Sustainability Position Paper

Marcela Barros 

The City College of New York 

Writing for the Sciences – ENG 21003

Instructor: Debra Williams 

November 1, 2023

Fast Fashion is an issue that is strongly contributing towards climate change, environmental harm and unethical labor. Brands that promote fast fashion under unethical conditions usually contribute high levels of waste within landfills, don’t use eco-friendly materials, and mistreat workers. Threads 4 Thought and Rothy’s are 2 organizations that aim to provide people with affordable shoes and clothing through ethical and sustainable methods. Governor Hochul’s clean energy and environmental protection plan must allocate funds to expand awareness of the harm fast fashion imposes and to advertise environmentally friendly clothing companies such as Threads 4 Thought and Rothy’s so the public can minimize fast fashion culture and shop sustainable fashion to reduce the negative effects it has on the environment and to reduce the harm that people endure working in it. 

Fast Fashion promotes a culture of disposability. Within fast fashion, clothes are made continuously because of micro trends. Whatever is currently popular within society will be mass produced and worn by many people. Once the current trend is over, another comes and so does the new mass production of the clothing within the new trend. Because of this culture, clothes are quickly discarded and disposed of. According to the article Fashion and the Circular Economy, “Each year millions of tonnes of clothes are produced, worn, and thrown away. Every second, the equivalent of a rubbish truck load of clothes is burnt or buried in landfill. The fashion industry is one of the major contributors of plastic microfibers entering our oceans” (Fashion and the circular economy, 2019). A large amount of clothing is produced only to be discarded very frequently. These landfills pile up rapidly and one of the consequences of this is that it creates greenhouse gasses which is also a huge contributor to climate change. Climate change is the rise of temperature within the world. This rise imposes dangerous threats on our health, ability to grow food, housing, safety and work (What Is Climate Change).   

Fast Fashion is mass produced under unethical conditions for workers. These workers are heavily underpaid and work in inhumane conditions that even pose a threat to their lives. They are paid way below minimum wage, sometimes not even enough to make a living or buy a meal. According to the article Working conditions, “Garment workers are often forced to work 14 to 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. During peak season, they may work until 2 or 3 am to meet the fashion brand’s deadline. Their basic wages are so low that they cannot refuse overtime – aside from the fact that many would be fired if they refused to work overtime. In some cases, overtime is not even paid at all” (Working conditions). These workers are forced to work extensive hours where they are always in fear of losing their jobs. They also don’t receive payment for the work they put in while the companies they work for cash in massive checks for the clothes they sell. Working conditions have gotten so bad that workers often die while working within fast fashion. According to Working conditions, “The collapse of the Rana Plaza in 2013, killing 1134 garment workers in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has revealed the unacceptable working conditions of the whole fashion industry to the world” (Working Conditions). Factories are not even made to be safe for workers. This shows how little fast fashion companies care to protect their employees or treat them like basic human beings. They are out of touch with the people they work with and treat them inhumane. These workers deserve to be treated with human decency and need to receive a paycheck to rightfully have their basic human needs met.    

One of the biggest reasons why people like to purchase clothing within fast fashion from companies like Shein, H&M and Forever 21 is because they offer clothes at low price points. These stores always have sales and promotions occuring and tend to have clothing marked for as low as $5. People also have misconceptions about sustainable fashion, thinking that it is too expensive and out of their price range. According to Amari Jasz “I think a lot of people that promote sustainability and try to embarrass or make others who can’t afford to spend 1000 on pieces from vintage designers are extremely tone deaf and aren’t capable of acknowledging the privilege they have to use sustainable methods” (Quora, 2023). Many people seem to agree with this statement, so they keep supporting fast fashion brands and don’t look into sustainable clothing brands. 

Although these are valid concerns, the bad thing about shopping for cheap clothing is that you’re also paying for cheap material and bad quality. The majority of clothes that are sold at these stores use low quality materials. According to How Fast Fashion Became Faster — and Worse for the Earth “The majority of fast fashion businesses use synthetic fibers made from petroleum-based, resource-intensive materials, which are responsible for 35% of microplastics and take hundreds of years to disintegrate in landfills”(Wang, 2022). These materials lead to these clothes having a short life span and are discarded more frequently. Not only do these clothes not last, but they also increase garbage within landfills which is bad for the environment. There are also sustainable fashion brands that have clothing available at affordable prices that have very good quality. The company Threads 4 Thought aims to provide people with affordable clothing that is sustainably made. They have clothing from as low as $20 and use materials that are made to last. They also make positive impacts to the environment (Threads 4 Thought, 2023). 

Another sustainable brand is Rothy’s. They aim to provide people with shoes made from recycled materials at the median shoe price. Shoes fall within the fast fashion trends, when really they should be picked out wisely and can last for many years when taken care of. Rothy’s shoes are very versatile and promote universal wear. They are meant to last and are created sustainably. They also have many positive impacts towards the environment (Rothy’s, 2023). 

All in all, it is evident that fast fashion culture needs to be normalized, minimized and one day needs to ultimately end. If we keep producing clothes at an exponential rate, people will be harmed, more waste is to come and the worse the climate will change within this world. These are all serious issues and it is up to the public to think more consciously about what they buy. Governor Hochul’s clean energy and environmental protection plan can help spread awareness to people who are unaware of the consequences behind fast fashion. It will also help people find brands that work to end human cruelty and build a better future for us all. In the end, this is the world we live in and we have to make important decisions to protect it before it’s too late.  

 

References 

O’Donoghue, S. (2023). The end of the road for fast fashion? the EU hopes so. euronews. https://www.euronews.com/culture/2023/08/06/the-end-of-the-road-for-fast-fashion-the-eu-hopes-so 

Fashion and the circular economy. Fashion and a circular economy | Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2019). https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/fashion/overview#:~:text=Redesigning%20the%20future%20of%20fashion&text=Each%20year%20millions%20of%20tonnes,plastic%20microfibres%20entering%20our%20oceans. 

United Nations. (n.d.). What is climate change?. United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change 

Working Conditions. SustainYourStyle. (n.d.). https://www.sustainyourstyle.org/en/working-conditions 

Wang, E. (2022, June 22). How fast fashion became faster – and worse for the Earth. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/22/learning/how-fast-fashion-became-faster-and-worse-for-the-earth.html 

United Nations. (n.d.). What is climate change?. United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change 

Fleet, E., & Fleet, L. (2023). Sustainable clothing for women and men. Threads 4 Thought. https://www.threads4thought.com/

Martin, R. (2023). Women’s Shoes. Rothy’s. https://rothys.com/collections/womens-shoes#wnkd