The fast fashion trap

What it is and how to avoid it

Surely we’ve all fallen for this trap:

You walk past a clothing store. You practically trip over a table sticking out the front and it’s covered with fresh wardrobe staples – all on sale. Tempting basics like t-shirts, long sleeve tops, joggers. And they’re cheap. The trap is set!           

There’s even kids’ tees for the cost of a gold coin. With grubby growing kids, it’s irresistible. You grab two of the same top in different sizes – they’ll grow into it. At this price, if it doesn’t fit you’ll just pass it on to a friend. The trap seizes you!

Are you nodding along? So are we. This is one example of the fast fashion trap.

The average person wear a garment just seven times before tossing it.  

How often do we stop and think about the many clothes in our wardrobes that we don’t wear? Why do we tend to buy more clothes now than ever before?

Welcome to the trend of Fast Fashion. Without even realising, we buy more and more clothes as new styles appear. Clothes nowadays are more affordable than a few decades ago. But cheap apparel comes with a different kind of price tag – the quality is shocking. And poor quality leads to a short life-span.

It feels great to buy and wear new clothes. But when you look at the environmental impacts of this, you’re bound to have second thoughts.

The fashion industry uses a colossal amount of water to manufacture textiles, and large quantities of toxic waste end up in our seas and oceans. Plus, more than a truck-load of textile waste is dumped in landfills every second.

What can you do to steer away from fast fashion?

Here are some easy things to do to prevent yourself from being influenced by the fast fashion trend:

• Buy second-hand clothes.
• Buy better quality garments that last longer.
• Buy clothes made of natural or semi-synthetic fibres.
• Buy from brands that reduce textile waste.
• Recycle your own clothes whenever possible.
• Get creative – make your own clothes!
• Simply stop shopping and re-assess what you already own.

Time for wardrobe change

At the very least, let’s increase our awareness of the problem and start to change our fast fashion habits. Perhaps we’ll be more resolute next time we walk past a Sale table… while wearing something unique we’ve re-purposed and re-designed from our own wardrobe. And without doubt, wearing a smile that matches.

Over to you

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The world of sustainability is always changing. The information we’ve provided is based on what was current when we published it. So, please make sure to check the latest standards and guidelines.