Yoana Gonzalez- Environmental fashion pollution

Fashion Pollution Social Issue Importance:

Being a Fashion major and also lover, I want to bring awareness to my Cal state LA community and show them the importance of upcycling their old/ unwanted clothing. Since we are college students and we have bills, loans and grocery to pay we all mostly shop fast fashion. Fast fashion contributes to the pollution in our environment and atmosphere due to the textile waste, textile dying, rapid landfill impact and more. This social issue is important because the community needs to be aware of the damages that we are doing to the environment by not being mindful when we shop. I also want to show ways that we can upcycle the clothing or items we don't need/ want anymore and turn it into gifts or perhaps something else that can be useful around our home.

“Fast Fashion Quick to Cause Environmental Havoc.” Sustainability, 14 Nov. 2018, https://sustainability.uq.edu.au/projects/recycling-and-waste-minimisation/fast-fashion-quick-cause-environmental-havoc.


Fast Fashion pollution statistics

Fast fashion is a business model that promotes rapid production of cheap clothing to meet the most recent fashion trends and it is considered to be the second largest polluter next to oil to damage our environment. Our low costs in our fashion clothing has a high price for the environment, since fast fashion encourages the lower production and quality of clothing.  The biggest problem with this is that it has lead to large quantities of clothing ending up in landfills. About 10.46 million tons of clothing ended up in US landfills in 2014 and still continue to expand. The production of our clothing is impacting our own health, because it is made up of various types of materials, and often blends of different fabrics, which all have their benefits and drawbacks in terms of comfort, durability and production cost. Yet, cotton is found in about 40% of our clothing along with synthetic fibers, such as polyester and nylon, in 72% of garments. Both fibers are dangerous to our body and our planet. Cotton is a highly water intensive plant, even if only 2.4% of the worlds agricultural land is planted with cotton, it consumes almost 10% of all agricultural chemicals and 25% of pesticides. Our fashion fibers are consuming and destroying our rivers like the two rivers that fed the Aral sea to maintain the cotton plantations in what is now Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Without these two major water inputs, almost the entire Aral sea has now dried up leaving mostly arid desert.  

Cotton agriculture: Muller, Gretchen. “To Green or Not to Green?: A Study on Consumer Behavior and Ethically Produced Fashion.” ScholarsArchive@JWU, https://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/student_scholarship/35/.

Gibaja, Miriam Peralta. “How Polluting Is the Fashion Industry?” EKOenergy, 26 July 2019, https://www.ekoenergy.org/how-polluting-is-the-fashion-industry/.

The fashion industry has rapid production of clothing so it is very important to reuse or shop mindfully with textiles that can be recyclable and wont pollute the environment more than what it already has. Textile waste and textile dying are another reason why our fashion is the second polluter in our environment. Bright colors, fabric and print finishes are appealing features of fashion garments, but many of these are achieved with toxic chemicals. Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of clean water globally, after agriculture. Mills can use up to 200 tons of water per ton of dyed fabric, which only produces about 1400 pieces of clothing and roughly 17 to 20% of industrial water pollution is owed to fabric dyes and possible treatments. About 8,000 of synthetic chemicals are used to bleach, treat and "brighten" our clothes which can be prevented if we use natural dyes such as vegetables or fruits. Textile waste is getting out of control due to fast fashion and trends changing everyday. There are various ways to reuse textiles/garments we don't desire anymore such as upcycling your clothing with making the textiles into jewelry, cut the garments into pieces and make cloths to clean around your home, or if you are not a crafty person, donating to thrift shops is always a better choice than to throw them to the curb. If the community contributes and begins to avoid fast fashion and invest in quality clothing that wont damage our environment we can really make a difference. Shopping in thrift shops can also benefit our fashion pollution because we give used clothing a second chance. Just like Allison McCarthy said in her article "Remake", Clothing landfill waste certainly isn’t a problem we’re going to solve overnight, but there are small steps we can take each day to pave the path towards a more sustainable fashion future. And it starts with us. 

Correa, Susan. “The Facts Behind Fast Fashion.” Art & Eden, 6 Feb. 2017, https://www.artandeden.com/blogs/organic-kids-clothing-news/fast-fashion-facts. 

McCarthy, Allison, et al. “Are Our Clothes Doomed for the Landfill?” Remake, 19 Aug. 2019, 

Remake made this useful map for us to see where our clothing end up, I liked this map because it gives us a visual awareness of fashion pollution. 

Personal Importance:

Fashion pollution and all of its consequences affects me personally because I, like any other girl loves shopping for deals and for things I possibly don't even need. But after researching more in depth the consequences of fashion pollution I plan on investigating clothing brands that don't hurt our environment like fast fashion does. I personally want to reuse my own clothing as much as possible or find thrift stores that will use my donations to good use. This issue also affects my mentality because it will make me think twice before giving into a "deal". I feel that this issue will make me appreciate and value the clothing that I own. I wanted to research this issue because in my opinion fashion shouldn't be a reason why our environment is being polluted more and more each year. Clothing consumption has filled landfills of unwanted clothes simply because "trends" change and its time to buy a new wardrobe. I wanted to bring awareness to my community for they can be mindful of their clothing consumptions and shop smartly.  

My Cal Sate LA Community:

After showing these five individuals my statistics and research of Fashion pollution they commented by telling me what they learned and what they plan on doing for the future. 

Cristina Dominguez

"After learning of fashion pollution I will stop shopping with fast fashion brands and consider saving my money to buy more reusable clothing. I will also donate smartly my unwanted clothing. I wasn't aware that landfills were getting filled with unwanted clothing."

Mark Arredondo

"It has affected me because I've experienced the dye stain my body because the clothing got wet, after it stained me it lasted about 3 days to take off. I feel that people should be more considerate about the environment, especially because its the world we live in." 

Maria Sanchez

"Shopping will be different now because I don't want anymore things such as clothing affecting the planet we live in and need so much. I plan on passing this issue to friends, like that they donate or reuse their clothes instead of throwing it to the trash." 

Jesus Fuentes 

"I feel that people should really consider upcycling their clothes rather than throwing them away. They are polluting the earth and eventually we will all be infested with fashion pollution. I learned fast pollution is bad and I was a victim of it, I would buy from forever 21, but not anymore. I will not support something that will ruin our environment." 

Alex Seely 

"The way that fashion pollution makes me upset is because people along with those who create clothing are inconsiderate of our environment and what they are causing. This has affected me because while driving I have come across clothing on the ground and its disgusting to see."

Research Citations:

1.    Gibaja, Miriam Peralta. “How Polluting Is the Fashion Industry?” EKOenergy, 26 July 2019, https://www.ekoenergy.org/how-polluting-is-the-fashion-industry/. 

2.    Perry, Patsy. “The Environmental Costs of Fast Fashion.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 8 Jan. 2018, https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/environment-costs-fast-fashion-pollution-waste-sustainability-a8139386.html. 

3.    LaRose, Danielle. “To Dye For: Textile Processing's Global Impact.” Carmen Busquets, Carmen Busquets, 12 Apr. 2017, https://www.carmenbusquets.com/journal/post/fashion-dye-pollution. 

4.    McCarthy, Allison, et al. “Are Our Clothes Doomed for the Landfill?” Remake, 19 Aug. 2019, https://remake.world/stories/news/are-our-clothes-doomed-for-the-landfill/.