Topic > Environmental Damage Related to Clothing and Fashion

IndexAbstractIntroductionConclusionAbstractThis research will explain the environmental damage created, the unethical practices of several famous brands and hopefully will help to enlighten people about this topic and raise awareness. The documentary shows how all the clothes you think about giving another home and donating end up in a warehouse as textile waste rather than in thrift shops that only take a few clothes (almost only 20%) and sell them. And eventually they end up being moved to Africa only to be bought with money. Some don't even make it to the shops, they are discarded and burned to be thrown into rubbish heaps. Dumping is always the cheapest solution, so instead of going through a very long recycling process and the long time it takes, they prefer to dump it to get rid of it easily. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay IntroductionIn the last century, fashion has become more common and important than before. Statistics show that we consume 400% of our actual needs when it comes to the clothing industry. This shocking demand has been met as fabrics nowadays are much easier to produce, as well as much cheaper than in the old days. This is due to the ability to easily produce clothes made from different fabrics at a rapid pace. None of this seems like a problem until we address the impact of this new behavior on the modern world. Have you ever wondered where all your old clothes really end up? One of the largest polluters in the world is the clothing and fast fashion clothing industry. Buying so many clothes and following the fast fashion trend will only lead to the waste of clothes in the world. Nowadays, fast fashion brands produce around 52 micro-seasons per year. This means at least one new collection every week. This simply encourages people to buy more, then throw away more! For example, H&M is a very well-known brand that advertises new products on a weekly basis, almost every 2 days. One of the most important environmental damages created here is the huge number of textiles that are unfortunately thrown into landfills. For example, H&M is one of the most famous stores in the world, they claim to recycle clothes by making an advertisement that shows how much they care about making this world a better place, but is it true? It turns out that only 1% of clothing is actually recycled as a large number of clothing are made from a combination or mix of fabrics such as wool, elastin and cotton. According to Alden Wicker (2016) “Meanwhile, synthetic fibers, such as polyester, nylon, and acrylic, have the same environmental drawbacks and, because they are essentially a type of petroleum-derived plastic, will last hundreds of years, if not thousands, biodegrade”. The whole recycling process is very expensive. According to Kianna (2018) “For fast fashion outlets to recycle what they produce it would take 12 years to recycle what they sell in 48 hours”. Fast fashion retailers are making too much money and selling it too cheap, it's disposable clothing. Many of these recycling programs also offer discounts for donating old clothes. For example, H&M encourages its customers by offering a $5 off coupon for anyone who throws clothes into the recycling bin, but if they don't produce new clothes thanks to donations, where do you think all these clothes that are thrown away go? Well, most of these donations are sold and packaged abroad. YES. Not donated, not given to people who need it..