Do you ever think much about how the clothes on your back came to get there? If you’re trying to become more eco-conscious, you certainly should be thinking with this mindset. The fashion industry has long caused devastation to our environment, and only human awareness can lead to actual environmental change. Read on to educate yourself on this topic and learn why it’s so critical to know what our clothes are made of.
Why It’s Important To Know What Our Clothes Are Made Of
Do you ever think much about how the clothes on your back came to get there? If you’re trying to become more eco-conscious, you certainly should be thinking with this mindset. The fashion industry has long caused devastation to our environment, and only human awareness can lead to actual environmental change. You know what they say—the more you know, the more you grow!
The Devastation Of Fast Fashion
In this age, more and more consumers are becoming aware of the destruction of fast fashion and how much of a burden it can be on our environment. Let’s take a look at why this is.
What Is Fast Fashion?
Fast fashion is the fast-paced process of producing new clothes to keep up with current trends. By using low-quality materials, garments are thrown away quickly and make room for new low-quality creations.
Wastewater
The fast fashion industry wastes vast amounts of water in the production process. Fabric treatment and dying trigger a chunk of our planet’s contaminated wastewater. In fact, billions of liters of water are being utilized yearly in clothing mills and factories in singular countries alone, such as Bangladesh. This action depletes areas’ groundwater resources, transporting harmful contaminants and byproducts to water sources nearby.
The finishing and dying processes inject many harmful chemicals into the water, such as phenol, dyes, oil, metals, and pesticides. The contaminated water flows to nearby groundwater and streams, getting into crops. Thus, this process can contaminate our food resources with carcinogenic chemicals.
Toxic Chemicals
The toxic chemicals and dyes produced from this industry often leak and run off into our rivers, eventually ending up in oceans and causing chaos to marine ecosystems.
Unethical Conditions
We mustn’t forget about the workers producing these types of garments either. Laborers in fast fashion often suffer from low wages, poor conditions, and unfair treatment.
Materials
Cotton is a huge problem in the fashion industry - and unfortunately, it is the most widely utilized natural fabric for garments. It needs colossal amounts of water for treatment and irrigation, thus depleting our local groundwater and freshwater resources. To enhance the production needed to fulfill high demands for cotton, fertilizers and pesticides are frequently utilized to boost cotton output.
Aside from damaging microbial communities and soil quality, the runoffs from the contaminated water can pollute nearby water resources. This poses threats to human health and our local biodiversity.
Furthermore, plastic materials are also a huge issue for our planet. Harmful synthetic plastic materials are often used for fast fashion garments. Clothes constructed of these plastic materials are detrimental to our environment - they end up in our rivers, oceans, and marine wildlife - including microorganisms.
Go For The Right Choices
On the other hand, sustainable materials such as hemp, linen, and bamboo reap vast benefits for our planet. By being recyclable, renewable, and free of toxic chemicals, sustainable fabrics like these are worth wearing when it comes to updating your wardrobe.
So now that you know more about fast fashion, hopefully, you value the importance of choosing suitable materials and brands when trying to become more sustainable.
Key Takeaways
- We can learn that fashion may be more harmful than we first thought initially. By looking at just a few detrimental aspects of the fast fashion process, it’s apparent that we need to change how we approach clothing.
- Secondly, in this modern age, organizations selling sustainable garments may be likelier to gain profit than those that don’t. Many consumers are starting to turn their backs on fast fashion, meaning that the more educated people are, the more success sustainable businesses can raise.
- Finally, each individual can make a difference to our planet. Simple clothing choices don’t seem significant, but they really are!
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Do you ever think much about how the clothes on your back came to get there? If you’re trying to become more eco-conscious, you certainly should be thinking with this mindset. The fashion industry has long caused devastation to our environment, and only human awareness can lead to actual environmental change. Read on to educate yourself on this topic and learn why it’s so critical to know what our clothes are made of.
The Devastation Of Fast Fashion
In this age, more and more consumers are becoming aware of the destruction of fast fashion and how much of a burden it can be on our environment. Let’s take a look at why this is.
What Is Fast Fashion?
Fast fashion is the fast-paced process of producing new clothes to keep up with current trends. By using low-quality materials, garments are thrown away quickly and make room for new low-quality creations.
Wastewater
The fast fashion industry wastes vast amounts of water in the production process. Fabric treatment and dying trigger a chunk of our planet’s contaminated wastewater. In fact, billions of liters of water are being utilized yearly in clothing mills and factories in singular countries alone, such as Bangladesh. This action depletes areas’ groundwater resources, transporting harmful contaminants and byproducts to water sources nearby.
The finishing and dying processes inject many harmful chemicals into the water, such as phenol, dyes, oil, metals, and pesticides. The contaminated water flows to nearby groundwater and streams, getting into crops. Thus, this process can contaminate our food resources with carcinogenic chemicals.
Toxic Chemicals
The toxic chemicals and dyes produced from this industry often leak and run off into our rivers, eventually ending up in oceans and causing chaos to marine ecosystems.
Unethical Conditions
We mustn’t forget about the workers producing these types of garments either. Laborers in fast fashion often suffer from low wages, poor conditions, and unfair treatment.
Materials
Cotton is a huge problem in the fashion industry - and unfortunately, it is the most widely utilized natural fabric for garments. It needs colossal amounts of water for treatment and irrigation, thus depleting our local groundwater and freshwater resources. To enhance the production needed to fulfill high demands for cotton, fertilizers and pesticides are frequently utilized to boost cotton output.
Aside from damaging microbial communities and soil quality, the runoffs from the contaminated water can pollute nearby water resources. This poses threats to human health and our local biodiversity.
Furthermore, plastic materials are also a huge issue for our planet. Harmful synthetic plastic materials are often used for fast fashion garments. Clothes constructed of these plastic materials are detrimental to our environment - they end up in our rivers, oceans, and marine wildlife - including microorganisms.
Go For The Right Choices
On the other hand, sustainable materials such as hemp, linen, and bamboo reap vast benefits for our planet. By being recyclable, renewable, and free of toxic chemicals, sustainable fabrics like these are worth wearing when it comes to updating your wardrobe.
So now that you know more about fast fashion, hopefully, you value the importance of choosing suitable materials and brands when trying to become more sustainable.
Key Takeaways
- We can learn that fashion may be more harmful than we first thought initially. By looking at just a few detrimental aspects of the fast fashion process, it’s apparent that we need to change how we approach clothing.
- Secondly, in this modern age, organizations selling sustainable garments may be likelier to gain profit than those that don’t. Many consumers are starting to turn their backs on fast fashion, meaning that the more educated people are, the more success sustainable businesses can raise.
- Finally, each individual can make a difference to our planet. Simple clothing choices don’t seem significant, but they really are!
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