Assignment

Irijaya Dash
2023/462
B.A. Sociology (Hons.)
Semester II
International and National Issues related to the Environment:
___________________________________

While the climate crisis has many factors that play a role in the exacerbation of the environment, some
warrant more attention than others. Here in this assignment, one of the biggest environmental problems
of our lifetime, which has progressed from deforestation and biodiversity loss to food waste and fast
fashion, has been elaborated. Further, there are also certain issues which have been noted to be
peculiarly India-centric, in the way that their prominence is observed more essentially in the South
Asian corridor.
 Clothing retailers like Zara, Forever 21, and H&M make cheap and fashionable clothing to
satisfy the needs of young consumers. Yet, fast fashion has a significant environmental impact.
According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the industry is the second-biggest
consumer of water and is responsible for about 10% of global carbon emissions – more than all
international flights and maritime shipping combined. Unfortunately, fast fashion problems are
often overlooked by consumers.

What Is Fast Fashion?

● The term ‘fast fashion’ has become more prominent in conversations surrounding
fashion, sustainability, and environmental consciousness. The term refers to ‘cheaply produced
and priced garments that copy the latest catwalk styles and get pumped quickly through stores
in order to maximise on current trends’. The fast fashion model is so-called because it involves
the rapid design, production, distribution, and marketing of clothing, which means that retailers
are able to pull large quantities of greater product variety and allow consumers to get more
fashion and product differentiation at a low price. The term was first used at the beginning of
the 1990s, when when Zara landed in New York. “Fast fashion” was coined by the New York
Times to describe Zara’s mission to take only 15 days for a garment to go from the design stage
to being sold in stores. The biggest players in the fast fashion world include Zara, UNIQLO,
Forever 21 and H&M.

Fast Fashion and Textile Waste

● The global demand for fashion and clothing has risen at an unprecedented rate that the
fashion industry now accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions, becoming one of the
biggest environmental problems of our time. Fashion alone produces more greenhouse gas
emissions than both the aviation and shipping sectors combined, and nearly 20% of global
wastewater, or around 93 billion cubic metres from textile dyeing, according to the UN
Environment Programme. Discarded clothing and textile waste, most of which is
non-biodegradable, ends up in landfills, while microplastics from clothing materials such as
polyester, nylon, polyamide, acrylic and other synthetic materials, are leached into soil and
nearby water sources. Monumental amounts of clothing textile are also dumped in less
developed countries as seen with Chile’s Atacama, the driest desert in the world, where at
least 39,000 tonnes of textile waste from other nations are left there to rot.
● This rapidly growing issue is only exacerbated by the ever-expanding fast fashion
business model, in which companies rely on cheap and speedy production of low quality
clothing to meet the latest and newest trends. While the United Nations Fashion Industry
Charter for Climate Action sees signatory fashion and textile companies to commit to
achieving net zero emission by 2050, a majority of businesses around the world have yet to
address their roles in climate change.

Of the
100 billion garments produced each year, 92 million tonnes end up in landfills.
The Dark Side of Fast Fashion
● According to an analysis by Business Insider, fashion production comprises 10% of total
global carbon emissions, as much as the European Union. It dries up water sources and pollutes
rivers and streams, while 85% of all textiles go to dumps each year. Even washing clothes
releases 500,000 tons of microfibres into the ocean each year, the equivalent of 50 billion plastic
bottles.
● The Quantis International 2018 report found that the three main drivers of the industry’s
global pollution impacts are dyeing and finishing (36%), yarn preparation (28%) and fibre
production (15%). The report also established that fibre production has the largest impact on
freshwater withdrawal(water diverted or withdrawn from a surface water or groundwater
source) and ecosystem quality due to cotton cultivation, while the dyeing and finishing, yarn
preparation and fibre production stages have the highest impacts on resource depletion, due to
the energy-intensive processes based on fossil fuel energy.
● According to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, emissions from textile
manufacturing alone are projected to skyrocket by 60% by 2030.
● The time it takes for a product to go through the supply chain, from design to purchase, is
called a ‘lead time’. In 2012, Zara was able to design, produce and deliver a new garment in two
weeks; Forever 21 in six weeks and H&M in eight weeks. This results in the fashion industry
producing obscene amounts of waste.

