Thời trang nhanh được biết đến với những mẫu sản phẩm theo trend, giá thành rẻ. Nhưng đằng sau đó là những góc tối mà ít người biết đến? Ngay dưới đây Mimi Organic & Natural sẽ kể về 15 sự thật đáng sợ về thời trang nhanh (fast fashion) không muốn bạn biết.
15 disturbing facts about fast fashion
1. Fast Fashion is synonymous with waste
Fast fashion products are cheap, trendy clothes designed to be worn just a few times before being discarded – a major red flag for both environmental and human rights issues.
Is it really cheaper to buy piles of low-quality clothes for single use? If you calculate the cost-per-wear, investing in fewer, higher-quality garments that last for years and are worth repairing can actually save you money – and it's definitely more ethical and environmentally friendly.
2. Fast Fashion pollutes clean water sources
The chemicals used to dye fabrics are the second-largest source of clean water pollution worldwide, just after agriculture. These toxic substances are used to create vibrant colors and eye-catching prints to attract consumers – but they are HARMFUL AND EVEN CARCINOGENIC.
Often, these chemicals leach from landfills into groundwater or are dumped untreated into clean water sources, typically in low-income areas.
In Dhaka, Bangladesh, untreated waste from dyeing factories has turned entire rivers red.
3. Fast Fashion poisons the food chain
Polyester – a synthetic fabric widely used in fast fashion – requires a large amount of crude oil to produce. When you wash polyester garments, they shed tiny plastic microfibers. These microplastics can slip through wastewater treatment plants and filtration systems, eventually ending up in our rivers, oceans, and even drinking water.
Because they are non-biodegradable, these microplastic fibers are ingested by plankton and other small organisms. From there, they move up the food chain to fish and shellfish that we consume.
4. Fast Fashion wastes precious water resources
Growing cotton — another common fabric used in fast fashion — requires a huge amount of water. To grow enough cotton to make a single pair of jeans — which might only be worn seven times before being discarded — takes about 6,000 liters (1,500 gallons) of water. Meanwhile, China and India, two of the world’s largest cotton producers, are struggling with water scarcity, and water conflicts are becoming a serious issue..
5. Fast fashion traps farmers in a cycle of debt
Because genetically modified (GMO) seeds produce higher yields, farmers have switched to them, and now 90% of cotton grown in India comes from GMO seeds — which are expensive and must be repurchased every year. These seeds also require costly pesticides. As a result, many farmers have fallen into a recurring cycle of debt.
6. Fast fashion uses massive amounts of pesticides
Cotton not only requires a large amount of water to grow but also demands heavy use of pesticides. In fact, cotton accounts for a quarter of all pesticide use in the United States and is considered the world’s dirtiest crop due to its heavy reliance on these chemicals.
7. Fast Fashion fills up our landfills
You might think you’re helping the poor and protecting the environment by donating old clothes you no longer use to charity. But in the U.S., only about 10% of donated clothes are actually resold. The rest — a staggering 13 million tons each year — end up in landfills, equivalent to a football field piled 14 feet high with clothing.
Some fast fashion brands have launched take-back programs, encouraging customers to donate their old, unwanted items in exchange for coupons or discounts, often implying that the collected clothes will be recycled and turned into new garments. In reality, less than 1% of clothing is recycled into new clothes, and nearly 85% of discarded clothing in North America is dumped in landfills.
8. Fast Fashion releases toxic substances
Fast fashion not only fills up our landfills and leaches toxic chemicals into groundwater from chemical dyes, but natural fibers also produce methane—a potent greenhouse gas—when they decompose. Moreover, synthetic fibers derived from petroleum take hundreds, if not thousands, of years to biodegrade.
9. Discarded fast fashion is exported as waste
When you donate clothes, you might think you’re helping someone in need, but that’s not the whole story. An alarming amount of donated clothes are sold to Africa, Central, and South America.
They are exported in large quantities, and if they don’t sell there, they are dumped or often burned, releasing toxic substances into the air.
10. Fast Fashion "encourages" modern-day slavery
The true cost of fast fashion is paid by the garment workers. There are 75 million people making the clothes we wear, and 80% of them are young women, mostly between 18 and 24 years old. Most earn less than $3 a day and work an average of 14 hours daily.
11. Fast Fashion promotes a throwaway culture
Fast fashion may look great hanging on the rack, but the truth is it’s designed for the product quality to quickly break down and be replaced. On average, Americans throw away about 82 pounds of textiles each year.
This business model encourages consumers to endlessly buy low-quality clothes instead of investing in higher-quality products that last longer.
12. Fast Fashion turns a blind eye to dangerous working conditions
Hazardous working conditions in the garment industry have been exposed. In 2013, following the "worst disaster in the history of the garment industry," over 1,200 workers were killed and about 2,500 injured near Dhaka, Bangladesh, when the eight-story Rana Plaza factory building collapsed. A total of 38 people were charged with murder. However, efforts to genuinely improve working conditions for laborers remain limited.
13. Fast Fashion exploits child labor
Child labor is the ugly truth behind fast fashion. In the quest for cheaper labor than ever before, companies recruit poor young girls, mostly with promises made to their parents of “well-paid jobs, comfortable accommodation, three nutritious meals a day, and opportunities for training and schooling.” BUT the reality is that these children are working under terrible conditions.
From cotton harvesting in Uzbekistan and spinning in India to garment manufacturing in Bangladesh, children are laboring to produce the clothes we wear.
14. Fast Fashion endangers workers' health
Millions of people around the world work in the textile industry. Many of them work long hours in isolated areas where they are exposed to dust, fumes, noise, and toxic chemicals. They may suffer from eye strain, exhaustion, stress, musculoskeletal pain, and even harassment.
15. Fast Fashion turns manufacturing countries into sacrifice zones
In Bangladesh, a major fast fashion manufacturing hub, pollution is increasing despite environmental protection laws because tanneries, pharmaceutical factories, and textile dyeing plants hold significant power.
rganic cotton, linen and silk... to protect the health of families and indirectly protect the environment. There are still many alarming truths about fast fashion’s impact on both the environment and people. That’s why recently, many people have been leaning towards sustainable fashion with products.
MORE TO EXPLORE
- The Difference Between Naturally Colored Cotton and White Cotton
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- What Makes Fabric from Natural Fibers Different?
15 Terrifying Truths Fast Fashion Doesn't Want You to Know