What Harm Can One Shirt Do?
Looking through my overflowing closet, making a small tank top seem like a burden to the crowd of newly purchased clothes, still feeling like I have nothing to wear. “I just bought clothes last week, but I don’t like how they look anymore,” I think to myself. “I will just get that new silver sequin top I saw on Instagram yesterday.” I searched for the top worn by the flawless girl on my Instagram feed, and found it on Shein. How is this top only $10? Where was this made? I’ve heard negative things about fast fashion before, but what harm can one shirt do?
Creating Garments
First step to making the sequined Shein top is the labor. Behind the $10 top, an individual is being exploited. There is a considerable issue with the treatment of fast-fashion garment workers. To make affordable clothing and large profits, these companies are using sweatshops in developing countries such as China, Vietnam, India, etc. Getting paid as low as three cents an hour, barely enough to live, these workers are spending 16 hours a day, seven days a week in these sweatshops.
Source: Just-Style.com
Not only are the adults being abused in the hands of these businesses, but also children. The person making your shirt could be a child between the ages of 5 and 14 working in these shops. Children are exploited in the fast fashion industry, as they can pay these children less and use their small hands to their advantage when picking cotton for fabrics.
Companies also hire children as the job doesn't require highly skilled tasks, capitalizing off impoverished children who need the money for their families. Since sweatshops were banned in the US, companies have outsourced to foreign countries for labor. Not only do these companies create a negative impact on their workers, but also the planet we are living on.
Environmental Impacts
After the top is made, what impacts has it left on the planet? The fast fashion industry has caused a significant impact in the amount of carbon dioxide emissions contributing as much as 10% of the issue. That one top travels daily with mass amounts of other items to the United States through various air, train, sea, and vehicles to make it to consumers' doorsteps or local malls.
In addition, 1.2 billion tons of CO2 are released from the textile industry. Another huge climate factor that fast fashion has played a part in is the excessive amount of water being used. Worldwide, 20% percent of wastewater has been sourced from the fabric dyeing and treatment process. That one cotton shirt sitting in your online cart used about 2500 liters, about 660 gallons, of water. To put that in perspective, that is more water needed to fill a 12 x 12 four-foot pool!
Shein alone sells about 50,000 garments a day, so imagine how much these factors are multiplied by that one company alone. There are hundreds of fast fashion companies making fast fashion such a substantial factor in the climate crisis. Even if a fast fashion company says an article of clothing was made sustainably, their company is still contributing to the problem.
Source: Chin Leong Teo
This is called greenwashing. Companies will use this tactic in order to entice their products making them think they are ethical. Shein created a line called, “EvoluShein” that claims to, be ”purposefully designed with responsibly sourced and reused materials for a lower impact on the plant.” What about all the other garments on the Shein website? The old harmful rules still apply to the majority of the garments on the website not included in the line.
This example of greenwashing demonstrates a fast fashion company claiming a small portion of their clothes is more environmentally made, but the majority of the clothes sold on the website remain unethically made. The company is still contributing to the negative impacts of unethical fashion with the other items on the site, but manipulates consumers into thinking they are making environmentally conscious purchases.
What Can You Do to Help?
Educating yourself is the first step to making change. The more the word is out there, the more likely at least one person will think twice about their clothes shopping decisions. A great alternative I found is shopping secondhand. I understand it can be hard to find clothes that fit your style if you do not live near thrift stores with inventory that resonates with you, but there are so many other resources you can use. From my experience, using apps like Depop and Poshmark has helped me find the exact items I see on fast fashion websites. Not only was I able to shop sustainably, but I also got unique pieces for a better price!
Just last week, I saw an ad for this pink dainty blouse, searched it up on Depop, and to my surprise, found the exact item. Another effective way to slow down shopping is finding new ways to wear an article of clothing. When shopping for garments, I try to buy pieces I am more likely to wear more than once which can be basics, or creating three or more outfits with it in my head before I make my purchase. Adding layers to outfits or even just wearing it with different clothes in your closet to create a new look. Scrolling through Pinterest helps my creativity flow when I am unsure what to do with a clothing piece. Also, don’t be scared to be an outfit repeater! If you feel confident and yourself in an outfit, why not wear it as much as you can? Who made the rule that an outfit can only be worn once?
Overall, the more we buy and support these companies, the more the issue of the exploration of workers and the increase of the climate crisis will blossom. Just one shirt for you from these companies is also one for millions of other people. That one article of clothing, although a small piece of the bigger problem, causes a domino effect.
Written by Kara Haas
Kara is a high school student who is an aspiring writer. She is hoping to study journalism in college to write about the fashion industry in the future. As well as having a passion for writing, Kara also loves to study fashion and try new, different looks out of her comfort zone. In her free time she loves baking, trying new makeup looks, and watching cartoons.