Fast fashion is the mass production of cheap and disposable clothing. The fast fashion industry has a disastrous impact on the environment and is the second largest polluter in the world. Textile treatment involves the use of toxic chemicals and dyes, and in the countries where garments are produced, untreated toxic wastewaters from textile factories are released directly into freshwater streams. Fashion production is not only the cause of 20% of industrial water pollution, but also extreme water overconsumption, as the industry uses over 1.5 trillion gallons of water every year (Sustain Your Style). Toxic chemicals are used during fiber production, dyeing, bleaching, and other treatment processes for every garment produced. These substances can be harmful to the wearer, the oceans, and in places where fibers are farmed, they have been linked to causing diseases, birth defects, and premature death to farmers and others in the nearby area. Due to the energy needed for the production, manufacturing, and transportation of millions of garments each year, the global fashion industry generates a huge amount of greenhouse gases and is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions (Sustain Your Style). Synthetic fibers are used in the vast majority of our clothing and are much more energy intensive than natural fibers. Each year, 70 million barrels of oil are used to produce polyester and 70 million trees are cut down to make wood-based fabrics (Sustain Your Style). 

Most fast fashion apparel is made in developing countries where garment workers are exploited as a source of cheap labor. In many of these countries, workers rights are limited, and the majority are paid well below a living wage. Garment workers frequently work for up to 16 hours a day, 7 days a week in order to meet the deadlines of fashion brands. These employees are forced to work in unacceptable and hazardous conditions where they are subjected to the exposure of toxic substances, no ventilation, and unsafe building structures. Because the production of fast fashion requires unskilled labor, child labor is common in this industry, and numerous cases of forced labor have been reported.

Photo: The Wall Street Journal