Katie Callihan
11/19/15
Fast Fashion: its Basic Negative Impact On Our Environment and the Moral Demand for Change
Ask your parents, your grandparents – clothes were made to last. Hanging in a small, portable wardrobe would be - a sturdy pair of pants, Sunday slacks, a few collard shirts, a solid coat, and a single pair of well-bound leather shoes. Clothes were expensive – children grew up understanding the cost of what they wore. Thus, clothing was treated with respect and people had an attitude of longevity toward their daily fabrics. If a hem were to loosen, or a seam tear, children, mothers, were knowledgeable in how to patch and sew – providing that article of clothing with an extended lifespan. The materials used were organic, coming from wholesome, local famers. People knew where their clothing came from, some could probably tell you the exact hands of the very person who had sewn them. ‘MADE IN USA’ was unnecessary to brand because so was everything else. New clothing items were sold in synchronization with nature and its four seasons. Today, new clothes are sold in synchronization with a consumer’s weekly paycheck making a cycle of about 52 seasons – one per week in each year. This is generating about 80 billion pieces of new clothing created annually which is 400% more than two decades ago. Because of this high demand, a term ‘fast fashion’ has come into focus – those looking deep at this term are both clothing companies and environmentalists. We’ve all
Before the Civil War, mass produced clothing was not readily available. During the Pre-Civil War era, clothing was largely “made by tailors, by individuals, or by their family members at home” (National Institute of Standards and Technology). Yet, after the onset of the Civil War, there was an increased demand for
a) Decide on a program/initiative that you think would be worthy of the team creating. Describe the program/initiative.
Fashion is everything to society and the media. The fashion industry has transformed into a necessity in the life of people. Everyone wants to look good, feel fabulous and feel as if we belong with everyone else. The envy and desire to wear certain things and look a certain way all come, from wearing the latest fashion handbags, accessories, dresses, shoes, and the list goes on. But, when is considering fashion into an individual’s life going too far to the extreme? Many do not consider the whereabouts of fashion materials and how the environment is affected by the mere existence of certain garments. Some may believe these objects grow on trees. But that is clearly not the case. Even though it would be nice. The fashion industry as a
2. Richard M. Johns (2006). The Apparel Industry. 2nd ed. UK, London: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.. 1-124.
Case Study 1.2 “Geoffrey B. Small is Big on Quality, Customers, Community” is about a leading fashion designer that does not want his customers to think about the brand name, color, style or price of the fabrics they wear. Small’s wants his customers to be “thinking about the quality and origins of the fabrics you wear, their impact on the environment, and your own view of social responsibility as a customer.” Even if the customer cannot afford his clothing he wants them to understand his mission as a designer.
Transition: Now that let’s discuss how the fast fashion impacts and how it can be solved.
How does the average household income in a city compare to the health of the Clinton River for upstream vs downstream? This topic is worthy of investigation because it takes a closer look at how the environment interacts with society. This topic is significant because it allows cities that have rivers located within to be more cautious about the river. If the city is located near the downstream part of the river, then the city will know to take extra precautions to preserve the river. This knowledge will be useful in all regions of the world since there are bodies of water through out.
The fact that there is so much competition in the clothing industry forces companies to seek the cheapest labor and material. To get products that are the least environmentally harmful will cost the company more money. That can lead future CEO’s to look for less expensive resources that may not meet their current standards. For example, because Patagonia makes synthetic clothing, plastics used to make the clothing release micro-plastics into the water when washed. These micro-plastics cannot be completely filtered by waste water filtering plants. (Martinko, Katherine)
Credibility statement: A university of Georgia professor gave an hour-long ted talk talking about her experiences of working and traveling to different countries seeing the fast fashion industry at first hands. She now teaches about fashion sustainability and the cycles of the fast fashion market.
Americans love to shop. With malls everywhere you go, shopping just might be America's favorite past time! When you are out shopping though, do you ever stop to think where all of those clothes and shoes come from? When I was younger, well, actually until recently, I always thought they were all made by machines. Shirt machines, pants machines…you get the picture. I have learned, however, that for the most part, clothes are still made on sewing machines, by people, and often under circumstances that we can only imagine.
The United States is divided with the controversial topic of legalizing marijuana with opposes proclaiming it is a drug and has considerable side effects, and supporters saying it had been proven to be beneficial medically. More than twenty states have legalized medical marijuana, and seven have legalized recreational marijuana. In all, marijuana should be legalized for it has many medical benefits, and is less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco.
This papers purpose is to teach fashion heavy consumers on the real price of fast fashion and how buying it affects the environment. This type of audience can be anyone who partakes in the buying of well-known cheap retail stores that have a large audience of being fast and obtainable. These consumers should have the information on how fast fashion effects are environment so it could possibly alter their buying habits to be eco-friendlier but buying either less or more sustainable clothing instead of the cheap alternatives. This audience should care about this purpose because this will affect the world now and for future generations as their environment is being mistreated because of these fast
Generations ahead of us only had a tiny wardrobe, where clothes were not washed every day. In our generation, fast fashion is in. It’s ok to have multiple shirts or shoes of the same color. It’s actually ok to throw away unwanted apparel. Apparel companies are beginning to focus on sustainable fashion, also known as eco fashion. Apparel, fashion, and textiles is the most polluting industry in the world. Every stage, that a garment goes through, uses up and threatens our resources.
The American Express company also known as Amex, it is an American multinational corporation. The company was eventually started as an express mail business in Buffalo, New York. It was formed as a joint stock corporation through the merger of express companies owned by Henry Wells( Wells Company), William G. Fargo (Livingston, Fargo and company)and John Warren Butterfield (Wells, Butterfield and company).
For almost twenty years now, people have been relying on fast fashion, a fairly new notion, which