IS FAST FASHION SUSTAINABLE?

Environmentalists are getting more worried about the effects of fast fashion on the environment as
time passes by. A lot of people might not know what fast fashion is though. Fast fashion is the
mass production of clothes at a low cost. They are put in shops and online quickly to create a high
demand. Manufacturers make 100 billion items of clothing every year and this is expected to grow
by 60 per cent by 2030! The fast fashion business model is having a negative effect on the
environment: many of the clothes end up in landfills and are not recycled. Another negative effect
on the environment is caused by the chemicals used to make clothes. These cause health
problems for people working in clothes factories; another big issue is that women and children
often make many of these clothes working in horrible conditions and being exploited in third world
countries.
The way people are buying clothes is adding to the problem of clothing waste. Many years ago,
people went to stores and tried clothes on, people took more time and thought more carefully
before they bought clothes and they also wore them for longer. Today, people order cheap clothes
on the Internet and if they don’t like them, they send them back. Some people say this is causing a
throwaway society as a lot of people buy clothes and never even wear them. The German media
company Deutsche Welle wrote: “Every year in Europe, four million tons of clothing ends up in the
trash. Less than one percent of this is recycled.” It seems the fashion industry is not so
sustainable.
By Cristina Iovino and Alessia Ferrante

IS FAST FASHION SUSTAINABLE?
Environmentalists are getting more worried about the effects of fast fashion on the environment as
time passes by. A lot of people might not know what fast fashion is though. Fast fashion is the
mass production of clothes at a low cost. They are put in shops and online quickly to create a high
demand. Manufacturers make 100 billion items of clothing every year and this is expected to grow
by 60 per cent by 2030! The fast fashion business model is having a negative effect on the
environment: many of the clothes end up in landfills and are not recycled. Another negative effect
on the environment is caused by the chemicals used to make clothes. These cause health
problems for people working in clothes factories; another big issue is that women and children
often make many of these clothes working in horrible conditions and being exploited in third world
countries.
The way people are buying clothes is adding to the problem of clothing waste. Many years ago,
people went to stores and tried clothes on, people took more time and thought more carefully
before they bought clothes and they also wore them for longer. Today, people order cheap clothes
on the Internet and if they don’t like them, they send them back. Some people say this is causing a
throwaway society as a lot of people buy clothes and never even wear them. The German media
company Deutsche Welle wrote: “Every year in Europe, four million tons of clothing ends up in the
trash. Less than one percent of this is recycled.” It seems the fashion industry is not so
sustainable.