Fast Fashion In America

I never thought twice about where clothing came from when making a purchase at Forever21, H&M, or other cheap clothing companies. I often found myself raving about how great these stores were and couldn’t get myself out of the store without buying at least one item, whether it be the $10 shoes, $1.50 accessories, or the $5 shirt that I may only wear once. I didn’t harbor any knowledge as to where these clothes came from or how they are made by people in unsafe work spaces, nor did I comprehend the substantial impact creating fabrics and textiles have on the planet.
In reality, I am not the only one. Not many Americans put much thought into clothing purchases; the universal lack of understanding about clothing overproduction, sweat shops, and related pollution makes most Americans part of the issue. Fast fashion is quickly, yet silently, becoming the shopping norm. Despite being so popular, ‘fast fashion’ is a widely unknown term, although it’s exactly what it sounds like. Generally, fast fashion can be defined as having shorter shelf life, being cheaply priced and made, manufactured quickly in poor conditions, and sold by the thousands. For example, H&M produced 500 million pieces …show more content…
In fact, “the average American throws away 82 pounds of textiles” (how often?) (The True Cost). Fast Fashion tends to wear out quickly. Also, many consumers do not think twice about purchasing items they may only wear once. Some people are conscious enough to avoid throwing clothes away, instead donating barely used items to charities. However, charities are quickly becoming swamped with clothing. Only 10% of clothing actually gets sold at thrift stores (The True Cost). In Haiti, people will buy a large suction packed box of clothes. They won’t know what’s in it, but there’s just so much. Haiti now has very few actual clothing stores because of the charity clothes from America (The True