'Can fast fashion ever be sustainable?', a question I have pondered upon more than anything else in the past few years, and yet failed to provide myself with a satisfactory answer. As I understand, sustainable fashion means to maximize benefits to customers and minimize adverse impact on environment.
Each time we hear the words 'environment degradation', our visual sense tends to drift towards instances like massive thermal plants, deforestation, raw sewage piped into our waterways; we rarely ever think of the clothes that we are wearing. Not many of us are aware of the fact that currently the multi-billion fashion industry is one of the largest polluters in the world. With million tons of textile being disposed off every year, it is certain that the carbon footprint the industry is leaving behind is massive. Each one of us should start exploring ways to make a positive difference.
One of the easiest ways for us to contribute is to buy a lot less than we do today. We need to understand that every garment has an environmental footprint at every stage of production and also continues to impact the environment after purchase. Washing and final disposal when we are done with our garment causes more harm to the environment than we realize.
However, there have been events and projects that we can all rejoice about. Anyone keeping a tab on the fashion industry for the last few years, is bound to be well aware of the era of responsibility rushing in. Fast fashion brands have been realising their responsibility towards the environment. H&M's Conscious and Zara's join life project on ethical fashion serve as proof to the growing awareness among the producers as well as consumers. With events like Copenhagen Fashion Summit shaping the future of sustainable fashion, one can be assured that there is only one way forward: sustainable and ethical fashion replacing fast fashion.
