End the Fast Fashion Trend

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by Laura Beeson2 views·Updated Nov 13, 2020
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  1. Hi, My name is Laura Beeson, and today I will
  2. be talking about how fast fashion is negatively impacting our
  3. planet. Ah, plan to incorporate more sustainable practices into the
  4. fashion industry and how that plan will play out long
  5. term. There's an old saying that states fashion fades.
  6. Style is eternal, but because of fast fashion, the statement
  7. may no longer be accurate.
  8. While fast fashion brands may not design their clothing toe
  9. last, they will not decay to do their synthetic nature.
  10. Landfills. Air currently be currently and will continue to be
  11. taken over by our old clothes if we do not
  12. move away from fast fashion practices.
  13. Fast fashion is so popular because of its convenience, and
  14. that's how they draw the consumer in so fast.
  15. Fashion continuously draws consumers in, but uses its convenience to
  16. distract from its unsustainable production methods, poor labor practices and
  17. negative environmental impacts.
  18. So if you break it down, more than 60% of
  19. fabrics are made from synthetic fibers.
  20. Every American throws away an average of £80 of clothing
  21. per year, and 85% of textile always ends up in
  22. landfills dumped in the ocean or is incinerated so if
  23. you throw out a top that's made out of synthetic
  24. materials and it's dumped into a landfill, it will never
  25. deteriorate. And I'll just stay there until something else is
  26. done with it.
  27. And when clothing that's made from synthetic fibers is incinerated,
  28. it releases harmful chemicals into the air.
  29. So there's a high demand for big fast fashion change
  30. to stay on trend, which comes at a heavy cost.
  31. Factory workers and often results in unfair pay, long hours
  32. and abuse towards its employees.
  33. So fashion fast fashion industry represents companies who make high
  34. volumes of clothing through chief unsustainable practices.
  35. And the companies that kind of lead the fast fashion,
  36. um, industry are Zara Forever 21 in H and M
  37. yeah, so the consumers air so focused on getting new
  38. trends quickly that they're blind to the destruction the industry
  39. is causing on the planet.
  40. So we by fast fashion because it's convenient, it's cheap,
  41. and it gives us the trends that we want right
  42. when the trends become popular.
  43. So in 2013, the Rana Plaza factory collapsed, killing 1100
  44. people and injuring 2500 people.
  45. This factory produced clothing for a lot of fast fashion
  46. brands, and when this tragedy occurred, it was all over
  47. media. And even though um, it was everywhere for people
  48. to see, it never diminished the consumer's appetite for fast
  49. fashion. So a lot of fast fashion brands are incorporating
  50. sustainable practices into the way they produce their clothing.
  51. Um, so, for example, um hmm has released the hmm
  52. conscious line, which is, um, more sustainable fashion.
  53. But most the time when fast fashion brands do this,
  54. they're actually greenwashing, which is using, um, sustainable terms and
  55. practices as a way of advertising.
  56. Um, currently, sustainability is becoming a trend so fast.
  57. Fashion brands are kind of hopping on that trend and
  58. convincing the consumer that they are more ego friendly.
  59. For a fast fashion brand to actually become sustainable, they
  60. would have to completely rework the way they produce and
  61. make their clothing.
  62. Um, an example of a company who actually is sustainable
  63. is Patagonia, and a lot of companies have been kind
  64. of copying their methods and trying to be more like
  65. that recently.
  66. So the goal is to incorporate more sustainable practices into
  67. the fashion industry and stop supporting fast fashion brands.
  68. Looking long term, a closed loop solution would be the
  69. solution, um, to help the industry be more eco friendly.
  70. But right now we can incorporate more sustainable practices into
  71. our shopping habits and reward people for doing so.
  72. So my proposition is a policy that takes away tax
  73. on secondhand clothing.
  74. So this would you used a places like Goodwill and
  75. Buffalo Exchange?
  76. Um, goodwill is a secondhand store, and Buffalo Exchange is
  77. actually in Philly, and it sells secondhand and vintage clothing.
  78. So the goal of this, um, policy would be to
  79. reward consumers for shopping second hand and kind of draw
  80. them in, um, to places like goodwill and away from
  81. fast fashion stories.
  82. This is like a super simplified version of a closed
  83. loop solution in a closed loop solution.
  84. You take old garments, you break it down to its
  85. original fibers and then use those fibers to make new
  86. fabric and then make clothes out of that fabric.
  87. Um, buying second hand would lower the amount of clothing
  88. dumped into landfills, and this tax would encourage people to
  89. buy a second hand and avoid fast fashion brands and
  90. stop supporting fast fashion brands.
  91. The goal is to limit the fashion industry's environmental and
  92. carbon footprint by incorporating sustainable practices into our consumption of
  93. clothing. So today we discussed how fast fashion is negatively
  94. impacting the planet.
  95. We went over a plan to create more sustainable, sustainable
  96. practices in the industry and how that plan will work
  97. out long term.
  98. So next time you go to the mall or you
  99. go to shop online, be more conscious of what you
  100. are buying and really think about where that piece of
  101. clothing came from and where it will go when you're
  102. done with it.
  103. Thank you.