{"id":1617,"date":"2018-01-08T11:51:37","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T11:51:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/uommaterialsblog\/?p=1617"},"modified":"2018-05-22T17:01:27","modified_gmt":"2018-05-22T16:01:27","slug":"read-this-before-you-go-sales-shopping-the-environmental-costs-of-fast-fashion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/uommaterialsblog\/read-this-before-you-go-sales-shopping-the-environmental-costs-of-fast-fashion\/","title":{"rendered":"Read this before you go sales shopping: the environmental costs of fast fashion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Patsy Perry, Senior Lecturer in Fashion Marketing, warns of the damage fast fashion is having on the environment. Do we need to return to a Make Do and Mend mentality?<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Patsy<\/a>It\u2019s tough to love our clothes and keep wearing them for longer<\/a> when we are faced with a tempting array of newness on offer in the shops. But before you head out into the January sales for those irresistible deals, spare a thought for the impact of fast fashion on the environment.<\/p>\n

Fast fashion focuses on speed and low cost in order to deliver frequent new collections inspired by catwalk looks or celebrity styles. But it is particularly bad<\/a> for the environment as pressure to reduce cost and the time it takes to get a product from design to shop floor means that environmental corners are more likely to be cut<\/a>. Criticisms of fast fashion include<\/a> its negative environmental impact, water pollution, the use of toxic chemicals and increasing levels of textile waste.<\/p>\n

Vibrant colours, prints and fabric finishes are appealing features of fashion garments, but many of these are achieved with toxic chemicals<\/a>. Textile dyeing is the second largest<\/a> polluter of clean water globally, after agriculture. Greenpeace\u2019s recent Detox campaign has been instrumental in pressuring fashion brands to take action to remove toxic chemicals from their supply chains, after it tested a number of brands\u2019 products and confirmed the presence of hazardous chemicals<\/a>. Many of these are banned or strictly regulated<\/a> in various countries because they are toxic, bio-accumulative (meaning the substance builds up in an organism faster than the organism can excrete or metabolise it), disruptive to hormones and carcinogenic.<\/p>\n

Polyester is the most popular<\/a> fibre used for fashion. But when polyester garments<\/a> are washed in domestic washing machines they shed microfibers that add to the increasing levels of plastic in our oceans. These microfibers are minute<\/a> and can easily pass through sewage and wastewater treatment plants into our waterways, but because they do not biodegrade, they represent a serious threat to aquatic life. Small creatures such as plankton eat the microfibres, which then make their way up the food chain to fish and shellfish<\/a> eaten by humans.<\/p>\n

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Read more: How your pile of laundry fills the sea with plastic pollution<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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The devastating impact of toxic chemical use in agriculture for growing cotton was shown in a documentary called The True Cost<\/a>, including the death of a US cotton farmer from a brain tumour and serious birth defects in Indian cotton farmers\u2019 children. Cotton growing requires high levels of water and pesticides<\/a> to prevent crop failure, which can be problematic in developing countries<\/a> that may lack sufficient investment and be at risk of drought.<\/p>\n