We need to stop buying clothing made by children we don’t know, in sweat-shops we will never see, that ends up in landfill in countries we never visit. A shocking 85% of all textiles go to dumps each year. Countries like Ghana import about 15 million items of secondhand clothing each week. That’s business in disposing of overconsumption.
In Ghana they call them obroni wawu or ‘dead white man’s clothes’. Important African conservation areas are being used as fashion graveyards. Locals are having their fishing nets, waterways and beaches clogged with synthetic fast fashion. Your last season Zara turtle-neck actually wrapped around a real turtle’s neck.
According to the UN Environment Programme, fast fashion (using energy-intensive processes like dyeing and spinning) is responsible for about 10% of global emissions which is more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.
But we keep overlooking the impacts. We aren’t evil. We forget. And our governments don’t hold manufacturers to account. The horror is hidden, and when that little present from the supply chain gods turns up at our front door, it’s impossible to see the link between our swanky new pants suit and a warming planet. We feel distanced from the impacts, and the direct-to-consumer model pioneered by Shein and other e-commerce heavy hitters removes us from bearing witness to the climate impact.
We are told that these new, direct supply models are more environmentally friendly because it cuts out the middle – but we are talking about a 24-hours-a-day, 365-days -a-week, supply on demand. They create garments ready to be sold in less than ten days. These items are worn on average seven times and then discarded. Garments might be cheap to purchase, but they literally cost the earth – causing untold environmental and human harm.
As consumers, we are coerced. It’s a constant stream of ads that our social media algorithms select from our browsing history. Ads that just continue to pop up because you once looked at something, and now you have been profiled and those supply chains, well they are targeting you. They show you pretty pictures of dresses and shirts and shorts and swimmers. Hell, it’s 10pm, you’re on your bed but you’re at the shops.
I resent the constant bombardment. But sometimes, when I’m in a social media stupor, feeling a bit sad and vulnerable, I’ll click on a link, and I’ve fallen into the Buy Now basket. Most of us do.
The fast fashion industry is also the second biggest consumer of water. Washing those clothes sluices 500,000 tonnes of microfibres into the ocean each year. According to earth.org that’s the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles. I can’t even conceive of what that looks like.
Apparently we only wear 10% of our wardrobe anyway. It’s the ‘I have nothing to wear’ paradox. We have too much to wear. So maybe it’s time to stop. Or at least have a fast fashion fast. Buy secondhand. Buy slow. Buy nothing.
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