Fast Fashion and Its Environmental Impact

1. Water
The environmental impact of fast fashion comprises the depletion of non-renewable sources,
emission of greenhouse gases and the use of massive amounts of water and energy. The
fashion industry is the second largest consumer industry of water, requiring about 700
gallons to produce one cotton shirt and 2 000 gallons of water to produce a pair of jeans.
Business Insider also cautions that textile dyeing is the world’s second-largest polluter of
water, since the water leftover from the dyeing process is often dumped into ditches, streams
or rivers.
2. Microplastics
Furthermore, brands use synthetic fibres like polyester, nylon and acrylic which take
hundreds of years to biodegrade. A 2017 report from the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimated that 35% of all microplastics – tiny pieces of
non-biodegradable plastic – in the ocean come from the laundering of synthetic textiles like
polyester.
According to the documentary released in 2015, The True Cost, the world consumes around
80 billion new pieces of clothing every year, 400% more than the consumption twenty years
ago. The average American now generates 82 pounds of textile waste each year. The
production of leatherrequires large amounts of feed, land, water and fossil fuels to raise
livestock, while the tanning process is among the most toxic in all of the fashion supply
chain because the chemicals used to tan leather- including mineral salts, formaldehyde,
coal-tar derivatives and various oils and dyes- is not biodegradable and contaminates water
sources.
3. Energy
The production of making plastic fibres into textiles is an energy-intensive process that
requires large amounts of petroleum and releases volatile particulate matter and acids like
hydrogen chloride. Additionally, cotton, which is in a large amount of fast fashion products,
is also not environmentally friendly to manufacture. Pesticides deemed necessary for the
growth of cotton presents health risks to farmers.
To counter this waste caused by fast fashion, more sustainable fabrics that can be used in
clothing include wild silk, organic cotton, linen, hemp and lyocell.

The Social Impacts of Fast Fashion

● Fast fashion does not only have a huge environmental impact. In fact, the industry also
poses societal problems, especially in developing economies. According to non-profit
Remake, 80% of apparel is made by young women between the ages of 18 and 24. A 2018
US Department of Labor reportfound evidence of forced and child labour in the fashion
industry in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Turkey,
Vietnam and others. Rapid production means that sales and profits supersede human welfare.
● In 2013, an eight-floor factory building that housed several garment factories
collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 1,134 workers and injuring more than 2,500. In her
project An Analysis of the Fast Fashion Industry, Annie Radner Linden suggests that ‘the
garment industry has always been a low-capital and labour intensive industry’.
● In her book No Logo, Naomi Klein argues that developing nations are viable for
garment industries due to ‘cheap labour, vast tax breaks, and lenient laws and regulations’.
According to The True Cost, one in six people work in some part of the global fashion
industry, making it the most labour-dependent industry. These developing nations also rarely
follow environmental regulations; China, for example, is a major producer of fast fashion
but is notorious for land degradation and air and water pollution.

● Is Slow Fashion the Solution?

● Slow fashion is the widespread reaction to fast fashion and its environmental impact,
the argument for hitting the brakes on excessive production, overcomplicated supply chains,
and mindless consumption. It advocates for manufacturing that respects people, the
environment and animals.
● The World Resources Institute suggests that companies need to design, test and invest
in business models that reuse clothes and maximise their useful life. The UN has launched
the Alliance for Sustainable Fashion to address the damages caused by fast fashion. It is
seeking to ‘halt the environmentally and socially destructive practices of fashion’.
● One way that shoppers are reducing their consumption of fast fashion is by buying
from secondhand sellers like ThredUp Inc. and Poshmark, both based in California, USA;
shoppers send their unwanted clothes to these websites and people buy those clothes at a
lower price than the original. Another solution is renting clothes, like the US-based Rent the
Runway and Gwynnie Bee, the UK based Girl Meets Dress, and the Dutch firm Mud Jeans
that leases organic jeans which can be kept, swapped or returned.
● Other retailers like Adidas are experimenting with personalised gear to cut down on
returns, increase customer satisfaction and reduce inventory. Ralph Lauren has announced
that it will use 100% sustainably-sourced key materials by 2025.
● Governments need to be more actively involved in the fashion industry’s damaging
effects. UK ministers rejected a report by members of parliament to address the
environmental effects of fast fashion. On the other hand, French president, Emmanuel
Macron has made a pact with 150 brandsto make the fashion industry more sustainable.
● The best advice on reducing the environmental impact of fast fashion comes from
Patsy Perry, senior lecturer in fashion marketing at the University of Manchester, who says,
“Less is always more.”

Thank you. :)