The fast fashion industry is being faulted for its role in environmental degradation owing to insistence on producing low-cost clothing that mimics luxury brands. The industry engages in mass production only for the clothes to be dumped as they run their course very quickly. Conservationists establish that fast fashion is unsustainable since it encourages the production of disposable, cheap, and readily available clothes. A focus on fast fashion industry players such as Zara Clothing and H&M points to disregard for sustainability and ethical guidelines.
Sustainability Issues in the Fast Fashion Industry
The fast fashion industry presents several sustainability issues owing to the ease of producing products that go out of fashion as fast. Mass production means an excess of products and chemicals, most of which end in waterways and landfills (Davis, 2020). The industry outsources cheap labor to meet the ever-rising demands, which translates to cheap labor and poor working conditions. Bick et al. (2018) establish that companies manufacture the products in developing countries with low regard to labor laws and pollution regulations. It is important to note that by manufacturing and selling cheap clothing items that go out of fashion as quickly, the industry encourages consumerism. The customers will keep going back to purchase new clothing items to keep up with the emerging trends. In this way, the industry rakes in high-profit margins while at the same time contributes to pollution and resource depletion.
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Responding to Sustainability Issues from Christianity Perspective
The issues relating to the sustainability of the fast fashion industry points to the need to adopt a Christian perspective to understand how it could be resolved.
Environmental conservation should be the focus for Christians as opposed to promoting consumerism, depletion of resources, and pollution. While Christians, too, buy fast fashion trends, they ought to cut down on the spending to save the environment and resources. In a sense, Christians should be aligned to Matthew 6:34 that advises them not to worry about tomorrow. The fast fashion industry seems to focus on tomorrow's needs, something that causes the manufacture of products that go out of fashion as fast.
References
Bick, R., Halsey, E., & Ekenga, C.C. (2018). The global environmental injustice of fast fashion. Environmental Health , 17(1), 92-95. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-018-0433-7
Davis, N. (2020, April 7). Fast fashion speeding toward environmental disaster, report warns. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/apr/07/fast-fashion-speeding-toward-environmental-disaster-report-warns
