Fast fashion rapidly took over the fashion industry. From the 1990’s-2000’s, low-cost fashion reached a peak. Online shopping took off, and fast fashion retailers like H&M, Zara, and SHEIN took over the high street. These brands took the looks and design elements from the top fashion houses and reproduced them quickly and cheaply. While shopping online and finding a cute shirt for only $4.99 might sound like a good deal, is it worth it?

Not only do those $4.99 shirts cause air and water pollution, climate change, food insecurity, and toxic chemicals in groundwater and soil, but they also exploit garment workers who work in dangerous environments, for low wages, and without fundamental human rights. One cotton t-shirt requires more than 700 gallons of water and releases the same greenhouse gas emissions as driving a car for about 10 miles (Medium). It doesn’t sound too lovely, does it? Around the world, the equivalent of one dump truck filled with clothing is sent to a landfill or incinerator every second, and more than $100 billion worth of materials are wasted each year. Why buy cheaply made clothes that are destroying the environment and hurting people around the world to throw them away or stuff in a drawer never to be touched again after the trend is over? Nobody is winning in this scenario except the multimillion-dollar companies exploiting people such as the garment workers in Bangladesh who went on strike over their low wages garnering international attention. It is becoming increasingly difficult for brands to turn a blind eye to the exploitation of their labor forces as it is being brought more and more into the public eye.

As fast fashion gets faster, turning a blind eye and ignoring the problem is no longer going to work. As people are starting to face the consequences of these fast fashion business’s actions, such as climate change and toxic soil, action needs to be taken. Shopping small is so important, not only for small business owners’ livelihood but the economy as well. Shop small.