While we complain about how expensive clothes can be and end up foregoing such luxuries while somewhere in Chile several tonnages of brand new clothes are thrown away…never been sold before.
Clothing Dumpsite
Fast Fashion Industry
The fast fashion industry is responsible for mass producing clothes in response to the changing demands and trend in the market. They cater to people who want to rock the latest trends without breaking their budgets. Brands like Fashion Nova, Nike, Urban Outfitter and Forever 21 are some of the world’s most popular brands that are guilty of being labelled ‘fast fashion’.
The Evils Of Fast Fashion
According to globally trusted advisors McKinsey, 3/5 of the clothes manufactured are disposed of within a year. So just have to look at the images above to see just how much pollution that is. The pollution doesn’t begin and end with the clothes waste. Petroleum based products are used for creation of the fibers so all the processes that take place during the manufacturing of those tonnes of clothes add to the world’s pollution. 10% of the world’s population is said to come from the fast fashion industry. To put this into perspective, the $3 trillion fast fashion industry follows just behind the oil industry which is the biggest polluter.
Although various countries worldwide are said to be working together to try and reduce their carbon footprint and curb the effects of climate change, it seems like when there is a huge financial benefit attached to their pollution no one cares.
In Zimbabwe, for instance, certain mines were left to operate without changing their terrible conditions that also contributed to pollution.