Fast Fashion: A Major Contributor to Climate Change

This report discusses the impact of fast fashion on climate change and the environment. It highlights the ways in which the fast fashion industry is contributing to the depletion of resources and adversely affecting nature. The report recommends the usage of quality products by the clothing industry to sustain natural sources in the world.

Climate change

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Climate change is referred to the persistent shifts in the pattern of weather and
temperatures. These are either because of the natural reasons such as number of variations
coming in the solar cycle, or these can be because of the human activities as the activities done
by them such as burning of fuels like oil, gas and colas are leaving a negative impact and
affecting the environment of the entire globe (Dietz, Shwom and Whitley., 2020). The society of
present world is completely inclined towards the new trends and upcoming fashions. This is
becoming one of the main reason why fast fashion is growing rapidly in the countries. The
following report will comprise an argument on how the growth of fast fashion is leading to
climate change and the entire becoming one of the main reason behind the bad shift in the
temperatures and weathers.
MAIN BODY
The concept of fast fashion is engaged with the manufacturing of low priced yet stylish
clothing line. This clothing line is then shifted to the retail stores as soon as possible to deliver
there final products to the final consumers and at the same time continuously innovating its chain
of supply and mass production. The growth of fast fashion is tangled with the expansion of social
media following and all the influencers control and their culture (Camargo, Pereira and Scarpin.,
2020). This leads to the fast change in consumer demands and fast manufacturing of those
demanded products by the socially aware brands with competitive prices. This entire industry do
not focus on the lasting quality of product but instead focus on a strategy of planned
obsolescence. The following strategy of the fast fashion industry involves the use of low quality
raw materials which are derived from the unethical source for example, plastic fabrics, synthetic
fabrics and excessive use of water (Niinimäki and et.al., 2020). This entire industry of fast
fashion is also turning out to be the major cause of the climate change in the world as it is
leaving an atrocious impact on the environment in a way, even they aren't aware of.
Climate change include all of a sudden events such as severe fires, water scarcity,
catastrophic storms, intense droughts, flooding, declining biodiversity etc. Climate change is
continuing to grow rapidly and the earth is 1.1 degree Celsius warmer today in comparison to the
late 1800s (Clayton., 2020). The last decade of 2011-2020 has recorded as the warmest period of
all the times. The raise in the temperature is just the beginning of a story as everything on this
planet is connected where one thing leads to another. So the impact one activity leaves on earth

also reflects on the other aspects. The fast fashion industry is termed as the third largest industry
which is contributing to the maximum pollution on the globe. It is held responsible for the
release of 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 which is even more than the aviation and shipping industry.
Fast fashion emits 10% of global greenhouse gas and if the industry continues with the
operations in the same way, the day is not so far when the industry will start emitting 50% of the
gas (Connell and LeHew., 2020). Due to quite affordable prices of the products here are some
ways in which the entire industry is affecting the environment of the world and leading to
climate change.
Excessive use of water- The fashion industry consumes 1/10th of water to run its operations and
to clean the products. For making 1 kilogram of cotton it requires 10000L of water and to make 1
cotton shirt in takes 3000L of water (Ostad-Ali-Askar and Liu., 2018). This is not over here,
other toxic chemicals required for dyeing, eventually end up in the oceans and lakes causing the
deaths of aquatic animals and all this time, over 20% of wastewater is accumulated worldwide.
Plastic microfibres- The use of synthetic materials in the clothing line leads the plastic
microfibres enter the lakes and oceans (Woolway and et.al., 2020). Almost 35% of the micro
plastics in the oceans come from these synthetic materials. To lower the cost of making, most of
the manufacturers are involved in producing low quality goods which release more CO2 when
compared to the cotton products. These microfibres are not easy to eliminate from the water
bodies (Obebe and Adamu., 2020). Thus, they enter in human bodies through aquatic life
consumption and leads to harmful health effects on both animals and humans.
Over consumption of clothing- As the clothing standards of humans are shifting towards the
growing fast fashion, most of the people are shifting themselves to the lower budget clothing
line. This is leading to the demand of more and more cloths, be it because of the poor quality of
the material that can not be used after a time or because of the upcoming trends. The over all
regular demand of cloth production has lead to a record of 62 million tons of apparel
consumption in the year 2019. But, the main reason behind fast fashion leading to climate
change is that the people are not simply donating the cloths instead are throwing them out which
is leading to huge landfills, that are eventually burned. The pollution from the burning of cloths
generates poisonous gases which affects the climate and the lives of the people, living near to
that area.

