A World In the Fast (Fashion) Lane

The Growing Cost of Fast Fashion & How To Be Part Of the Solution

This article originally appeared on The Fem Word — a platform celebrating bold women in creative spaces.

A Global Debt We Can’t Afford to Pay.

We live in a hungry world. The evidence is all around us — our appetite for consumption seems to have no end, and the results are doing more damage than we ever could have imagined. A lot of us are beginning to wake up and question why we operate from this paradigm of consumption in the first place, and many are looking for ways to live differently and undo the harm our unrestrained practices have caused.

Fast fashion has become the norm for how we clothe ourselves. The term “fast fashion” itself refers to the pattern of cheap, incredibly quick production of vast quantities of poor-quality clothing that has steadily redefined the industry. We all know what this pattern looks like in our own lives: we buy on impulse, we wear the clothes for a short while (often until they start looking ratty or damaged just a few months later after the purchase) and then we discard the clothes by throwing them out or donating them.

When we donate the clothes, we feel better about the waste of money and material. At least someone else will wear them, right? The reality isn’t so simple. Today, I’m joining The Fem Word to take a look at the reality of fast fashion and find solutions you and others…