FAS1-A2. From Fast-Fashion to Sustainable Fashion

FAS1-A2. From Fast-Fashion to Sustainable Fashion

TIMING/LENGTH (IN MINUTES): 45’

DESCRIPTION

In the following activity we have the mission to be able to go deeper into the impact that the fashion sector has on the environment, and to know the alternatives that have emerged in these years in order to counteract this negative impact on the planet.

DEVELOPMENT/ METHODOLOGY

LEARN

People are increasingly aware of them, but it is still not sufficiently visible that the textile and fashion industry is the second largest waste generator on the planet, and this is due to mass consumerism and ephemeral, fast-consuming fashions. The waste that is generated, the clothes that are not on sale or are out of season, the clothes that you no longer wear but are taking up space in your wardrobe, end up in the dumps, where you only have to wait for years until they decompose. In addition, we have to consider that synthetic fabrics, also made up of plastic fibres, are becoming more and more common, as they release materials and waste even when we wash them, thus polluting water.

On the other hand, we also have to consider the long distances and the transport of goods, which are often manufactured in other countries as a way of lowering production costs, thus increasing the carbon footprint.

The resources spent on manufacturing, dyeing, washing… are excessive. In order to make a pair of jeans, about 7,500 litres of water are spent.

So that you can continue a little more on the impact of fashion on our planet we leave you some items:

All this is reflected in the concept of Fast Fashion. It is a concept that not only refers to the mass production of low-cost clothes, but also to the attitude and behaviour of people who consume them in an excessive way. Fashions that every two months renew clothes or become outdated. In the following article you will discover more about this phenomenon that generates a fictitious need for mass consumption.

Fortunately, another, more eco-friendly movement is gaining strength in the fashion world. Slow Fashion promotes a more responsible consumption of clothes, concerned with production processes, materials and the working conditions of people who work in them. It is committed to local trade and to the recycling and reuse of materials.

More information about Slow Fashion can be found at the following link:

Every day there are more and more companies and organizations that bet on sustainable and ethical fashion, which is not only respectful with the environment, but also with the working conditions of the people who practice it.

Below, we propose that you look for and investigate sustainable clothing brands close to your environment and that you tell us what it is based on, where the novelty of their proposal lies and how they manage to generate a change with their products.

To go deeper into the process of recycling and textile reuse, we leave you some videos so that you can see different entrepreneurial ideas related to these two sectors and you can observe the difference in this sector between reusing and recycling: