OPINION: 'I gave up buying fast fashion online after making a shocking discovery'

The negative effects of the fast fashion industry are endless, and with a few quick Google searches I was able to find shocking discoveries that I could never even imagine.

Without sounding too much like a hypocrite, I'll be honest and say I'm not shy of surfing the web to find the latest fashion trends on sites like Shein, BooHoo and PrettyLitteThing, without any thought of the impacts my purchases are causes.

But I have found time and time again that although they are significantly cheaper, it doesn't seem to be worth it the end.

It wasn't until I was slowly exposed to the cruel consequences the fast fashion industry is having on the planet, wildlife, oceans, the workers in the factories themselves and even the air we breath!

With having an interest in climate change and the environment to begin with, it wasn't long before I felt myself heading down a rabbit hole and uncovering just how destructive the fast fashion industry really is. 

And they also never last long enough for me to get more than a few wears out of them!

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So let me break it down a bit and share some things I have found, all the data is sourced from a report by biologicaldiversity.org and the rest is my opinion.

I will also share some solutions you could do as a reader right now to make the positive change needed for the benefit of our planet. 

From what I have gathered.....

While it has become easier than ever to get clothes shipped right to your door from locations worldwide, I think we all have to stop and think- is it really worth?

I know sites like Shein and Temu are a lot more affordable than some of the stores we have here, and we may feel like we are saving a lot of money, but I have found my clothes never last longer than a few months at most [or even a few washes!]

The clothes are often made out of the cheapest materials like polyester, which is essentially plastic and is made using fossil fuels like petrol. 

Either the colour is drained from the clothes after a few washes or the material starts falling apart. Has anyone else noticed this?

Stains are near impossible to get out and after washing the colour goes dull and the material gets more and more fragile.

I've noticed leggings that I have purchased in the past rip and tear so much more easily that those I would buy in a store in Ireland.

So while buying clothes online can be cheaper and more convenient, I now think it's a lot more worthwhile to shop in local stores instead, and considering the detrimental impact fast fashion has, I don't think it's worth it.

The clothing is made from much better materials, and will last so much longer and have less negative impacts on the planet. 

Not only this, but every time you wash these cheaply made clothes, the synthetic microfibres come off of them and go straight into water systems.

If you don't already I'd really recommend looking in charity shops and vintage clothing stores as they can be a great place to find affordable clothing that other people no longer use or want. 

The impact of fast fashion on our planet: 

I read a really interesting report by biologicaldiversity.org that explained the harms of fast fashion on the planet, and if you're interested in the topic I'd recommend reading the full report here. 

Key points I found most interesting are as follows:

• The wool used is commonly blended with fibres derived from fossil fuels and coated with chemicals, further increasing the environmental cost of production and disposal of these garments.
• For a company such as Shein, an estimated 1,000 new styles are uploaded daily, though there has been speculation that this figure may be a gross underestimate (Zhou, 2022). With the average number of each garment manufactured ranging from 50-100, according to the Shein website, this results in a minimum of 50,000 new garments created every day.
• Polluted water is often used to irrigate crops and studies have found textile dyes present in fruits and vegetables grown around Savar in Bangladesh
• In April 2013 the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh collapsed, resulting in more than 1,100 textile-worker fatalities and bringing to light the subpar conditions in which fast fashion industries operate. Between 2006 and 2012, more than 500 workers in Bangladesh garment factories died in factory fires, usually due to faulty wiring

That's just a taster of the report, because the impacts are endless, but I found it so shocking!

Solutions:

• Buy fewer clothes and look after what you buy. Buy clothes you know you will wear many times and not just wear once.

• If you are going to an event, try to borrow a friend's outfit to avoid spending money on clothes you might only wear once.

• Before you buy a new piece of clothing, consider if you have a similar piece in your wardrobe already.

• Buy from local shops and businesses for clothes, and use local craftspeople to mend damaged clothes to get more wear out of them

• Buy clothing made with natural fabric fibers instead of synthetic fabrics, like cotton, linen, bamboo, silk, and wool.

There are also cool gadgets like a laundry ball you can buy that gathers microfibres to stop them from going down drains and into water systems.

In conclusion, no, fast fashion is nowhere near worth it! 

Buying a cute outfit online is nowhere near worth the catastrophic destruction the industry is causing on the planet, humans, animals and our oceans every single day.