To What Extent is Fast Fashion Driving Climate Change

This research essay explores the impact of fast fashion on climate change and suggests sustainable solutions to reduce its negative effects. It discusses the wastage of water, harmful substances, and carbon footprint caused by the fast fashion industry. The essay emphasizes the importance of sustainability and reducing negative impacts on the environment. The conclusion highlights the need for industries to work sustainably and reduce their impact on the environment.

Research Essay

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
To what extent is fast fashion driving the climate change..........................................................4
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Fast fashion refers to the term which is used to describe the clothing industry business
model of replicating current catwalk trends and high fashion designs which has been produced at
a large scale at a lower cost. Fast fashion is basically about those prices that are in the lower
range which move quickly from design to retail stores to meet the trends with new collections
which have been introduced in a continuous manner(De Blois et.al., 2015). When new products
have been introduced continuously and it encourages customers to frequent stores in an often
manner. In the present report, a topic is taken into consideration which is named “To what extent
is fast fashion driving climate change”. The present report will cover a discussion about in which
manner fast fashion contributes to the context of climate change.
MAIN BODY
To what extent is fast fashion driving the climate change
According to different industries in this business world, it has been observed that certain
industries affect the environment on a larger scale. One of the industries is the fast fashion which
is all about stylish, cheap clothes which have been produced on a larger scale and have a huge
impact on the environment(What is fast fashion, Anyway, 2022). This is the industry that majorly
leads towards the wastage of water on a very large scale due to which it becomes to maintain the
proper balance between human beings and the environment as well(Peters and et.al., 2021).
Certain substances that have been contained within wastage of textile include lead, mercury, and
arsenic which are very harmful to human life and humans as well. There are certainly other
factors as well that are responsible for climate change where scientists have found out that
increment in temperature and gas also acts as the natural phenomenon that leads towards the
change in the climate.
Certain activities of human beings are responsible for global warming where gases in the
atmosphere play an important role as well(Kellogg and Schware., 2019). There are different
types of gases that have started increasing since the year 1751 that including NO2, CO2, and
CH4 where levels of the atmosphere have increased from 220 ppm to 460 ppm. It has been also
observed that changes in the climate are also the result of the environment and humans as well
due to which up to a very large extent certain other factors are responsible for the climate
changes. (Neethling et.al., 2017).

In the context of fast fashion, climate change has majorly been done through the activities
of humans on the daily basis within the industry which will create a negative impact on the
environment. Fast fashion describes the production of garments that leverages the trend
application and low-quality materials for bringing styles inexpensively to the final consumer.
Fast fashion is only possible through innovation in supply chain management among retailers
where Zara and H & M are the two main giants in the field of fast fashion. According to the
environment, it has been observed that there has been an increment in terms of the percentage of
carbon dioxide within the industry of fast fashion. Carbon footprint is described as the total
amount of greenhouse gases that are generated through their actions which are from the
perspective of technical terms. In context to the global level, it has been observed that the carbon
footprint at the average level is more near towards four tons. It is very significant to reduce the
carbon footprint because it mitigates the effects of global climate change, improves public
health, boosts the global economy, and maintains biodiversity as well. Reduction in the context
of carbon emissions also leads to ensuring clean air, water, and food for their generation and
generations which have yet to come.
Fast fashion is an industry that has to work in the context of a sustainable manner so that
it can reduce its impact into a negative manner on the environment. Sustainability refers to the
meeting of their requirements without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their requirements (Pittock., 2017). It refers to that quality that causes no damage or small
changes to the environment which has been able to continue for a longer period. It is a kind of
normative concept which is more focused on intergenerational equity and considers majorly
three dimensions which include social, environmental, and economic dimensions as well.
From this perspective natural resources, also require economic and social resources. At
the organizational level or within the industry, sustainability is very important because it
contributes to the context of improving the quality of their lives, protecting the ecosystem for
future generations, and preserving natural resources as well. From the perspective of fast fashion,
sustainability is related to the approach to a holistic manner at the organizational level that takes
into account everything from manufacturing to logistics to customer service(Ruane and
McDermid., 2017).

