stop buying fast fashion

In an era of TikTok clothing hauls, rapidly cycling trends, and rising inflation, it’s easy to end up on Shein, desperate to find the cutest, cheapest outfit possible. But the next time you consider hitting up a fast fashion website, please think again.

When it comes to environmental impacts, the fashion industry is particularly bad.

Every step required to make an article of clothing, from sourcing materials, to dyeing and finishing the fabric, to sewing the garment, all the way to the consumer’s closet, causes long-lasting environmental harm.

Whenever you walk into a clothing store, especially a large fast fashion retailer like Forever 21 or H&M, there are hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of garments hanging on the racks. And there are thousands of nearly identical stores across the world, both physical and online.

To produce such an enormous amount of clothing requires a vast amount of raw materials. In 2021, the textile industry produced 113 million metric tons of fiber, an amount that is expected to grow to 149 million metric tons by 2030.

The majority of fiber production (54%) uses polyester – essentially just plastic derived from fossil fuels. Cotton from fair trade sources has seen a decline over the past few years, and in 2021, only 9% of fabric came from recycled materials.

The fashion industry then uses these (unsustainable) materials to churn out billions of articles of clothing. Many of them end up in stores like H&M or on websites like Shein, but 10-30% of garments are never even sold.

Instead, leftover stock is either destroyed or shipped overseas to countries like Ghana, Kenya, and Chile. The idea is that the clothing will be sold locally, but the reality is that the U.S. and Europe use these Global South countries as landfills.

The beautiful Atacama Desert of northern Chile is now home to mountains of discarded clothing – up to 46 million tons per year. A similarly large clothing dump is located just outside of Accra, Ghana.

And even if the clothing does get sold, it doesn’t fare much better.

As trend cycles become shorter and fast fashion companies constantly push out new merchandise, the number of times a garment is worn has declined drastically. The average clothing item is only worn 7-10 times before getting tossed, ending up in a landfill anyway.

The fashion industry is also responsible for vast amounts of pollution and carbon emissions. It is expected to produce 2.7 billion metric tons of CO₂ by 2030, comparable to the annual amount of carbon produced by cars worldwide.

Additionally, clothing has profound effects on our water. A single t-shirt takes an astounding 2,700 liters of water to produce, and the fabric dyeing and finishing process introduces toxic chemicals into waterways. As if that wasn’t enough, polyester garments release microplastics into our streams, rivers, and oceans every time they’re washed.

Some of these environmental impacts aren’t exclusive to fast fashion, but given the sheer volume of garments produced by fast fashion retailers and the cheap, plastic fabrics they use, they are certainly the prime culprits.

Between the carbon emissions, water pollution, obscene amount of raw materials, and millions of tons of clothing ending up in landfills, it is painfully clear that fast fashion is an environmental catastrophe. But I would be remiss not to mention the human component as well.

The textile industry is impossible to fully mechanize – human laborers are required to sew and weave garments. Fast fashion brands, in the interest of keeping costs low, frequently outsource labor to women in poor regions of countries such as China, India, and Bangladesh.

These women are not paid living wages, sometimes only making 4 cents per item, and are subjected to horrendous working conditions. They are allowed little sleep and food, and the factories are often overcrowded and dangerous.

Despite numerous lawsuits and calls to action, brands like Forever 21, Shein, and H&M continue to use unethical labor.

It’s easy to say that all of these horrific environmental and social impacts are the fault of the fast fashion companies themselves, and that’s true, but they wouldn’t keep producing cheap, unsustainable clothing if there wasn’t demand for it.

I made the decision to stop shopping at fast fashion stores a few years ago and I haven’t looked back.

But at the same time, titling this piece “stop buying fast fashion” is a bit of an attention-grab because I know it’s not that easy.

Clothes are expensive, and for many people fast fashion brands are the only way they can stock their wardrobe without breaking the bank. And some more sustainable brands don’t carry the same size options as fast fashion retailers.

Even “sustainable” brands aren’t necessarily as environmentally-friendly or ethical as they claim. There is no such thing as the perfect consumer, as hard as we try.

However, there are things we can do to avoid engaging with the fast fashion industry. For example, avoiding the worst brands like Forever 21, Shein, Uniqlo, H&M, Urban Outfitters, Zara, and the 14 others on this list.

For new clothes, prioritize sustainable businesses like Pact, Everlane, Parks Project, Reformation, and Patagonia (always a fave). This article has 99 examples of eco-friendly places to shop. Small, local businesses also tend to carry more sustainable options.

But my favorite way to shop for clothes is at thrift shops and vintage stores. They’re usually much cheaper than new clothing stores and I think it’s really fun to find something unexpected and give it new life.

There are even numerous online thrift stores and clothing rental companies. ThredUp, Poshmark, Depop, and Rent the Runway are all great options.

Or you can just raid your friends’ closets. Clothing swaps, yard sales, and good old-fashioned sharing are all fantastic ways to avoid buying fast fashion clothes.

Whatever tactic we take, I think it’s so important for us to be mindful consumers. I try my best not to let my money go towards corporations that poison the Earth and exploit its people, but at the same time, I allow space for the fact that there is no such thing as perfect consumption.

The next time I shop for clothes, I’m avoiding fast fashion retailers and hitting up my local thrift store. I hope you feel inspired to do the same.