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How Fast Fashion Poisons Our Planet: Unveiling The Toxic Truth!

07 Feb 2025

Sources: https://unsplash.com/photos/garbage-on-the-street-during-daytime-pouTfHUG430

Do you frequently purchase clothing for each season? Without realizing it, consumer habits in shopping for clothes are part of the fast fashion phenomenon. Fast and cheap clothing production has encouraged a consumer culture in society. Consumer culture in society can have a crucial impact on the environment and society. This is caused by the textile industry producing clothes using low-quality raw materials, so they do not have good durability and thus become textile waste that piles up in rubbish dumps. Environmental pollution is the biggest impact of the fast fashion industry. What’s more, the textile recycling process is still limited, making it difficult to decompose. In addition, the use of hazardous chemicals can damage the air and land, damage ecosystems, and threaten human health.

The textile industry significantly contributes to environmental pollution, particularly through the use of hazardous chemicals like formaldehyde, phthalates, and synthetic dyes in clothing production. These chemicals not only harm aquatic ecosystems but also pose health risks to humans. Textile industry waste, often containing heavy metals and toxic substances, pollutes rivers and oceans, leading to the destruction of aquatic ecosystems and threats to living organisms. One particularly harmful chemical frequently found is nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs), which can disrupt the reproductive systems of aquatic life. 

Several countries, such as Bangladesh, India, and China, are severely affected by textile waste pollution. In Bangladesh, the Buriganga River is heavily polluted by textile factory waste, rendering it nearly unusable. In India, the Tirupur region is notorious for severe water pollution from textile waste, damaging local water sources for communities. Meanwhile, in China, over 70% of rivers and lakes are contaminated by industrial waste, with the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers being among the most seriously affected.

The fashion industry is a major contributor to climate change, releasing a significant amount ( up to 1.2 million) of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. This is largely due to overconsumption and the subsequent disposal of clothing. In addition, the production process itself is highly polluting, as it involves the use of vast quantities of chemicals, energy, and transportation. The dyeing process alone consumes a staggering amount of chemicals. Furthermore, some garments are transported around the world multiple times during production, which increases emissions through extensive air travel. The widespread use of synthetic materials like polyester, derived from fossil fuels, further exacerbates the problem. An estimated amount of fossil fuels is used annually to produce polyester, a material that is notoriously persistent in the environment. As a result of extensive plastic usage and the energy-intensive production process, the fashion industry accounts for a significant portion of global CO² emissions. The widespread use of polyester is expected to amplify this problem.Unless significant changes are made, carbon emissions from the fashion industry are projected to reach a significant percentage by 2050. Scientists have emphasized the urgent need to reduce the industry’s environmental impact to prevent global temperatures from rising beyond critical thresholds.

As reported by www.fastcompany.com, the clothing industry is the second-largest contributor to waste, having a detrimental impact on the environment. The rise of fast fashion has resulted in the relentless production of popular clothing styles, further intensifying the environmental challenges associated with this sector. 

The fast fashion industry exhibits a significant reliance on water, necessitating substantial amounts for the dyeing and washing of garments. This sector consumes billions of liters of water annually. Untreated wastewater generated during production can contaminate water bodies with toxic substances and heavy metals, posing serious health risks. Such chemical pollution endangers aquatic life in rivers, leading to deformities and mortality among fish populations. Furthermore, the use of the Citarum River for bathing and laundry by local residents increases the potential for various health issues (Basiroen et al., n.d.). 

Research indicates that exposure to UV light and low temperatures facilitates the fragmentation of conventional plastics into smaller components, commonly referred to as microplastics. Through runoff, these microplastics enter the marine environment. Typically, microplastics consist of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS), and nylon, among others. However, inefficient management practices have led to a rapid escalation in microplastic concentrations, thereby negatively impacting both the marine environment and marine life. 

Studies have demonstrated that areas proximal to urban centers exhibit elevated levels of microplastics, resulting in pronounced accumulation within the tissues of aquatic animals residing there. Additionally, it has been documented that other waterborne pollutants, such as dyes, heavy metals, and assorted chemicals, can readily adhere to microplastics. Consequently, these microplastics serve as carriers for additional toxins, which subsequently infiltrate the bodies of aquatic creatures and ascend the food chain. 

Sustainable fashion is about producing clothes in an environmentally and socio-economically sustainable way, but also to consume in a more sustainable way. Sustainable fashion is also about trying to achieve a circular economy, that is the possibility of closing the loop by repeating cycles of everything in the value chain, by using brio-based materials from sustainably managed resources or by recycling. Then how consumers can support sustainable fashion, is by using clothes longer and by ensuring that clothes that they don’t like but can be reused reach the recycling system. Apart from that, consumers can choose products with environmentally friendly materials, reduce purchases of cheap clothes made in large quantities and replace them with quality goods that last a long time, and also consumers can extend the life of their clothes by taking good care of them, such as washing them wisely, repairing damaged clothes, and recycling clothes that are no longer used. 

Furthermore, the fashion industry can also take important steps to reduce it’s environmental impact, by choosing clothes made from organic cotton, reducing buying new clothes, and recycling unused clothes. In addition, it can implement environmentally friendly production processes by reducing the use of water, energy, and dangerous chemicals in the production process. Also companies can create something that is more durable and fashionable so that it is not quickly replaced by new trends, that way the consumption cycle can be extended and companies are starting to use technology to recycle old clothing or create materials from more innovative sources, such as food waste. 

There’s a brand or initiatives that already prioritize sustainable fashion, such as Sejauh Mata Memandang, Sare Studio, Sukkha Citta, Osem, Pijak Bumi, Bell Society, and Mylea by Mycotech Lab. Maybe these brands are very strange to hear, but local Indonesian brands are the ones implementing sustainable fashion. Sejauh Mata Memandang is committed to planting, protecting and restoring trees throughout Indonesia to help save the environment. They use products made from cotton, linen, and tencel as replacement material options that come from the recycling process. There is something interesting about the local Osem brand, that from the start, the founders only wanted to play with the blue color produced by natural dye from the Indigofera Tinctoria plant. The Indigo plant is also what made them confident to create a label that in every process is more conscious, environmentally, and socially friendly. 

There are many fashions emerging but many also cause environmental problems. Therefore, we as consumers and manufacturers must be aware of environmental problems, and look for solutions so as not to further damage the environment. But instead contribute to fashion waste. One thing that is currently being intensively implemented is a local Indonesian brand that carries a sustainable concept but does not reduce the aesthetic impression of its design. 

 

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Kelompok 6 CP H&E - KMG