The Hidden Costs of Fast Fashion

The average American woman spends over $500 on clothing every year (Parker, 2020). I was able to see just how far this money could go when I recently went shopping with my sister. I consider myself to be a saver rather than a spender, but my sister is the complete opposite. While I ended the day with a single pair of jeans, she left the mall with over ten articles of clothing. My jeans were around $50, but my sister spent just under $200 and had acquired far more than I had. We shopped at stores like H&M because she loves that she can find clothes for incredibly cheap. Since she never wears the same outfit twice, it is important for her to maintain variety without breaking the bank. While my sister is the extreme version, many people in the Western World feel the same way about clothing, creating a trend called fast fashion.

Fast fashion is a business model where inexpensive clothing is rapidly produced and replaced in the fashion industry. Fast fashion brands such as H&M and Forever 21 have become increasingly popular over the last few decades because they offer cheap clothing that can be replaced when a new trend comes along. They also benefit by always having new clothes in stock. While many stores use the fast fashion business model, this article will focus on H&M as an example. In an interview with Drew Arnold, an H&M employee, a new shipment of clothes comes about every four weeks, but during holiday times, they were getting new clothes closer to every two weeks (Arnold, 2020). This constant influx of clothing means customers are shopping in the store far more often than in stores that replace their merchandise each season. While the fast fashion industry is popular because of the incredibly low prices, the true cost of the products are far greater“While the fast fashion industry is popular because of the incredibly low prices, the true cost of the products are far greater.”.  By examining the hidden environmental impacts, terrible labor conditions, and the immense amount of waste created by fast fashion, it is clear to see how the industry is masking the true cost of their goods to make a profit.

While fast fashion is notorious for having negative environmental impacts, some companies are trying to help ease the burden. For example, H&M has a sustainability program where customers can bring in any old clothes, including worn out shirts, sheets, and mismatched socks. At H&M, the textiles are sent to recycling plants to sort through and the clothing is turned into new clothing or cleaning rags. When asked about the sustainability program, the H&M employee I interviewed was excited about how they were helping the environment with their program (Arnold, 2020). The program gives customers 15% off their purchase  if they recycle their clothes. While the program seems positive at first glance, it is hardly helping the environment because it is incredibly difficult to recycle textiles. Only 12% of all clothing in the world is truly recycled, because the fibers in cheaply made clothes are not able to withstand the recycling process (Beall, 2020). Most of our clothing is actually combinations of different fabrics, making it incredibly difficult to break the clothing down into the individual fabrics to be reused again. While H&M is claiming to be recycling the clothing donated to them, it is unclear how this is done and the discounts that customers are rewarded with are encouraging fast fashion practices.

H&M claims to be a supporter of the environment, in fact, it is recognized as one of the 10% of global sustainability leaders by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index in 2019 (Awards and Recognitions). While H&M is claiming to be focused on “using only recycled or other sustainably sourced materials” and “creating a climate-positive value chain” in their Conscious Collection, they are far from this (Goals and ambitions). It is true that they are aiming to become more sustainable, but by ignoring the problems that fast fashion creates, they are only easing the burden of the problems rather than fixing them at the source.

On H&M’s website discussing their environmental efforts, they say that they are using 50%  recycled materials in their conscious collection, but fail to describe what is being recycled in the clothes and how (Whiting, 2019). They also fill their website with models wearing their Conscious Collections clothes surrounded by greenery as seen in Figure 2. They broadcast their environmentally friendly jargon to consumers, but fail to use any details to discuss the ideas further. Due to their inability to expand on the Conscious Collection and sustainability efforts, H&M has been accused many times of greenwashing.

Greenwashing is defined as showing expressions of environmentalist concerns especially as a cover for products, policies, or activities. As the Western World has become more eco-conscious, consumers are spending more of their money on products that are labeled as environmentally friendly. Companies acknowledge that by labeling an item as “good for the environment,” “sustainable,” or “natural,” they can charge more for the same product without the environmentally friendly label. The FDA does not have any regulations for the word “natural” in foods, meaning the label can be put on anything without changing the way the food is produced (Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition). While clothing is not covered by the FDA, many of the same practices arise when trying to sell “natural” clothing, meaning there are no regulations for putting the word natural on a label. As companies begin up-charging for “natural” goods, they are hurting the environment in a variety of ways. Eco-conscious individuals will believe they are helping the environment by only using natural products, when in fact, the companies are hiding many of the harmful effects their clothing creates such as large amounts of air and water pollution. It is easier for consumers to spend an extra 10% on a product that claims to help the environment than it is for them to substantially change their buying habits to actually make a difference. “It is easier for consumers to spend an extra 10% on a product that claims to help the environment than it is for them to substantially change their buying habits to actually make a difference.” By preventing the consumers from being aware of the recycling processes in their clothing, H&M is making a profit off of the lack of knowledge from their customers.

Greenwashing has terrible impacts on the environment, but a much larger problem is the environmental impacts that are completely ignored by fast fashion companies. Many eco-conscious individuals aim to help the environment by buying fuel efficient vehicles, turning off their lights when they are not in the room, taking shorter showers to save water, and shopping at stores such as H&M since they market themselves as sustainable. Many people fail to realize that the clothing industry dumps 500,000 tons of  microfibers into the ocean every year, is responsible for 35% of all microplastics in the ocean, and 10% of the world’s carbon emissions (McFall-Johnsen, 2019). The fashion industry is responsible for horrible environmental effects, and fast fashion only amplifies the problems.

