Many of us might have experienced the so-called “I have a wardrobe full of clothes, but still felt I had nothing to wear” symptom. Not going to lie, I too have had those thoughts. We might not have noticed but the fashion choices we make in our everyday life contributes significantly to pollution.
Fast Fashion Industry
“There is a joke in China that you can tell the ‘it’ colour of the season by looking at the colour of the rivers” – Fashion Designer and Activist Orsola de Castro
With the ever-changing fashion trends, the industry is able to capitalise on their ability to influence trends and hence increase consumption. As a result, we are able to get the latest trending clothes at a cheap price. You might be wondering why is this a problem?
The manufacturing process of textile produces harmful chemicals to humans whereas the disposal of untreated wastewater, laden with chemicals, pollutes our water bodies. To make matter worse, about 85% of clothes and textile generated each year gets thrown away in landfills and eventually incinerated.
For instance, an amalgamation of textile, denim, and dyeing factories situated adjacent to the Pearl River in China releases denim scraps and a cocktail of dye, bleach, and detergent directly into the river. Surveys done by Greenpeace revealed that Alkylphenols and some Perfluorochemicals (PFCs) are widely used in the textile industry in China.
Alkylphenols (APs) are a group of manmade chemicals that are known to persist in the environment and are bioaccumulative. Studies have shown that APs have the ability to act as weak estrogens (depending on the concentration). Such environmental estrogens are suspected to cause undescended testis, breast cancer and a decrease in sperm counts (Wolf et al. 1993; cited in Kovarova et al., 2013). However, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Do you know that our waterproof raincoats are also loaded with chemicals! They are coated with PFCs. Such chemicals have been found to be persistent in our environment and bioaccumulative in nature. Studies have confirmed their existence in our environment as PFCs have been found in fish tissues and other wildlife (Gill, 2017).
Creating awareness
To create awareness, Greenpeace, a non-profit organisation launched the “Detox My Fashion” campaign in 2011 and studies have shown that when fashion brands are perceived to be culpable in toxic chemical incidents, it results in negative consumer attitude and behaviour towards that particular brand (Grappi et al., 2017). As such, consumers will be less willing to purchase in the near future. In addition, when fashion brands ignore or dispute accusations by such a campaign, it will further exacerbate negative consumer attitudes towards a brand.
Consumers, like us, often don’t realise the “politics behind the products”. There is almost no way to disassociate environmental impacts with commodities, which in this case is the fashion industry. However, we can help to reduce unnecessary wastage if we are mindful of our consumption patterns, and try to practice the 3 Rs (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) instead of buying more. 😀
Watch this video below to find out more about the “cost” of fast fashion.
source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq0–DfC2Xk
Cheers,
Shee Wen & Nicole 
References
Gill, V. (2017). BBC. Dirty laundry: Are your clothes polluting the ocean? Retrieved October 22, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40498292
Grappi, S., Romani, S. & Barbarossa, C. (2017), “Fashion without pollution: How consumers evaluate brands after an NGO campaign aimed at reducing toxic chemicals in the fashion industry”, Journal of cleaner production, vol. 149, pp. 1164-1173.
Kovarova J, Blahova J, Divisova L, Svobodova Z. (2013). Alkylphenol ethoxylates and alkylphenols–update information on occurrence, fate and toxicity in quatic environment. Polish Journal of Veterinary Science. 2013;16(4):763-72.
Webber, K. (2017). EcoWatch. How Fast Fashion Is Killing Rivers Worldwide. Retrieved October 22, 2020, from https://www.ecowatch.com/fast-fashion-riverblue-2318389169.html