How many items of clothing have you bought this year that remain unworn in your closet? Online shopping has made the process of buying clothes feel effortless, but at a massive environmental cost. Fast fashion encourages a constant production and disposal of clothing, which creates large amounts of waste and pollution. We are obligated to reduce overconsumption, and support environmentally friendly companies.
One consequence of online shopping is that it encourages overconsumption and overproduction. Student researchers from the University of Pennsylvania explain that the fast fashion model constantly floods stores and websites with new merchandise, and that this “encourages the buyer to buy various iterations of the same item if they like it, because it’s so easy.” Online shopping definitely increases consumer convenience, but it promotes overconsumption and pressures companies to overproduce an unnecessary and wasteful amount of clothing.
In addition to supporting overconsumption and overproduction, online shopping also contributes to pollution and global carbon emissions. According to Earth.org, “fast fashion production comprises 10% of total global carbon emissions, as much as the emissions generated by the European Union.” This statistic alone clearly shows how harmful fast fashion is to the environment. Unfortunately shoppers don’t always realize the impact of their purchases, but reducing overconsumption can help minimize this issue.
Lastly, fast fashion relies heavily on environmentally damaging chemicals and materials. The Environmental Innovative Initiative emphasizes that “clothing production requires dyes and other chemical treatments, to stop shrinking, to have garments hold color, or to resist the elements.” The fast fashion model produces cheap clothing options for consumers to buy online easily, but the materials used in the process are extremely harmful to the planet. The chemicals released from this clothing production contribute to increased pollution, global warming and damage to nearby ecosystems and communities.
Although some may argue that online shopping is better for the environment by replacing individual car trips, this argument fails to account for the many consequences of online shopping, such as overconsumption, pollution and material waste. Not to mention online shopping sends out more delivery trucks which creates more traffic and carbon emissions. Consumers should buy less, longer-lasting clothing from ethical companies that don’t exploit natural resources.
Online shopping and fast fashion have contributed to overproduction and overconsumption, increased pollution and global carbon emissions and material waste that strains natural resources. Buying longer-lasting clothing from moral companies can help lessen this damage. No amount of money spent on cheaper clothes is worth the devastation it will cause our planet.