Along with environmental impacts, fast fashion is notorious for completely disregarding human rights. As fast fashion was becoming more popular, companies realized they could have better profit margins if their labor were done overseas. Many countries producing fast fashion products have low minimum wages, inadequate labor laws, and even those who do have laws protecting their workers hardly ever enforce them. While H&M does not own its own factories, they get their clothes from 800 individual suppliers in Asia and Eastern Europe (Production). These nations do not protect their workers, and Global Labor Justice even found that women in Asia working for companies like H&M were subject to “physical abuse, sexual harassment, poor work conditions, and forced overtime” (Vstafford, 2018). The working conditions that are forced upon these individuals are crowded, unsafe, and often allow young children to work in the factories as pictured in Figure 3. If nations will not keep their employees safe with labor laws, we are adding to the problem every time we purchase fast fashion.

In the Gender Based Violence in the H&M Garment Supply Chain report, horrendous situations happen to employees who are working for suppliers of H&M (2018). H&M gets their clothing by outsourcing, meaning the individuals impacted by the lack of labor laws are not directly H&M’s responsibility, but they are purchasing all of their clothing from these factories. Since the demands for fast fashion are growing exponentially, workers are often forced to stay overtime to finish their quota without getting paid extra (Gender Based Violence in the H&M Garment Supply Chain, 2018). There are cases of workers who were refused lunch and even bathroom breaks because they were behind on the number of clothes they were expected to make (Gender Based Violence in the H&M Garment Supply Chain, 2018). Since companies like H&M do not directly employee these individuals, they refuse to acknowledge that human rights are being neglected to benefit their stores. By becoming complacent with the awful work conditions suffered by those benefiting their company, H&M has been able to hide how their clothes are made from the typical consumer. Since H&M is aware of the effects their company can have on other humans, they are making a profit by hiding facts.

Finally, H&M and other fast fashion companies are responsible for enormous amounts of waste. Since 2000, the amount of clothes produced has doubled and 85% of all textiles produced go into the landfill every year (McFall-Johnsen, 2019). Since fast fashion has switched from the standard of only producing two to four collections a year to up to 24 in a year, the amount of clothes needed to be produced is immense (McFall-Johnsen, 2019). Since our closets have expanded with more low quality items, we find ourselves replacing our clothes much faster than people did in the past. Many people decide to donate their unwanted clothes to stores like Goodwill and The Salvation Army to provide for someone in need.

When stores like Goodwill accept donated clothes, many people leave the store feeling like they have helped their community, but this is often far from the truth. Due to the decreasing quality of clothes over the past few decades, when clothes are donated, many are thrown out immediately. Only about 20% of clothes donated to Goodwill are actually purchased and worn by someone else (Cline, 2014). The remaining clothes, pictured in Figure 4, are often sent off to textile recycling companies who aim to recycle the clothing. These companies have too many clothes that must be shipped to other countries overseas just to keep up with the influx of textiles.  The countries, often in Africa, sell these clothes at shockingly low prices or even burn clothing to make room for more (What Happens to Your Used Clothing?). By donating our clothes, we are often only forcing someone else to put the garments in a dumpster rather than doing it ourselves.

The appeal of fast fashion is that it allows individuals to follow trends, easily replace clothes next season, and do so without breaking the bank.  While the fast fashion industry thrives off of mass produced clothing at shockingly low prices, it hides the reason for the low prices from consumers. Since consumers are often unaware (or choose to ignore) the environmental and human impacts created by fast fashion, they refuse to change their habits . In order to change fast fashion practices, consumers will have to show they want a change with their buying habits. By switching to higher quality clothes that will last for many seasons, consumers can help to compact the harmful effects of fast fashion.

References

Arnold, Drew – H&M Employee (In-Person Interview). November 14, 2020

Awards and Recognitions. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2020, from https://hmgroup.com/sustainability/leading-the-change/awards-and-recognitions.html

Beall, A. (2020, July 12). Why clothes are so hard to recycle. Retrieved November 16, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200710-why-clothes-are-so-hard-to-recycle

Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. (n.d.). Use of the Term Natural on Food Labeling. Retrieved November 16, 2020, from https://www.fda.gov/food/food-labeling-nutrition/use-term-natural-food-labeling

Cline, E. (2014, July 18). Where Does Discarded Clothing Go? Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/07/where-does-discarded-clothing-go/374613/

Gender Based Violence in the H&M Garment Supply Chain. (2018, May). Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.globallaborjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/GBV-HM-May-2018.pdf

Goals and ambitions. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2020, from https://hmgroup.com/sustainability/leading-the-change/goals-and-ambitions.html

McFall-Johnsen, M. (2019, October 21). The fashion industry emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined. Here are the biggest ways it impacts the planet. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.businessinsider.com/fast-fashion-environmental-impact-pollution-emissions-waste-water-2019-10

Parker, K. (2020, July 02). Average Cost of Clothing Per Month Will Surprise You. Retrieved December 05, 2020, from https://www.creditdonkey.com/average-cost-clothing-per-month.html

Production. (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://career.hm.com/content/hmcareer/en_cn/workingathm/what-can-you-do-here/corporate/production.html

Vstafford. (2018, August 8). How Fast Fashion Exploits Workers. Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.greenamerica.org/blog/factory-exploitation-and-fast-fashion-machine

What Happens to Your Used Clothing? (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2020, from https://www.planetaid.org/what-we-do/for-the-environment/what-happens-to-your-used-clothing

Whiting, T. (2019, June 27). ‘Sustainable Style’: The Truth Behind The Marketing of H&M’s Conscious Collection. Retrieved November 16, 2020, from https://tabitha-whiting.medium.com/sustainable-style-the-truth-behind-the-marketing-of-h-ms-conscious-collection-805eb7432002