Fast Fashion's Contribution to Climate Change

This essay explores the impact of fast fashion on climate change, including the carbon emissions and pollution caused by the production and disposal of clothing. It discusses the use of synthetic fibers, the depletion of resources, and the need for sustainable alternatives like slow fashion. Course code, course name, and college/university are not mentioned.

Individual essay: To what
extent is Fast Fashion
driving climate change
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Contents
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................5
References.......................................................................................................................................6
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INTRODUCTION
The fashion industry is a very prominent and significant industry contributing highly in growth
and development of world economy. The fashion sector is continuously expanding with new
ideas and innovations and due to increasing tendency and preferences of individuals to consume
fashion related items. The growth of fashion industry has serious implications on the
environment and is causing critical issues related to climate change. The following essay will
discuss the extent to which fashion industry is responsible for climate change. The purpose of
this essay is to study the impact of growing fashion sector on environment and how it is leading
to the climate which give rise to a number of issues.
MAIN BODY
The growth of fashion industry is resulting in increase in major environmental issues and
significantly contributing to a climate crisis. Fashion industry has shown immense growth in
recent years and it has always remained a crucial sector driving economic growth and
contributing highly in GDP (Muthu and Gardotti, 2020). Moreover, the result of increased
consumers buying in this sector has given rise to climate change. The production processes
carried out in organizations creating fashion commodities are showing high concentrations of
carbon emissions. The processes conducted by fashion industries have dried out water resources
which are majorly responsible for water pollution as the waste is being dumped in rivers and
streams. The fashion industry affects environment in multiple ways and is leading to irreversible
damage that is causing a climate crisis. The procurement and production processes as well as
transportation and shipping processes are done for providing consumers with fashion
commodities is causing decline in resources and is majorly affecting the environment as well as
encouraging the depletion of resources (Holloway and Hancock, 2018).
The fibres used in the manufacturing of textiles are one of the major causes of carbon emissions.
The production of various fibers that are used in the manufacturing of garments are responsible
for emitting two-thirds of the carbon footprint and crisis for climate change (Tylecote, 2019).
The situation is more critical due to the use and production of synthetic fibres on a large scale as
the clothes and garments that are being most produced and consumed use synthetic fibres in their
manufacturing. Consumers have low preferences for cotton and with continuous innovation,
designers are demanding synthetic fibre to make fashionable clothes. The main reason for the
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demand of synthetic fibres in the market is that this absorbed the less water and dry quickly after
washing clothes. Synthetic fibres specifically nylon and polyester are derived from fossil fuels
which are non-renewable implying depletion of resources. The manufacturing of these fibres
uses a great amount of crude oil, it is being estimated that 342 million barrels of oil is being used
every year in the process of producing synthetic fibres (Hofmann, 2019). Even if people replace
their choices of synthetic clothes with cotton textiles, these have their own implications on
environment. The production of cotton uses lots of water and also requires pesticides and
fertilizers which are carbon-oriented items and it has been estimated that one ton of nitrogenous
fertilizers is responsible for emission of seven tones of CO2 (Lee, 2015) . The boom and
fostering of the fashion industry has promoted an environmental crisis that giving birth to a
range of climate issues. It makes use of too many water resources that causing them to dry up
and is a significant cause of water as well as air pollution. The manufacturing processes
undertaken by industries release smoke which contributes to air pollution. Industrial waste came
for the manufacturing processes in which raw material are converted into finished goods that,
results in water pollution to a great extent. Moreover, washing of certain clothes discharges
micro-plastics into the ocean implying its deterioration and making oceans a dangerous habitat
for water creatures.
