Fast fashion and the impact on the environment

As our society becomes more socially aware, it is becoming clear that 'fast fashion' is a major contributor to not only landfill, but also as an intensive user of resources.

As many of you will recall, when we were growing up - you would buy an item of clothing and expect it to last for a number of years.  Now, it appears that some items are only designed to be washed several times, before they are added to the landfill.  Personally, I have always preferred classic clothes made of good quality that will last me many years (some of my clothes are over 20 years old).  

Buying good quality garments, and laundering them and storing them properly (which usually isn't in a pile on the floor....) will mean that they will last longer.  I have been tempted into purchases of the cheaper garments, but when I found that they lose shape quickly, or the fabric doesn't last, or they fade out, I have rapidly gone back to buying that long lasting more expensive quality garments.

I regularly donate my clothes to hospice shops, so was shocked to see the claim in one of these articles below, that only 1 in 5 items donated to hospice shops are sold, the rest go to landfill (I really do wonder why they don't just put out a 10 cent bin... or 5 for 20 cent bin).

I don't tend to get time to peruse the items in the 'pre-loved' clothing shops, but some of my favourite clothes have come from these shops (several that still had labels on them, and look great on me - but obviously weren't right for the previous owner).

The articles below are food for thought.  Let us know your thoughts and experiences.

Here is an interesting excerpt from Jane Cliftons article on fast fashion:

Curiously, it was a trip by Melania Trump to Texas last year that came closest to a mind-focusing cut-through. It wasn’t a statement she intended to make, but her choice of a Zara-brand jacket emblazoned “I really don’t care, do U?” inadvertently proved a priceless conversation starter.
The inexpensive jacket is nothing to a wealthy American president’s wife, but would have taken more than 3000 litres of water, a dollop of noxious chemicals, not to mention labour priced at well below anyone’s idea of a living wage, to reach the First Lady. It was one of 450 million similarly unsustainable garments Zara pumped out that year.

The shocking price of fast fashion

How to not buy any new clothes in 2020

Adam Minter on the global economy of secondhand goods (Podcast from Saturday Morning with Kim Hill 01/02/2020)