Problem
Fast fashion
Other Names:
Disposable clothing Nature:
The average number of times a garment is worn before being discarded has significantly dropped, creating vastly more textile waste. The true cost of cheap clothing and so-called “fast fashion” is that the clothing industry is a significant source of environmental pollution; excessive consumption only adds to these problems.
Incidence:
Between 2000 and 2015, clothing sales doubled, from 50 billion units to 100 billion. More than half of all clothing purchases are discarded in less than a year. Landfills burn the equivalent of one garbage truck full of garments each and every second. Less than one percent of discarded textiles are recycled and reused. Estimates suggest the fashion industry is the fifth-most polluting industry in the world.
Broader Problems:
Fast and irregular pace of technological advanceEnvironmental hazards from textile and clothing industriesUnethical consumption practices Related Problems:
Predominance of fast food Aggravates:
Clothing wastePlastic pollutionEnvironmental hazard from leather manufacturersSweatshop labourDumping of consumer waste productsIncreasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphereResource depletionUnsustainable energy consumptionExploitation of child labour Organizations:
World Fashion Organization (WFO)Asia Fashion Federation (AFF)Children's Fashion Europe (CFE)European Fashion Heritage Association (EFHA)International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes (IFFTI)Greenpeace InternationalSolidaridad Internacional (SI)Traidcraft ExchangeClean Clothes Campaign (CCC)International Textiles and Clothing Bureau (ITCB)Fairtrade International (FLO)Fairtrade Africa (FTA)Latin American and Caribbean Network of Small Fairtrade Producers Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Problem Type:
E: Emanations of other problems Date of last update
10.01.2022 – 16:42 CET