The fashion industry is causing a great deal of threat to the change to threatens the environment
and is giving birth to a vast amount of issues increasing the risk of climate change. Sustainability
in fashion industry is almost next to impossible given that the consumers are growing beauty
conscious and are consuming fashion textiles to an immeasurable extent (Gothandam and et.al.,
2020). Online trends have significantly increased the consumption of fashion commodities
among audiences which has made them purchase clothes on a regular basis. Fashion has become
an emerging concept among individuals, and it is prevailing in every aspect of their life (Kaczan
and Orgill-Meyer, 2020). Previously seasons were only confined to only summer-wear and
winter-wear which has now fragmented into 52 micro seasons implying innovation and creation
of multiple variety in textile use, further advancing the human desire to consume. Fast fashion
has worsened the climatic conditions through increasing the production of clothes to a huge
extent. Furthermore, clothing has become more disposable than ever implying high wastage of
resources and clothes are being dumped which result in depletion of resources. In recent years,
the waste accumulated through textiles use has increased to a great extent implying people do
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not keep their clothes for half the amount of time as perhaps they did a couple of decades ago
(Boykoff and et.al., 2021). The behavior of individuals of buying cloths on regular basis and
then dispose them improperly by using them for a short period of time result in loss of landfill
spaces, loss of money and material value. Textile waste has been increasing every year which is
enough to fill Sydney Harbour with waste.
Slow fashion may be the only alternative that is left to reduce the impact of the fashion industry
on the environment and to deplete the threat of climate change. Slow fashion refers to the
philosophy where people are being aware of the environmental crisis and are making attempts to
reduce waste. Less consumption of textiles and setting buying patterns implying purchasing
only, when necessary, could contribute to slowing down the impacts of the fashion industry on
the climate (Mejías and et.al., 2019). Consumers can promote sustainability through ensuring
purchases which are more durable and ensure that they last for a longer period. Trading clothes
with family or relatives is always a sustainable option rather than disposing of them. Buying
secondhand goods is also a sustainable option and paying attention to details such as what kind
of fabric is being used and what is the durability status. The proper recycling of the garments
could lead to sustainability within which disposed goods can be recreate or used again. Bringing
sustainability into the fashion industry is a constant challenge as fast fashion and the inclination
of consumers towards fashionable commodities are continuously increasing, promoting more
innovation of fibres, resulting in carbon emissions (Brooks, 2019).
CONCLUSION
From the above essay, it has been concluded that the growing pace of the fashion industry is
serving as a major cause in depletion of environmental resources as well as contributing higly to
the climate change. The manufacturing of synthetic fibres which are widely promoted in the
textile industry to create fashionable designs are releasing high concentrations of carbon
emissions. Sustainable fashion is considerable as a myth as consumers are growing more
inclined towards fashion trends and showing behavior of improper disposing of their purchases
after using them briefly. Through considering the sensitivity of climate change, measures could
be taken focusing on the durability of clothes as well as avoiding waste through recycling or
using them for a longer period.
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References
Boykoff and et.al., 2021. Examining climate change and sustainable/fast fashion in the 21st
century: ‘Trash the Runway’. Oxford Open Climate Change, 1(1).
Brooks, A., 2019. Clothing poverty: The hidden world of fast fashion and second-hand clothes.
Bloomsbury Publishing.
Gothandam and et.al., 2020. Fast fashion and its negative impact on environment and society.
Nanoscience and biotechnology for environmental applications.
Hofmann, F., 2019. Circular business models: business approach as driver or obstructer of
sustainability transitions. Journal of Cleaner Production, 224, pp.361-374.
Holloway, R. and Hancock, R., 2018. The environment of marketing behaviour. New York:
Wiley.
Kaczan, D.J. and Orgill-Meyer, J., 2020. The impact of climate change on migration: a synthesis
of recent empirical insights. Climatic Change, 158(3), pp.281-300.
Lee, H., 2015. The Clothing Consumption Behavior of Fast Fashion Purchaser according to
Environmental Consciousness. Fashion & Textile Research Journal, 17(4), pp.550-560.
Mejías and et.al., 2019. Traceability management systems and capacity building as new
approaches for improving sustainability in the fashion multi-tier supply
chain. International Journal of Production Economics, 217, pp.143-158.
Muthu, S. and Gardetti, M., 2020. The price of fast fashion. Sustainability in the textile and
apparel industries.
Tylecote, A., 2019. Biotechnology as a new techno-economic paradigm that will help drive the
world economy and mitigate climate change. Research Policy, 48(4), pp.858-868.
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