Usage of viscose- The fabric was found in 1890 after the beginning of cellulosic. It is the cheap
alternative of cotton and is also termed as rayon, which is made up of cellulosic fibre, which is
again made up of the wood pulp. It leaves detrimental effects on environment as it involves
harmful chemicals and unethical resourcing. The carbon disulphide which is used in the
production of viscose also leads to the lethal health issues in the workers and release large
amount of green house gases.
Above mentioned were some examples of how the fast fashion is leading to climate
change. Since 1800s, the human activities are the major cause of climate change. Through all the
activities involved in the production of fast fashion, the gas emissions has resulted in a blanket
which is wrapped all over the globe and is also the main reason of the heat that is trapped and
raised temperatures around the earth. Major production of the clothing also leads to the
endangered plant species (O’Neill and et.al., 2020). The mass production is also leading to
declination in the number of forests which is resulting in release of high amount of carbon
dioxide.
The industry to avoid such complicities with the nature and to secure the useful sources for the
future generation, should involve themselves in the environmental activities. The companies
which are using the trees for their production, should also plan for the campaigns where they
initiate the planting to recover the losses done by them (Barber., 2021). Fast fashion should stop
focusing on the cost and should deliver quality cloths in order to maintain sustainability in the
environment.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that the climate change is impacting the
lives of people. It includes all the intense droughts, severe fires, flooding, water scarcity etc. The
key driver of this change is the fast fashion, which is growing rapidly in the society these days.
The report also shows number of ways in which the fast fashion is contributing to the depletion
of resources and how the entire industry is adversely affecting the nature. Later, a
recommendation is made on the usage of quality products by the clothing industry so it can
sustain the natural sources in the world.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Barber, A., 2021. Consumed: The need for collective change; colonialism, climate change &
consumerism. Hachette UK.
Camargo, L.R., Pereira, S.C.F. and Scarpin, M.R.S., 2020. Fast and ultra-fast fashion supply
chain management: an exploratory research. International Journal of Retail &
Distribution Management. 48(6). pp.537-553.
Clayton, S., 2020. Climate anxiety: Psychological responses to climate change. Journal of
anxiety disorders. 74. p.102263.
Connell, K.Y.H. and LeHew, M.L., 2020. Fashion: An unrecognized contributor to climate
change. The Dangers of Fashion: Towards Ethical and Sustainable Solutions. p.71.
Dietz, T., Shwom, R.L. and Whitley, C.T., 2020. Climate change and society. Annual Review of
Sociology. 46(1). pp.135-58.
Niinimäki, K. and et.al., 2020. The environmental price of fast fashion. Nature Reviews Earth &
Environment. 1(4). pp.189-200.
O’Neill, B.C. and et.al., 2020. Achievements and needs for the climate change scenario
framework. Nature climate change. 10(12). pp.1074-1084.
Obebe, S.B. and Adamu, A.A., 2020. Plastic pollution: causes, effects and preventions. Int J Eng
Appl Sci Technol. 4(12). pp.85-95.
Ostad-Ali-Askar, K., Su, R. and Liu, L., 2018. Water resources and climate change. Journal of
Water and Climate Change. 9(2). p.239.
Woolway, R.I. and et.al., 2020. Global lake responses to climate change. Nature Reviews Earth
& Environment. 1(8). pp.388-403.
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