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Lakewood Times

    Fast Fashion and How to Avoid It

    Fast Fashion and How to Avoid It

    Clothing, now becoming an everyday statement rather than just something you put on your body to cover up, is a booming business. And since the 1990s, there’s been a way to produce clothes at a rapid pace. It’s all about quantity over quality, and whatever trend comes its way, it can easily make the switch:

    Fast fashion. 

    Fast fashion may be extraordinarily affordable and a solid way to build your wardrobe, but don’t get it twisted; you’d want to avoid this way of dressing. The environmental footprint when making these clothes is massive. The substantial amount of resources used causes landfills. It also produces a tenth of the world’s carbon emissions.

    If that doesn’t make you uncomfortable, worker exploitation is prevalent here too. Workers who make these clothes get paid crumbs in wages and are also subjected to dangerous working conditions without any protection or benefits. 

    Now, knowing this, how does one avoid it? Cheap clothes are, again, so easy to add to your wardrobe, and just happen to always be what you want at the right time. And, most importantly, not everyone can just drop thirty dollars on a sweater.

    One successful way to reduce the usage of fast fashion is to shrink down your closet altogether. Bring yourself to only have twenty to twenty-five pieces of clothing. Wanting to splurge on an outfit can be tempting, but it’s greener to buy less in all aspects anyway.

    Always research a brand before buying. Even if it’s a popular clothing brand like Forever 21 or Adidas, you never know who’s making it, or if they prohibit any type of forced labor.

    And finally, the biggest recommendation anyone can give a consumer is to always thrift, repair, donate, or save. Thrifting is sustainable and a less expensive way to find clothes you like. If you have clothes that are torn or ripped, they can always be sewn or stitched. Very rarely should you throw away clothes because of a tear or two.

    Donating is an amazing way to give away clothes that are too small. It’s the best way to clean out a cramped closet. And finally, keep your clothes. Even if they aren’t in style anymore, maybe they have a missing button, or even if you just don’t like it anymore, it’s worth keeping.

    It’s the little things we can do to protect our people and our earth, and hey, we can look good while doing it.

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