Fast Fashion – A big threat to the Environment.

There is an old adage, “Dressing to kill” referring to people dressing up very smartly depending on the occasion or purpose. Likewise a number of clothing brands have intensified showcasing what they have in store for their customers in terms of the current fashion trends and setting up shops in order to reach out to more customers.  Locally we have in the recent past witnessed the opening up of more fashion stores in the different parts of the country, namely: FB Fashions Kingdom, GK Fashion stores, Fashion Clinik Uganda among others. All the above are meant to ensure that people dress up smartly and in the current fashion trends..

Fashion lovers have also not disappointed they have picked up on whatever fashion is trending at a time and this is evidenced through the increase of the number of kilograms of clothing purchased per person per annum. For example Germans buy 26kgs of clothing per person per year.  As per 2023, Uganda was spending approximately USD 880m on textiles alone. Gone are the days when fashion used to change only with the seasons each year or when one out grew their clothes, almost every day we see new fashions coming up on the market and being embraced by the people, hence the new phenomenon  “Fast Fashion”.

Fast Fashion also referred to as, throw away fashion, is where clothes are produced cheaply, worn briefly and discarded quickly. In other words fast fashion is fast in all aspects. The arrival of fast fashion has since made clothes cheaper. According to available records, people buy 60% more clothes than they did so two decades ago, unfortunately the same people keep these clothes half of the time compared to two decades ago.

But do we ever imagine the effects of fast fashion on the environment and the climate at large? In other words what are the implications of producing clothes cheaply and discarding them quickly in respect to the environment we live in?  This article intends to highlight the effects of fashion (fast fashion) on the environment and if nothing is done about it the world might experience adverse effects as a result of Fashion.

Every year the fashion industry uses 90bn cubic meters of water to produce 100bn garments worldwide. Water is a scarce resource and therefore must be used sparingly and equitably. In a situation where factories use this much of the scarce resource to produce a good, it is very difficult to ensure equitable distribution.

As an effect of fast fashion, the fashion industry leads a toxic system of production and consumption making it emit 10% of the global green house gases annually. Hence becoming the one of the world’s greatest polluter after the oil and gas industry. The emissions have had adverse effects on the environment and hence a change in climate patterns which changes have come with other adverse effects on the population.

60% of the raw materials from which clothing is made is plastic which includes nylon, polyester among others. This therefore means it is difficult to recycle a piece of cloth. Also to note is the fact that the dyeing process of fast fashion clothes involves use of toxic chemicals that greatly harm the environment. It should be noted that because of the raw materials used, only 15% of the fast fashion is recycled hence putting a strain on the environment.

Growth of second hand cloth market. With the advent of fast fashion, people buy more clothes than before and retain them for less time. Globally the second hand cloth market is projected to grow to USD 77Bn in the next five years. Europe alone contributes 2M tonnes of second hand clothes very year, 70% of which is shipped to Africa (Uganda is not spared either. The country also imports second hand clothes from America, Canada, Germany among others) for either re-sale or donation. It should be noted that the quality of second hand clothes has degraded overtime. Almost 50% of the bale is garbage and hence have to be thrown away at dumpsites, in water sources, drainages, and landfills or incinerated hence adversely affecting the environment.

Having seen the adverse effects of the fashion industry on the environment, all hope is not lost. A lot can be done to turn around this picture and make the industry better. It is critical for all the industry players to re-think how to make clothing if we are to save the environment.

Brands like H&M have started on this by allowing their customers to return up to 2 bags of used clothes per customer per day in return for a 15% discount on new purchases. The aim here is to recycle the used clothes. However given the raw materials from which clothes are manufactured, this has not yielded a big impact. According to research, it is only 25% of the old cloth that is recycled. The remaining 75% comes back to the environment as waste.

There is need to sensitize the population on how to handle clothes when they are no longer needed. The best way is to encourage them to re-purpose the old clothing as opposed to disposing them. They can be re- used as dusters etc.  We need to go back to the basics whereby we re-learn to repair ripped garments as opposed to disposing them off at the slightest opportunity. This way we shall be able to use the clothes for a longer period of time and hence lessening the pressure on the environment.

In countries like Germany, people are buying old clothes to use as fuel for heating during cold weather. Of course this comes with other challenges like pollution, however it lessens on the pressure the old clothes have been putting on the environment in Africa.

There is a common saying that goes, “If you buy what you don’t need, you will lose what you need to create space for what you don’t need.” There is need to sensitize the masses on only purchasing those clothes that they need and are able to use. Additionally these purchases should be done from suitable and ethical fashion brands. In the process they will be purchasing less clothes, retaining them for a longer period of time and hence less pressure on the environment.

In conclusion, it should be noted that although fast fashion started around two decades ago, the advent of the internet and social media has accelerated it further. It should also be noted that the growth of the population worldwide has created pressure on the textile industry hence the need to come up with cheaper and quicker ways of manufacturing clothes to satisfy the demand. However research has also shown instances of abuse of factory workers in the fashion industry and marginalization. These are issues the world cannot look away from but rather deal them swiftly and effectively to avoid further adverse effects.

For God and My Country