in single-use plastic…the quality of it was (also) really bad when you know it’s coming from sweatshops in China and places like that, it’s just really awful,” she says.
As Polak notes, fast fashion has no regard for the waste it leaves in its wake. In addition to these major clothing chains wrapping each article of clothing in single-use plastic for shipment, the process of making fast fashion clothing generates an enormous amount of waste. Often, only a small percentage of the harvested resources are used to create the textiles that become the clothes, and the toxic chemicals that are used to dye the textiles are often dumped into rivers near factories.
As much of a destructive force as the fast fashion industry appears to be, it’s one contributor to climate change we don’t have to feel powerless to.
DU sophomore Jordan Watson knows this and advocates for buying second-hand.
“I think it’s dumb to buy clothes at full price especially when so many old clothes go to waste,” Watson says.
Watson also points out that shopping second-hand aligns with the college lifestyle in many ways.
“It’s easier to find unique pieces at thrift stores at a time in your life when you’re trying to set yourself apart from others,” he explains. “And it’s cheaper, like, ballin’ on a budget, you know.”
If everyone bought just one article of used clothing this year instead of new, it would be equivalent to removing half a million cars from the road. Even easier than that— wearing an article of clothing for just nine months longer reduces the carbon footprint of that item by 30%. And as DU sophomore Hattie Juarez points out, there are even simpler reasons to shop second-hand.
“Sometimes you find really cute articles of clothing. And, why not?”
The MFJS Reporter -- Winter 2020 M-W 
I have always enjoyed looking through second-hand stores to find a unique piece to add to my closet, much like Jordan Watson said. I did not know that the fashion industry plays such a significant role in climate change. Similar to most people, I assumed climate change was the result of pollution, run-off and greenhouse gas emission. But people often forget about what happens with all the clothes that are mass-produced or the effort it takes to get to us. People want to keep up with trends. It puts stress on companies to mass-produce new, cheap clothing to be able to do it annually. This is a really informational article and people should read through it before their next shopping spree.
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