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HERO ID
7314411
Reference Type
Journal Article
Subtype
Letter
Title
The global environmental injustice of fast fashion
Author(s)
Bick, R; Halsey, E; Ekenga, CC
Year
2018
Is Peer Reviewed?
1
Journal
Environmental Health
EISSN:
1476-069X
Publisher
BioMed Central Ltd.
Volume
17
Issue
1
Page Numbers
92
Language
English
PMID
30591057
DOI
10.1186/s12940-018-0433-7
Web of Science Id
WOS:000454589700001
Abstract
Fast fashion, inexpensive and widely available of-the-moment garments, has changed the way people buy and dispose of clothing. By selling large quantities of clothing at cheap prices, fast fashion has emerged as a dominant business model, causing garment consumption to skyrocket. While this transition is sometimes heralded as the "democratization" of fashion in which the latest styles are available to all classes of consumers, the human and environmental health risks associated with inexpensive clothing are hidden throughout the lifecycle of each garment. From the growth of water-intensive cotton, to the release of untreated dyes into local water sources, to worker's low wages and poor working conditions; the environmental and social costs involved in textile manufacturing are widespread.In this paper, we posit that negative externalities at each step of the fast fashion supply chain have created a global environmental justice dilemma. While fast fashion offers consumers an opportunity to buy more clothes for less, those who work in or live near textile manufacturing facilities bear a disproportionate burden of environmental health hazards. Furthermore, increased consumption patterns have also created millions of tons of textile waste in landfills and unregulated settings. This is particularly applicable to low and middle-income countries (LMICs) as much of this waste ends up in second-hand clothing markets. These LMICs often lack the supports and resources necessary to develop and enforce environmental and occupational safeguards to protect human health. We discuss the role of industry, policymakers, consumers, and scientists in promoting sustainable production and ethical consumption in an equitable manner.
Keywords
Environmental health; Environmental justice; Fast fashion; Global health; Occupational health; Sustainability; consumer; environmental health; environmental impact; environmental policy; fast fashion; global environmental injustice; global health; health care cost; health hazard; human; landfill; low middle income country; middle income country; nonhuman; occupational safety; priority journal; Review; safety; social justice; standard; sustainable growth; textile industry; textile waste; waste; clothing; occupational health; public policy; social justice; socioeconomics; sustainable development; textile industry; Clothing; Environmental Health; Humans; Occupational Health; Public Policy; Social Justice; Socioeconomic Factors; Sustainable Development; Textile Industry; Waste Products
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