How fast fashion hurts the planet, and what you can do about it

If we could trace the ecological and social impact of our clothes, most of us would stop shopping altogether. The global fashion industry, specifically high volume producers of low-quality garments, such as Forever 21, H&M, Fashion Nova, and Zara, employ workers at sub-poverty wages. The pollution from their production and distribution is damaging entire ecosystems. Additionally, their products are made on the cheap, so they fall apart quickly, forcing consumers to buy, even more, exacerbating the global crisis. 

Fast fashion distances consumers from the reality of where these clothes come from and where they end up. We crave the latest styles but often don’t consider the garment worker who is making 19 cents per piece. We don’t see the polluted rivers in India that have become biological dead zones. We don’t visit the landfills where last year’s abandoned pieces pile up. 

Journalist Dana Thomas, author of Fashionopolis: The Prices…
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