Thrifting offsets harmful effects of fast fashion

By Saige Klein

In this ever-developing and changing world, human actions have played a critical role in the environment. The viral trend of thrifting has allowed people of all backgrounds to shop in a sustainable way that not only is positively affecting the environment but also allows them to purchase cute, fashionable clothing for much less. Contradicting the harmful effects of producing and purchasing of clothes. As society has evolved, so has the clothing and fashion industry. Clothes are meant to serve as a functional necessity, so why are they so harmful?

The amount of clothes and fashion that are being produced, along with the waste to create them is inherently contributing to the decline of the environment. The Fast Fashion industry and excess in unnecessary consumption are the roots of the real issue. Fast fashion is inexpensive and rapidly produced clothing by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends for more profit. Not only is this unethical due to the nature in which the clothes are produced, factories where retailers pay workers poor wages, but the system itself is unsustainable.

On average, there are about 11.3 million tons of waste being produced in America alone. Textile waste is material that is discarded throughout the production process, winding up in landfills and contributing to pollution. Much of the waste is clothes in perfectly good condition being overproduced at a rate that can not keep up with the consumers.

At large, only 12% of the material in clothing ends up being recycled. The material in clothing can make it harder for clothes to break down and become recycled. For example, a pair of cotton jeans doesn’t just contain cotton, but other materials such as elastane, a manufactured/synthetic filament fabric. So how does this connect to fast fashion?

Modern-day fashion trends are never constant. Trends and shopping habits are constantly fading in and out and evolving, which creates a wasteful cycle. These trends will go out of style, and people will throw them away in order to replace them with brand-new trends.

Despite this, there are various ways that we can avoid this massive amount of waste we are producing, and its starts with how we buy our clothes. With the rise of fast fashion companies, for example, SHEIN, people are resorting to buying online and purchasing hundreds of dollars worth of clothes on these websites.

While yes, SHEIN is an affordable company that has thousands of clothing options that give people from all economic backgrounds a chance to buy cute clothes, it also promotes child labor and wasted material consuming our landfills.

Today, many of the fashion trends portrayed in the media are being inspired by old and vintage pieces that were once popular. Because of this, many people are seeking out thrift stores as their main source of shopping because it allows people to shop for vintage pieces that are harder and more expensive to find online or in name-brand stores.