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The Real Cost of Fast Fashion

Cheap, low-quality clothing can spell disaster for the environment

You’re hunting through your closet for an outfit, but all of your sweaters are so last season. It’s tempting to toss them and buy new ones. Cheaply made clothing that isn’t made to last—called “fast fashion”—may be easy on your wallet, but it is hard on the environment.

When a fashion trend dies, your outdated clothing will live on. The trashed garment sits in a landfill, where the synthetic material takes hundreds of years to decompose.

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Watch a video about the chemistry behind blue jeans.

Retailers like ZARA, H&M, and Forever21 based their businesses on fast fashion in the late 1990s. Fashion cycles typically take three to six months from design to when new clothing arrives in stores. “But fast fashion brands can easily copy the designs seen on the runway and have products in stores within four weeks,” says Li Zhao, a textile and apparel management expert at the University of Missouri. 

Over the past 20 years, fast fashion has doubled the amount of textile waste the U.S. produces. Each year, the average American throws away about 80 pounds of used clothing. That’s more than 15 million tons! The dyes used to color clothing are also the second-largest polluter of clean water in the world.

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Discarded clothing makes up about 6% of the trash people throw away every year.

“Our clothing waste is growing due to the prevalence of fast fashion. This is because fast fashion also tends to be disposable fashion,” says Tasha Lewis, a professor of fashion design management at Cornell University in New York. Low quality and quick style shifts cause clothes to lose value rapidly.

Some clothing brands are pushing for more sustainable methods to curb the environmental costs of fast fashion. Retailers like ZARA have started collections made of eco-friendly textiles. Other clothing companies, like H&M, have recycling programs that give coupons to those who donate unwanted clothes.

Another option is choosing to buy clothing from retailers that produce more durable clothing that shoppers will keep for longer periods of time.

Before you decide to refill your wardrobe with the latest trends, think carefully, advises Lewis. “Read labels, research brands, and be an informed consumer.”

A British shopping website surveyed 2,586 people on their shopping habits. Here’s what they paid for different clothing items and how often they wore them. Use it to calculate cost per wear. Round answers to the nearest cent. Record your work and answers on our answer sheet.

Complete the chart below with the cost per wear of different articles of fast-fashion clothing.

A . Based on the chart, which type of clothing has the lowest cost per wear?

B. Which type of clothing has the greatest cost per wear? Why do you think that is so?

A. You pay $154.23 for a high-quality dress in a timeless style and wear it 4 times a month. What is its cost per wear after 1 year?

B. After 5 years?

C. How does this dress’s cost per wear compare with the fast fashion dress’s cost per wear you calculated in the chart?

Pick an item of clothing you bought. Estimate its cost and how many times you have worn it and find its cost per wear. Was the garment a good investment? Explain.

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