Fast fash­ion addic­tion has become a per­va­sive prob­lem in today’s soci­ety, and it is hav­ing a seri­ous impact on the health and well-being of all gen­er­a­tions, spe­cial­ly the youngest ones. Why? This addic­tion to cheap, dis­pos­able cloth­ing is not only dam­ag­ing to the envi­ron­ment, but it is also being a host of oth­er issues, includ­ing men­tal health prob­lems and finan­cial stress.

For many young peo­ple, fast fash­ion is an irre­sistible temp­ta­tion. With its low prices and con­stant­ly chang­ing styles, it is easy to see why so many peo­ple fall for this type of cloth­ing. How­ev­er, the real­i­ty is that fast fash­ion is not as cheap nor as easy as it seems.

The price of fast fashion

One of the main prob­lems with fast fash­ion is that it is designed to be worn for just a few sea­sons, or even just a few weeks. The num­ber of times a gar­ment is worn has declined by around 36% in 15 years! This means that peo­ple need to con­stant­ly buy new clothes, even if they already have plen­ty in their wardrobe. This leads to over­con­sump­tion, which is one of the biggest prob­lems in the fash­ion indus­try nowa­days, and it can also be a cause of eco­nom­ic prob­lems among peo­ple falling into this addic­tion.

In addi­tion to the finan­cial cost, fast fash­ion also has many oth­er neg­a­tive effects on peo­ple’s health and well-being. The clothes are usu­al­ly made using cheap, low-qual­i­ty mate­ri­als, which won’t last, can be uncom­fort­able and can even be tox­ic to the skin.

On the psy­cho­log­i­cal part, this con­stant pres­sure to have new clothes and styles can lead to issues such as anx­i­ety and depres­sion. Many peo­ple feel that they need to keep up with the lat­est trends and styles, and this can lead to anx­i­ety and stress. They will nev­er have it all, they will nev­er achieve to have all the micro trends gen­er­at­ed in a week­ly basis on their wardrobe. The con­stant need to buy new clothes con­tributes to feel­ings of inad­e­qua­cy and low self-esteem.

This is a very dan­ger­ous cycle, as many per­sons will link their val­ue to the new clothes they have, and it will not end in a good way, with both depres­sion and an emp­ty bank account.

85% Of Our Clothes End Up In Landfills

In addi­tion to the psy­cho­log­i­cal impact on indi­vid­u­als, fast fash­ion also has numer­ous neg­a­tive envi­ron­men­tal effects. The pro­duc­tion of cheap, dis­pos­able clothes requires a lot of resources, includ­ing water, ener­gy, and chem­i­cals. This leads to pol­lu­tion, inequal­i­ty and dis­eases among both work­ers and con­sumers.

Fur­ther­more, the dis­pos­al of fast fash­ion cloth­ing is also a prob­lem. Most of this cloth­ing ends up in land­fills, where it takes a long time to break down and decom­pose. Land­fills are designed to store sol­id waste, such as house­hold garbage and con­struc­tion debris. How­ev­er, they are not built to prop­er­ly dis­pose of cloth­ing and its spe­cif­ic needs. Fashion’s land­fills can release chem­i­cals and microfibers into the envi­ron­ment as it decom­pos­es through long years, caus­ing fur­ther harm for a very long time.

Alternatives

Despite these prob­lems, fast fash­ion con­tin­ues to be a pop­u­lar choice for many peo­ple. How­ev­er, it is impor­tant to rec­og­nize the neg­a­tive effects of this addic­tion and to take steps to break the cycle. There are a num­ber of alter­na­tives to fast fash­ion, such as buy­ing sec­ond-hand clothes, invest­ing in high-qual­i­ty, sus­tain­able fash­ion brands, or mak­ing your own clothes. By mak­ing these choic­es, peo­ple can reduce envi­ron­men­tal impact and improve both men­tal and finan­cial health.

In-Depth Resources

• The Fash­ion Indus­try Waste Is Dras­ti­cal­ly Con­tribut­ing To Cli­mate Change, by Valenti­na Portela on Calpirg, 2021
• Putting the brakes on fast fash­ion, on Unep, 2018
• Why clothes are so hard to recy­cle, By Abi­gail Beall on BBC, 2020
• 10 Con­cern­ing Fast Fash­ion Waste Sta­tis­tics, by Mar­ti­na Igi­ni on Earth, 2022