Fast Fashion From the Public and Scientific Points of View

A writing project discussing how the public opinion of fast fashion's environmental impact aligns with the scientific consensus of the issue.

An essay written by Natasha Avalos

March 2023

In 2015, movie director Andrew Morgan released “The True Cost” (About the Film, 2015) in response to the 2013 Rana Plaza Factory Collapse in Bangladesh. Through private individual funding as well as help from Kickstarter users (Cheng, 2015), Morgan wanted to expose the secrets of the fashion industry and the impact it has on humans and the environment. The tragic event in Bangladesh claimed the lives of over 1,100 garment workers who were working in poor labor conditions (The Rana Plaza Accident, 2017), thus bringing the issues of the fashion industry to the forefront. Since then, conversation amongst the general public regarding the fast fashion industry’s contribution to violating human rights as well as its massive impact on our planet has only grown and inspired scientists and researchers to further investigate.

The damages caused by fast fashion is not a new phenomenon, however it has been amplified throughout social media and word of mouth throughout the past few years, resulting in the publication of more studies examining the environmental and health implications. A phrase that has been trending is “Fuck Fast Fashion”. This movement entails fighting for a better fashion industry and calls for scientists and other professionals and experts to expose these wrongdoings as well as demanding solutions. Scientists across the globe have delved into this topic and their findings align with the public’s negative perception of the industry and the science even goes beyond the public’s main interests. This paper will highlight the reasons people hold negative views of fast fashion through explaining the scientific consensus regarding the industry’s impact on pollution, human health, and animal welfare, as well as the sociocultural factors that prevent change.

To begin, fast fashion is defined as “cheap, trendy clothing” that mimics high end styles but are produced at lightning speed in excessive quantities to meet consumer demand (Rauturier, 2022). GoodOnYou.eco is an independent online platform that aims to create transparency between consumers and fashion brands by reviewing and rating thousands of brands with the goal of “rewarding responsible fashion brands that do good [and] … can drive the whole industry to become more sustainable and fair” (About, 2022). In 2022, GoodOnYou highlighted the main issues people have with fast fashion: pollution, worker exploitation, animal cruelty, and manipulative marketing (Rauturier, 2022). The public’s growing agitation with the fast fashion industry has led to the creation of social media accounts promoting more sustainable fashion, such as the Isla Vista Trading Post – a Santa Barbara recirculation program run by college students who encourage recycling clothing (Isla Vista Trading Post, n.d.). Additionally, the success of films such as “The True Cost” and “The Clothes We Wear” have given an inside look to the private damages fast fashion companies participate in (About the Film, 2015; Pisani et al., 2021). With growing public interest, scientists and experts have conducted research with results that validate these regards.

Firstly, the public’s main concern with the fast fashion industry is the amount of pollution created at every stage; from sourcing, production, shipment, consumption, and end of life – there is excess waste. One type of pollution that is most discussed by the public is the amount of clothing improperly disposed of each year. In 2015, the Council for Textile Recycling estimated that “Americans throw away 70 pounds of clothes and other textiles every year” with the Environmental Protection Agency assessing over 65% being sent to landfills (Chen, 2019, p. 5). Excess waste sitting in landfills emit carbon dioxide and methane gasses into the atmosphere, thus affecting nearby communities as well as contributing to destruction of the ozone layers which would then allow more heat to reach the planet – a path to expedited global warming (EPA, 2022).

In addition to these gasses, the toxins also make their way into our water resources, thus affecting its usability. Scientists warn that the toxic chemicals and excess use of clean water is detrimental, reminding us that “In many countries where potable water is scarce, this large water consumption has become intolerable,” (Khan & Malik, 2013). Water is used at every stage of the production process of the clothing and material as a means of washing, sizing, sourcing, bleaching, and rinsing during dyeing and printing (Khan & Malik, p. 58). The water is then sent down the drain where the wastewater is infiltrated by chemical additives, polluting the environment with an increased pH, becoming dangerous and not usable (Khan & Malik, p. 59). For example, when chemicals are used to clean the fibers for easy care later on, they are released into the water where surfactants are inserted into the water, thus weakening the ability to separate grease and oil from water (Khan & Malik, p. 59).