The industry of fast fashion has to adopt certain measures which are supportive in the context of
further growth and development as well. It is important to reduce the negative impact on a
larger scale so that positive growth in the environment can be made possible through positive
steps towards it. An impact on the environment is defined as the change to the environment
whether it is adverse or beneficial that results from the facility's activities, products or services. It
refers to the effect that people's actions have on the environment and it is important as well
because it promotes sustainable development, and a safe environment by measuring the impact
of the environment that is likely to be caused by human actions(Zhang and et.al., 2021). That's
why fast fashion has to take further steps in such a manner that environmental impacts which are
negative terms can be reduced up to a very lower extent.
Within the industry of fast fashion, the production of fashion and increased consumption
has serious and long-lasting impacts on the environment. According to different research and
studies, it has been finding out that fast fashion has contributed to nearly ten percent of CO2
emissions on the global level which is on the yearly basis. According to different figures, it has
been finding out that the impact on the environment of pairs of jeans and t-shirts is broken down
by the proportion of CO2 emitted in every phase of life of garments from personal use, yarn, and
garment production, to transportation and disposed into the final manner(Settele and et.al.,
2015). In the context of fast fashion, the production phase involves growing and working raw
materials into textiles and assembling them into the environment which is more destructive in
terms of nature at the level of environment.
The costs which are at the half level of the environment have a relationship with T-shirts
from their production and in jeans which is more than half. There have been certain other
impacts on the environment that stems from the rise of biodegradable materials synthetic like
polyester.
The introduction of more plastic and energy-intensive levels into the world also leads to a
destructive situation in the market and environment as well. Synthetic fibers have proliferated
within the industry of fashion act the alternative which is cheaper in terms of nature to organic
and natural resources which is also a cost to the surrounding environment. The process of
recycling becomes difficult when it is produced from synthetic materials and fossil fuels which
makes effective work impossible.

When it has been disregarded in one manner then it ends up in the context of landfills and
also remains there for a longer period (Zhisheng et.al., 2015). So it's necessary to make changes
within the industry of fast fashion that are from the end of consumer and production as well.
When changes have been implemented positively at the organizational level then it's easier to
have proper coordination with the environment in a positive manner. In an overall manner, up to
a very large extent, fast fashion has majorly contributed to climate change.
CONCLUSION
The above-stated report concludes that climate change plays a very significant role in
terms of different industries due to which they have impacted the working as well in a positive
manner. It has been concluded that within the industry of fashion, there is wastage of water on a
very large scale which creates an imbalance in the environment. It has been determined that it is
very important for certain industries to work sustainably so that they do not impact the
environment in negative aspects. It has been observed that activities of human beings lead to the
condition of global warming and also increase the level of gases on a very large scale. So it's
very important to work according into such a manner that it does not create a large amount of
loss to the environment.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
De Blois and et.al., 2015. The effects of climate change on cardiac health. Cardiology, 131(4),
pp.209-217.
Kellogg, W. W. and Schware, R., 2019. Climate change and society: consequences of increasing
atmospheric carbon dioxide. Routledge.
Neethling and et.al., 2017. Assessing local climate vulnerability and winegrowers’ adaptive
processes in the context of climate change. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for
Global Change, 22(5), pp.777-803.
Peters and et.al., 2021. The need to decelerate fast fashion in a hot climate-A global
sustainability perspective on the garment industry. Journal of cleaner production, 295,
p.126390.
Pittock, A. B., 2017. Climate change: turning up the heat. Routledge.
Ruane, A. C. and McDermid, S. P., 2017. Selection of a representative subset of global climate
models that captures the profile of regional changes for integrated climate impacts
assessment. Earth Perspectives, 4(1), pp.1-20.
Settele and et.al., 2015. Terrestrial and inland water systems. In Climate change 2014 impacts,
adaptation and vulnerability: Part A: Global and sectoral aspects (pp. 271-360).
Cambridge University Press.
Zhang and et.al., 2021. Consumer attitude towards sustainability of fast fashion products in the
UK. Sustainability, 13(4), p.1646.
Zhisheng and et.al., 2015. Global monsoon dynamics and climate change. Annual review of earth
and planetary sciences, 43, pp.29-77.
Online
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