Scanning through aisles, waiting in lines and juggling multiple items used to be a part of the joyful thrill of shopping. However, it is now considered an inconvenience, especially following the global pandemic. Shopping in-person became increasingly obsolete as consumers grew dependent on online shopping, leading to an overconsumption of online fast fashion clothing brands.

What is “Fast Fashion?”

According to thegoodtrade.com, brands categorized as “fast fashion” use a marketing technique replicating popular items on social media and mass producing identical products at a lower price and quality, but at a quicker pace. The products from these brands usually receive lower rated reviews, with most consumers complaining about how different the product is compared to how it was advertised. For example, products are usually described by customers as being made with cheap materials, promoting chemical-like odors and appearing visibly different. Freshman Ava Mac Vittie explained her worst online shopping experience: “One time I bought a jacket and it came in the wrong color, size, and with holes in it.” While fast fashion in theory is believed to be genuinely harmless, these brands not only severely endanger the environment, but also society.

Societal Problems

The popularity of fast fashion brands is considered a key factor in society’s problem of overconsuming products. Because these brands produce products at a cheap price, it is easy to spend hundreds of dollars on products that may seem unnecessary. According to earthday.org, Brands entice customers into buying more products by exploiting the dopamine that people receive when purchasing items, a neurological chemical that is released when one feels happy or excited. Fast fashion brands purposefully price their products at a very low price, making shoppers think they are getting a good deal on items when they are just excusing the idea of overspending.

“Sometimes I’m tempted to spend money on clothing items just because they are on sale,” freshman Layla Arshad vocalized, “I think stores put things on sale as an excuse to get customers to buy more products from them.”

Environmental Problems

Another problem with fast fashion is its active contribution to the worldwide problem of waste in landfills. According to investopedia.com, as fast fashion brands produce items at a quick rate, a lot of fabric and materials are wasted on creating unused products, whether they are purchased or not. This overflows the land, ocean and wildlife with millions of pieces of trash. In addition, the process of production contributes towards polluting the atmosphere with dangerous chemicals, and can ultimately lead to degradation of the ozone layer. “I try to avoid shopping for fast fashion brands if I can so that I am able to preserve materials from ending up in the landfills and filling our earth with products that take a long time to degrade,” sophomore Sophia Lachinov said.

What you can do:

In order to help the Earth from the effects of fast fashion and decrease the amount of wasted materials, you can shop for sustainable brands. Sustainable brands make sure their materials are easily recyclable or are upcycled from old products. Likewise, going thrifting is another great way to conserve the environment, as it promotes shopping for second-hand clothing at a reduced price. Shopping at thrift stores, flea markets and yard sales contributes towards recycling unused clothing pieces. “To me, it is really important to sustainably shop, whether it is clothing items or not,” Lachinov added, “No matter what I’m doing, I always make sure to do my part in keeping this world clean and healthy.”

It is important to recognize the downsides of shopping for fast fashion brands. Cats, before pressing the purchase button, think about how this brand could be affecting the Earth and how you can impact the environment.