4 Charts that Prove Fast Fashion Can’t Be Sustainable

‍Fast fashion brands like Shein, H&M, Zara, and Boohoo are always spinning up new greenwashing marketing tactics to try and persuade consumers that they’re making sustainability efforts. But the very nature of fast fashion is that it requires rapid production and overconsumption, which exploits humans and resources from our planet.

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By choosing quality over quantity and shopping secondhand or with sustainable fashion brands, you save money and help counter exploitative labor practices. 

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Here are four charts to show the scope of fast fashion’s impact across the globe. 

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Fast fashion brand make us feel like we need more clothes than we actually do

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On average, people 
in the U.S. buy 53 garments per year. That’s about 
one new garment every week.

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Trends and microtrends make us feel like we need every new style

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Ultra-fast fashion company, Shein has set a new record for trendy, adding an average of 6,000 new styles to their website every day in the first few months of 2020. Constant new styles perpetuate a breakneck pace for consumers to feel like we have to keep up. 

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Low-quality synthetic fabrics are overtaking apparel production

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Synthetic fibers like polyester, nylon, and acrylic are forms of plastic made from fossil fuels. They’re cheaper and, therefore, more popular with fast fashion brands.

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Most fast fashion clothes end up in landfills

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Globally we produce about 100 billion garments each year and 
send 92 billion the landfill. Because they’re not made to last, and they’re made from non-recyclable fabrics, fast fashion clothing is prone to end up in landfills where it can sit for centuries.