Acknowledging the need of going sustainable in the upcoming years, one needs to also realise how much are we consuming and spending when it comes to filling up our wardrobes with branded and costly clothes. Fashion had always been an integral part of the human race. The need was generated when human beings started to wear clothes, gradually we observed an evolution in the manufacturing of clothes, and types of clothes according to different genders, occasions and weather. After such gradual progress in the field of fashion, we have a fully established and active fashion industry that is mass-producing on daily basis. Though its production quantity with such ease may be seen as a success we need to look back and realise what impact it has on the environment and the future of the planet. Are we just glorifying the mass production of the clothes even when it is actually an enemy of the environment?
Fashion should not cost the Earth.
Addressing the same issue, we at Orion square are regularly hosting VONG Cafe conversations; under the VONG ( voice of the new generation) movement. These conversations help the younger generation to get equipped with an understanding of the issues around us and work for a sustainable future. Orion square organized one such conversation as a digital live event named, ‘Fast Fashion and its impact on today’s world’ under its VONG movement. The event was well carried out by a team member of VONG as a host and two speakers from different backgrounds and diversified intellect on Instagram live.
The guest speaker :
Pooja Subhash – Sustainability expert, environmental activist, web-designer
The discussion was a series of questions backed up by enriching answers from both speakers. Following is a summary of the conversation on “ Fast Fashion and its impact on today’s world.”
What is fast fashion and why is it important to talk about it while we are talking about sustainability?
Fast fashion is a business model that mass-produces clothes and sells them off by creating urgency in the consumers. This sense of urgency kicks in and people get influenced to shop. Fast fashion is also very intimately attached to trends, we see such a rapid upsurge of trends in the market that we feel like buying most of them. Industries often do not care about quality and most of the clothing is extremely affordable which further motivates people to buy it even if they don’t want it. Shopping actually gives the same kind of dopamine kick that the drugs give. Though there is no problem with mass production and frequent change in trends it does not cause any impact on the environment but what it is doing to the environment is far worse than imaginable.
Fast fashion causes 10 per cent of total emissions. Usually, brands like H&M and Zara outsource their work to smaller nations like China, Bangladesh and India. They give it to a contractor and they further sub-contract. The only criterion considered is who provides the service at the cheapest rates. They don’t really know who is the workforce behind the production and how much they get paid. This leads to the exploitation of workers and an alarming need to protect human rights comes to the surface.
The industries are just conscious of the financial profits they get in return. They don’t care about the chemicals. The affluents are not carefully disposed of. A very much lively example of this is the recent foam in the Yamuna due to the chemicals released in water. Seeing the levels of production and irresponsible attitude of the industries, the foam in the Yamuna is nothing to be surprised of.
All these issues cater for one issue which is overproduction. Clothes are produced with the aim of getting sold, where they go after getting used is often not treated as a responsibility of anyone. Most of the clothes are used once and then are disposed of because they don’t match the rapidly changing trend. A lot of it gets dumped into the landfills which is again a matter of concern.
What is the process of making clothes and how do all the steps contribute to the harm to the environment?
When we come to the clothing industry, it is seen that it is very biased towards cotton and synthetic fibres. What we don’t know is that cotton is really water-intensive. It takes more than 7000 litres just to make jeans. Not only water but lots of pesticides are used in the process of making jeans. The number of fertilizers used is one of the causes of various issues, the pesticides are overused and they flow to the water bodies which causes chemical pollution. Apart from the water bodies, the direct harm is to the farmers who actually spray it.
Studies have shown that cotton is grown on 2 per cent of arable land but it takes 10 per cent of agricultural chemicals. Apart from environmental pollution, the process of cloth making has done a lot of harm to human rights as well. Child labour in the clothing industry is very much prevalent as the industries use children for the process of cotton picking. All these problems are at the very fundamental level at which only the raw materials are extracted. Then, comes the process of creating a fabric which is even more harmful to the environment.