This issue is of great concern amongst scientists as it does not only have detrimental effects on the environment, but also on human and animal health. The fast fashion industry is infamous for making clothing made of cheap materials that do not last long. This is a big concern for the general public, however scientists dig deeper into the toxic chemicals making the materials that end up infiltrating waterways. For example, polyester is a major player in this industry. This synthetic fiber is derived from fossil fuels that are not biodegradable and rely on heavy metals such as antimony, a carcinogen that is harmful to humans when inhaled (Chen, 2019, p. 15). During the dyeing process, the toxic chemicals are released from the polyester and into the water which will then reach streams of clean and potable water that are used for local communities and animal feeding. Another material used often in fast fashion is conventional cotton. During harvesting, pesticides are used to prevent destruction from animals and insects. These pesticides are then released into the waterstream during stages of chemical alteration into fine yarns as well as dyeing processes, furthering pollution of our water and making it unsafe to drink or use (Chen, 2019, p. 13-15).

Furthermore, worker exploitation has become of large concern amongst the general public and scientists alike. In recent years, the general public has raised questions about the safety and equality of the female garment workers in which these women are putting their lives at risk by working long hours in unsafe environments for very little pay (Moqueet & Calardo, 2020). Scientists found that the toxic chemicals used to produce the clothing materials were being exposed in hazardous quantities to the workers, causing major health issues. A researcher from the University of Pennsylvania conducted an ethnographic study of worker health in a fast fashion factory in Bangladesh where he encountered first hand the poor health of the female garment workers (Ashraf, 2017). He found that the constant exposure to the poisonous chemical particles emitted from the clothing directly caused headaches and stomach-related problems as well as “damaged lungs, skin irritations, and bronchitis” (Ashraf, p. 259).

Another concern held amongst the general public is the safety and welfare of animals. Typically advocating for companies to be “cruelty free” or “vegan”, the general public has paid much attention to the use of animal products in the fashion industry. There is a call on fashion companies “to enhance animal ethics and welfare” by making ethical decisions when using real animal products (Gardetti, 2016). As before, scientists support this movement but also call on the impact the industry’s polluted water has on animals and other wildlife.

Similarly to the effects polluted water may have on workers and the local communities, polluted water impacts wild ecosystems. With regards to animal mistreatment in the fashion industry, scientists point to the lingering effects of toxins that affect animals both on land and other organisms underwater. A 2013 study found that chemical pollution of water has resulted in the impairment of important animal functions such as respiration and reproduction and has even resulted in excess mortality (Khan & Malik, 2013). Animals that depend on clean water as much as humans have reaped the extreme consequences of fast fashion’s pollution. To take it even a step further, the polluted water affecting animals impacts the availability of food resources (Rajaganapa et al., 2010). The majority of marine pollution begins on land and in factories where fibers release chemicals into the waterways in which scientists have discovered that such particles are contaminating aquatic life (Garg, p. 414). Once the chemicals, and possibly even microplastics, reach animals such as fish and shellfish, it will be ingested by the animal and sit in their intestine to then be passed into humans upon consumption (Garg, p. 414).

With the movement for a cleaner and more sustainable fashion industry, there are still social, economic, and cultural barriers that consumers and companies face when making changes. In the United States, our society is very materialistic and constantly on the lookout for the next, new thing to buy. The fast fashion industry takes advantage of this value by promoting that consumers can get “more for less” when in today’s state of environmental injustice, we need to pivot and adopt the ideas that “less is more” (Bick et al., 2018). Consumers who are of lower and middle income communities may depend on these fast fashion brands as it is the only clothing they can afford and thus must continue shopping there even though the consequences are harmful. What could help balance this issue, would be if consumers of higher income backgrounds are able to do their part in supporting transparent and clean companies, or if all consumers simply consumed less and shopped second-hand (Bick et al., 2018).

In the same year as the Rana Plaza Factory Collapse of 2013, the United Nations developed 17 goals for sustainable development by 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals. Amongst these goals, goal number 12 sets numerous targets to “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns” (United Nations, n.d.). The fast fashion industry’s harmful practices affect our people and planet with only profits in mind. In order to make change, consumers must work with the scientific community to find exactly what damages are being caused and how to reach Goal 12 as ethical consumers in a capitalist society. Without explicitly calling for change in the fast fashion industry, the SDGs urge consumers to recognize “the true cost” of the companies we support in regards to their implications on the planet and people.

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