Change is Now: Why You Should be Part of It
Sustainable Fashion Week is not simply an event: we are a cause, an education, a rebellion. We are the fight against fast fashion’s exploitation of people and planet; and the time to support this fight is now.
Most of us do not see the negative consequences of fast fashion in our daily life, and so it can be easy to forget that they exist, or we imagine them as a far-off problem for the future. However, this is not the case. Already, the effects of fast fashion have resulted in a nightmarish reality for so many people across the globe. This year alone, thousands of garment workers have suffered at the hands of fashion brands exploiting their labour, and approximately 92 million tonnes of waste has been created; damaging local ecosystems and overflowing landfill sites.
Earlier this year, fashion retailers pulled their business from factories in overseas countries such as Bangladesh. An estimated £13 billion worth of existing orders were cancelled, putting thousands of people out of work. In a heart-breaking interview with The Guardian, one woman tells of how she couldn’t afford to feed her family: “Once, for two straight days, I had nothing to cook for my children… I thought of killing myself.”
Sadly, 2020 is not the only year to see the exploitation of garment workers, who have for decades endured below minimum wage salaries, dangerous working conditions (which have proved fatal), gender discrimination, breaches of overtime regulations and others human rights issues. Earlier this year, The Sunday Times uncovered that factory workers in Leicester making clothes for Boohoo were being paid as little as £3.50 an hour – not even half the UK’s minimum wage for those over 21.
Fast fashion affects people’s livelihoods beyond its initial manufacturing processes. This year, approximately 300,000 tonnes of clothing waste have collected in landfills, polluting countries which had nothing to do with the production or consumption in the first place.
Unfortunately, textile waste is only one of the major environmental threats of fast fashion: the world’s second largest polluter. The industry accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions, pollutes our land and water with chemicals, floods the oceans with microfibres, leads to severe soil degradation, destroys forests and ecosystems and uses up 79 trillion litres of water annually.
The outcome of fast fashion’s hideous environmental costs are affecting people today. The system has costs lives, and will continue to do so more and more rapidly unless things begin to change.
This is a scary reality, and one which can often seem too daunting and overwhelming to face. However, more frequently we are seeing people, corporations and governments taking positive steps towards a more sustainable future for fashion. The most inspiring work is done within our local communities, and Bristol is a shining example of where change is happening.
Sustainable Fashion Week is expanding on Bristol’s sustainability buzz: we are creating an event to pool the amazing talent, creativity and resourcefulness of our city and demonstrate to the world the power of the sustainable fashion movement.
However, this is not something we can do alone. Already we have seen enormous support from people across the country who have donated to our Crowdfunder,. and every pound raised is taking us one step closer to creating an event which empowers our community and makes a stand against fast fashion.
Please be part of our movement, become a #SFWPioneer and donate at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/sustainable-fashion-week?tk=10fec014faed4063ef300f05e9a7a0bf1bf6f67d
Want to find out more?
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-020-0039-9
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/boohoo-fashion-giant-faces-slavery-investigation-57s3hxcth