Written by: Kailyn
Edited by: Victoria
Rows of jackets at Zara’s headquarters in Arteixo, Spain, October 2018. Business Insider/Mary Hanbury
What is fast fashion?
Fast fashion is when clothing designs are moved quickly from the catwalk to stores in order to meet new trends, according to Investopedia. It allows the everyday consumer to purchase trendy clothing at an affordable price.
Major clothing brands are trying to keep up with the high demand for clothes, so they are constantly producing pieces that are oftentimes made with cheap material, hence why fast fashion is sometimes called disposable fashion.
While there are a few benefits to fast fashion, the negative aspects stand out more such as pollution, poor workmanship, and poor working conditions in developing countries. Today we’ll think about ocean pollution.
How does it impact our ocean?
Microfibers are commonly found in fast fashion. These are tiny bits of plastic less than five millimeters in length and as we’ve discussed on this blog, plastic + the ocean = big trouble. These plastics are found in fabrics such as polyester and acrylic. The fashion industry contributes about 20 percent of wastewater and 10 percent of carbon emissions globally, according to the UN.
“Well, it can be quite surprising to know that a majority of the clothes that we wear and that we buy are made out of plastic,” said researcher Imogen Napper at the University of Plymouth to CTV News.
Vancouver-based marine conservation organization Ocean Wise released a report in October 2019 that estimated U.S. and Canadian households released more than 870 tons of plastic microfibers into the ocean annually from laundry alone. Let that sink in. 870 tons is equivalent to the weight of ten blue whales.
A blue rectangular piece of microplastic is visible on a researcher’s finger on Wednesday, May 19, 2010 in Tacoma, Wash. New research suggests North Americans eat, drink and inhale tens of thousands of tiny plastic particles every year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Ted S. Warren
Research has found that microfibers have been adding to overall microplastics pollution and accumulating in the food chain.
“With the microplastics, with the smaller pieces, we know from laboratory studies that there’s the potential for those small pieces to cause harm,” said marine biologist Richard Thompson.
The same concerns are echoed in Ocean Wise’s report, which highlights that microplastics and microfibers are mistaken for food by marine life and can work their way up the food chain. This means that we could potentially be consuming plastic as well which can cause health issues for us.