Ecologically and socially sound clothing production and distribution are at the heart of the concept known as “sustainable fashion.” Consumers may reduce the environmental and worker safety risks associated with the fashion business by adopting ethical purchasing selections. Donating gently used items, purchasing fewer new items, or shopping secondhand are all examples of sustainable shopping behaviors.
Sustainable fashion, often known as slow fashion, is a backlash against the worrisome rise of rapid fashion in the last few decades.
What do we mean when we talk about “fast fashion”? This is a way of designing and selling clothes that focus on getting the latest trends into consumers’ hands as soon and at as low a price as possible. Social media has only exacerbated the problem, as now one article of apparel can be seen as adorable one day and repulsive the next.
How College Students Fall Victim to Fast Fashion
Social media is flooded with news about celebrities, fashion weeks, and events. This makes it difficult to write a fashion essay. We’ve all seen the headlines with flashy pictures of well-known fashion bloggers. The articles promise to inform us about the hottest hairstyles for the upcoming season. The upcoming fall fashion trends, and so on.
But we don’t truly consider the individuals that do thorough fast fashion essay articles. And the type of labor they undertake to produce them for us. You might think twice about buying that new outfit if you stop for a moment and consider the long and winding road it took to get to you.
Consumers should not buy fast fashion if they are ethically conscious. Also, if they’re environmentally conscious and behaviorally responsible. Fast fashion refers to low-quality garments. They can only be worn a handful of times before being discarded due to wear and tear or becoming unwearable.
Humanitarian Issues
When it comes to fast fashion, ethics is a major issue. Some of our fast fashion companies are in difficulty because of their questionable business practices. It’s a situation when people’s lives are in danger. Many innocent people are forced to work for pitiful wages in extremely dangerous conditions.
A fast-fashion factory collapsed in 2013, killing 1,130 people, as reported by The Guardian at the time. It’s possible that you’re currently wearing something made at one of their factories (Burke 2013). Those who make a living in the fast fashion sector must endure the worst possible working conditions. They have finally been exposed.
The reality is that not every workplace is horrible. Despite this, many businesses knowingly or unknowingly subject their employees to severe violations of their human rights and do considerable damage to the environment.
Marketing and Consumer Behavior
The widespread pressures are increasing on today’s college students to update their wardrobes. It explains fast fashion’s dramatic growth in popularity. Why do so many people buy fast fashion? “This theme of the mixing calls for something special. The other option is that I want to buy something special for the occasion that I wouldn’t normally buy, “. GC student and GECO secretary Tara Cushing says.
As she continues, “Nobody ever thinks about throwing out your clothes as having significant environmental ramifications,” she adds. Consumers engage in a specific way despite the fact that they are unaware of the full scope of the damage produced by fast fashion.
Fast fashion contributes to the loss of originality in part. A consumer’s outlook on life is purely materialistic. People with this mindset think that material wealth is the key to happiness. One may argue that going to a fast fashion store is very easy. In the same vein, expressing your unique personality through your clothing choices is a valid form of self-expression.
However, these organizations are still using direct consumer marketing. They make an effort to convince the target audience to purchase the product being offered. This is how they use your fingerprints to identify you. Rather, you should invest in unique, eye-catching garments if you wish to attract attention.
According to a new paper titled “The Motivational Drivers of Rapid-fashion Avoidance,” people’s ethical concerns are what ultimately lead them to shun fast fashion (Kim 2013). Realization of the extent to which these firms exploited workers and consumers was a major source of unease.
The fast-fashion sector targets young consumers as its primary market. College students are vulnerable to exploitation by businesses. As a result, they are unable to spend as much on their wardrobe. More importantly, adolescents have reached an age where the way they dress can affect their social standing.
The Environment and Its Problems
In general, college students don’t give much thought to the ecological effects of their wardrobe choices. Forbes estimates that the fast fashion industry consumes and pollutes 79 billion cubic meters of water each year. That’s right; every year, these companies waste enough money to fill 30 billion Olympic-sized swimming pools if they were donated to those in need.
A lot of clothes end up in landfills every year because of the fast fashion business. Products usually only last their owners five or six times before they need to be replaced. Once this procedure is over, the garments are discarded for good.
To paraphrase what Stringer has to say: “Fast fashion as it exists today is unsustainable.”
Students should put money into sustainable, long-lasting clothing. They need to consider the global consequences of fast fashion. They shouldn’t waste money every three weeks on a whole new wardrobe of cheap clothes. So, it is in their best interest to buy durable items.
These eco-friendly garments may be out of your price range. But there are many alternative solutions available. There are a number of options for purchasing clothing in an environmentally responsible and financially sensible way. The Gettysburg Hospital Thrift Store is one example of such a store. Borrowing from loved ones is always an option, as is giving old garments a fresh new look through creative alteration.
