By Beatriz O'Brien
The current global clothing and apparel production system profoundly affects the environment as a whole. We must understand the consequences of human actions on nature and life on the planet.
Let’s start by defining what we mean when we talk about the current fast fashion system: “Fast fashion” is a term used to describe a new accelerated fashion business model that has evolved since the 1980s. It involves an increasing number of new fashion collections each year, rapid turnaround times, and often lower prices. Reacting quickly to deliver new products to meet consumer demand is central to this business model.” ( Fixing Fashion Report 2019, House of Commons, Environmental Audit Committee ).
In other words, the fast fashion system is based on mass, cheap, and increasingly fast production. The race between large corporations operating through the fast fashion model is about logistics and transportation. The winner will be the one who reaches stores first with the latest trends for consumers.
According to the Pulse of Fashion 2017 report , apparel and footwear consumption is projected to increase by 63%, from 62 million tons currently to 102 million tons by 2030, equivalent to more than 500 billion additional T-shirts.
The fast fashion model became established in the 1980s and has since become increasingly widespread and accelerated. This process has increased the demand for natural resources to limits that are currently unsustainable. The fashion industry, regardless of whether its garments are made with natural or synthetic fibers, will always require an immense amount of natural resources.
The textile and apparel industry consumes 79 trillion cubic meters of water annually. This is enough to fill 32 million Olympic-sized swimming pools . By 2030, this consumption is estimated to increase by 50%. (Source: Global Fashion Report 2017 figures) . The water used by the textile industry is not consumed; strictly speaking, it is contaminated. The production processes of the apparel industry require enormous quantities of this resource, which are contaminated with various chemicals.
In the garment "finishing" processes, 1,900 different chemicals are used in the dyeing, bleaching, and fixing stages, among others. It is estimated that the dyeing stage alone can require up to 150 liters of water per kilo of fabric. Twenty percent of all industrial water pollution comes from this final production phase of the fashion industry. (Pulse of Fashion 2017, GFA and BCG) .
The massification and acceleration of the industry also affects our oceans. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation , a pioneer in promoting the circular economy in the fashion industry, estimates that a truckload of plastic waste enters the oceans every minute. These are rapidly becoming a giant plastic bucket, with devastating effects on marine life. Our oceans are also feeling the effects of rising global temperatures due to climate change. As the Earth's temperature rises, they lose oxygen, and marine life colonies are forced to migrate to colder waters. It is estimated that if we continue dumping this amount of waste into the sea, there will be more plastic than fish by 2050. (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, A New Textiles Economy 2019).
These figures sound alarming because they are. Responsibility falls on everyone—governments, businesses, and citizens. The overexploitation of natural resources is leading us straight to a climate catastrophe whose effects we cannot quantify. But we can be certain that it will affect life on Earth as a whole, impacting the planet's biodiversity and all living species, including human beings.