The Outpost — Fast Fashion

How to shop for clothes ethically

With the holiday shopping season upon us, there has never been a better time to think about shopping ethically and sustainably. Many big-name stores offer cheap clothing, but their "fast fashion" model exploits workers, uses vast amounts of natural resources and pollutes the environment with toxic dyes and microplastic waste. Additionally, millions of tons of clothing are thrown away every year, landing in landfills having been worn just seven times.

How can you shop for clothes ethically? It is as simple as asking yourself three simple questions before buying new clothes:

1. How much do I already own?
2. How much will I wear it?
3. How long will it last?

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The busiest shopping day of the year, Black Friday lands annually on the day after Thanksgiving and traditionally kicks off shopping for the Holiday season. A day known for deep discounts and deals, shoppers queue in long lines and await store openings to get great discounts. As Black Friday has become engrained in modern culture, deals are found both online and as well as in traditional brick and mortar retailers, to incentivize people to shop with abandon on Black Friday and throughout the weekend.

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Traditional apparel manufacturing is a filthy process. As one of the dirtiest industries in the world, it is tied with oil at being the worst offender in increasing climate change. Much of the pollution from apparel manufacturing is concentrated in India, Bangladesh, China, and Southeast Asian countries, where a vast portion of the world’s supply of apparel is dyed and made. The pollution associated with making apparel is ruining childhoods and changing lives, but not for better.

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Landfills are overflowing with our fashion waste. In the 1980’s, the average person bought 12 new items of clothing a year. The average person will now buy 68 garments annually, wearing each item a mere seven times before discarding it. Wasteful. You can make a difference by disposing of your used clothing in a responsible way.

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“Fast fashion” refers to inexpensive, popular fashion that takes designs from the runway and quickly produces them cheaply for consumer consumption. As one of the dirtiest industries in the world, fashion is tied with oil at being the worst offender in increasing climate change. Over the past year, “Slow fashion” has generated 90 million social impressions suggesting the beginning of a shift in shopping behaviors.

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