Idil Ahmed Mohamed on why cheap, poor quality clothing is terrible for the environment

credit Francois le Nguyen via Unsplash — Photo by Francois Le Nguyen on Unsplash

Fast fashion is the term that describes the mass production of inexpensive and low-quality clothing in response to the latest trends.

I advocate that fast fashion is bad because of multiple factors. Fast fashion has a significant impact on the environment and pollution. The industry contributes to a variety of environmental issues that threaten the ecosystem, biodiversity and human health.

Fast fashion companies often release harmful pollutants and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, contributing to air quality issues and climate change. Also, water pollution can affect everyone and textiles dye releases large amounts of wastewater containing harmful chemicals, polluting freshwater sources.

Fast fashion is cheap because of many issues. It appears to be good, cheap clothing because in this economy many people can’t afford basic things, so clothing is the least of their worries. However, if you look deeper into this problem, it’s actually cheap because it uses low-quality materials so the producers pay less and make more profit.

Regarding the exploitation of workers, fast fashion brands rely on cheap labour from developing countries, where workers are often paid very low wages and may work in poor conditions without access to basic rights or benefits.

In some cases, fast fashion companies have been implicated in using child labour, depriving children of their rights to education and a safe childhood. Workers in the fast fashion industry often have limited job security and are lacking in representation. They may be subjected to long hours, unsafe working conditions and low pay.

In my opinion, fast fashion is bad because it harms people and planet and is ethically wrong.

This article was written as part of Karen Allen’s Use Your Voice initiative, supported by LocalMotion Enfield, Nexus and Edmonton Community Partnership

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