The dyes used for colouring the fabric are another big issue. Statistics say that 20 per cent of worldwide water waste comes out of dyeing treatment. This utilises a good amount of freshwater which is itself very limited.
There is no beauty in the finest clothes if it makes hunger and unhappiness
– Mahatma Gandhi
How can we recycle clothes and would it really help the issue of dumping clothes in the landfills?
In India, there are companies that recycle clothes and make something out of them but recycling clothes is not that feasible at home. There are donation centres also but these are not really common. Most of the time, the donations are not really helpful because it often leads to being dumped in landfills but there is always an option to give the clothes you are using a second life because if they are not being reused then they are definitely going to be dumped. The clothes dumped in landfills are incinerated which is the most serious issue because all the resources that were used to manufacture clothes would be simply wasted and the carbon released in the air would be even more harmful.
Recycling is often not the desired option or the most feasible of all options because it is more expensive than fast fashion or buying new clothes. The alternatives are swapping the clothes, utilising the clothes efficiently and donating them directly to the needy rather than throwing them away.
What do you think about greenwashing and how can we really recognise that it is actually sustainable?
Greenwashing is another issue that is very much in the media because it puts a blindfold on the consumer’s face and the truth is often hidden. Once a product has the label sustainable then the prices are automatically higher and also, people feel good buying sustainable products. In a documentary, it was shown that on a brand’s product, It was written ‘hundred per cent organic cotton’ but what they were actually talking about was just a tag and not actually the product. A lot of brands like H&M have taken certain initiatives to look for sustainable brands. H&M came up with an initiative where you can submit your clothes for recycling and in return, you get a coupon to buy new products. This does not really make them a sustainable brand because they are incentivising the consumers to buy more which is the only problem to the cause. As responsible citizens, one needs not only to be conscious of the environment but also to be careful of the brands that are selling greenwashed products. In order to recognise a perfect sustainable brand, we need to keep in mind a lot of things.
Different brands have different values, there are some who care more about the environment and so, they use fabric like bamboo or hemp. They are usually transparent, they may have limited collections but have good quality products only. You can also see that the sustainable brands seldom release new collections and they are comparatively costly as well because if they get into the process of sustainable cloth making along with fair protection of labour rights then, the prices would ultimately be higher.
There are international organizations like cooperate B which is a standard and they rank the companies on how sustainable they are. Consumers must also visit the website and see how frequently they take social initiatives.
Trust no multi-national brand, listen to garment workers instead.
– Hedi Sliman
How can we fix the problem of fast fashion? What can youth do for this?
Generally, reducing your consumption is the first step. Building a sense of style for yourself on the basis of your preferred colour, fabric and would really help because you are not going to buy unnecessary trendy clothing. Another thing that we need to abstain from is impulse purchases, if you can spend some time thinking before purchasing, say that if you really want to buy it then only buy but always have a classic style and have something that is high quality and not necessarily trendy is the best solution. To adopt minimalist philosophy and being protective of your space and your wardrobe and buying only what you love to wear would be a great initiative.
Thrifting is another excellent option for buying something already created so you are not adding to the problem. You can just sell it, someone else may buy it and you can even earn bucks as well. Clothing swap, and sharing it with your friends is another fun activity that is creative and also helps in the mitigation of the problem. Rather than buying, renting for a special occasion is the more feasible option. Switching over to more sustainable fabrics like hemp, linen, bamboo and organic cotton is also a much-appreciated solution. Thus, the complete idea behind reducing fast fashion is to change our lifestyle and stop unnecessary buying.
CONCLUSION
We at Orion square are constantly talking about such issues related to sustainability and its presence in the system. We aim at starting from the younger generation to bring a change in their lifestyles and erase the option of heavy buying. We believe that the change lies in the hands of the youth and the future is at their stake. We are not only working for a better present but aim at leaving behind a better place to live in for our successors. VONG is organizing weekly live events, discussions and activities that encourage youth to dream and implement a better future.
Blog by Khushi Sharma, VONGle.
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