Fast fashion companies like SHEIN and Temu flood social media with advertisements in an attempt to lure people into buying low-quality clothing. While prices seem low, the cost is far higher when measured in environmental impact. This sector of fashion is one fueled by environmental devastation, and as it continues to grow, its ecological consequences become more alarming.
Fast fashion accounts for 10% of carbon emissions and is one of the world’s largest contributors to textile waste, water pollution and microplastic contamination. From the factory to the landfill, every step in a garment’s life cycle leaves a substantial environmental footprint.
Each phase of this ongoing cycle exacerbates environmental damage, adding to the growing piles of waste. Water waste is a major factor in nearly every step of creating fast fashion garments. Annually, fast fashion consumes 79 trillion liters of water, only for each item to be worn around seven to 10 times before it’s thrown out.
Water is essential in cultivating the natural materials needed for clothing production, such as cotton, linen and silk. It’s also necessary for textile dyeing, which is the second largest contributor to water pollution. After dyeing, the leftover water, often contaminated with microplastics, is tossed into bodies of water like rivers and streams, polluting vital water sources. With consumers continuously buying and wasting clothing, the process produces 92 million tons of waste each year.
Adam Charboneau, a lecturer of sustainability and other environmental topics in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, discussed the links between fast fashion, overconsumption and environmental inequality, particularly in the Global South.
“Fast fashion production tends to be concentrated in developing economies with less strict environmental and labor regulations,” Charboneau explained. “[Labor] exploitation extends beyond the factory and into communities that are disproportionately affected by environmental harm.”
Charboneau explained that one method of disposing of textile waste involves shipping it abroad to countries, which most often is in the Global South. These countries often lack advanced waste systems compared to countries like the United States, meaning the environmental damage is greater.
Clothing is often shipped to these countries for reuse, but when the quality is too low, the clothes are discarded in landfills or open-air dumps. Gases and chemicals that release from the discarded clothing as they decompose pollute the groundwater, soil and air. This endangers the environment and the health of citizens in those countries.
One factor worsening this issue is overconsumption in wealthier nations. Charboneau explained that the fashion industry’s waste is largely driven by a cultural obsession with material success where consumption is linked to status.
“Our economy, like many economies, is built to be unending. In terms of expansion, if there are more people, it’s got to grow. [In order to do so, people need] to live more frugally [and] live in a way where success isn’t solely defined by material things,” he explained. “How do you do that when there is an economy that’s built on unending expansion?”
Amidst the ongoing environmental crisis, efforts to reduce fast fashion’s ecological footprint are underway on both a national and an individual scale. In a blink of an eye, these prices have soared due to the ongoing tariff war between the U.S. and China.
These increased tariffs serve as a recent contributor to the fight against fast fashion. While tariffs on imports were designed to protect domestic manufacturing, there are unintended benefits for sustainability in fashion.
Raising tariffs can make overseas production more expensive, which encourages domestic manufacturing, leading to more environmental regulation.
With higher import costs, retailers may begin to shift toward more sustainable and locally produced options or invest in an economy where garments are recycled or repurposed.
However, as Charboneau pointed out, this disruption is not without its challenges, especially in regions where jobs in the fast fashion industry are often the only available employment.
“It’s a tough balance,” he said. “On the one hand, we need to regulate and reduce the harmful environmental practices of the fast fashion industry. On the other hand, we can’t ignore [the fact that]… people in the Global South who rely on these jobs.”
The cultural shift toward sustainable fashion needs to be widespread and impactful. Several fashion, sustainability and environmental groups at Stony Brook University have been key factors in raising awareness and shifting consumption habits.
Mariam Penalta, the treasurer of Fashion Club at Stony Brook and a junior majoring in political science, described the common reasons people succumb to purchasing clothing from fast fashion.
“People never settle, they always want the next best thing and because they cannot afford the next best thing, they [purchase] something cheaper,” Penalta said. “[By shopping sustainably,] you can be more intentional about what you like and what’s good for you, not because you saw it on the internet.”
Josie White, secretary for Fashion Club and a senior majoring in business management, added onto Penalta’s point. She mentioned that, oftentimes, people base their fashion around what is popular rather than creating their own personal style.
“I think the main selling point [is] being able to get something quickly and something that’s trending right now,” White said. “If people really aren’t tapping into their own personal style, they just [buy] what’s trending.”
Penalta and White both mentioned that people with lower income like college students tend to purchase fast fashion garments. The majority of Generation Z-ers are against fast fashion, yet this age group spends $767 on average each year purchasing clothing from fast fashion companies.
“[People] know fast fashion is very harmful for the environment, yet [they] still are promoting it and trying to purchase these items,” White added.
She also highlighted the role their club plays in persuading people to stray away from these habits. She explained that through their monthly thrift shop pop-ups and informative workshops, they are able to provide students with the right tools to understand the damages of fast fashion and potential alternatives.
Similar to Fashion Club, Hidden Treasures is another organization at Stony Brook that promotes sustainability through minimizing waste production. However, Hidden Treasures goes beyond clothing by upcycling unused items and finding them new owners.
Ruth Zhang, the president of Hidden Treasures and a junior majoring in biology, shared that their club was founded by a student who noticed the immense amount of items thrown out by college students as they moved out of their dorms.
“At the end of every semester, we always see a lot of dorm essentials thrown out in the trash that are in perfectly fine condition,” Zhang said. “[Our club’s mission is] to take these items and give them back to the community, to people who need them and maybe don’t have the means of getting them.”
Hidden Treasures has collaborated with clubs like Fashion Club to host events for students focused on promoting sustainability. Zhang shared that each semester, between one and three thrift shop pop-ups are hosted each semester to allow students to thrift clothing donated to their club.
“I believe that change comes from the small things that we do, and then those add up to [some kind of] change that we can do for the environment,” Zhang said.
Aside from Hidden Treasures, there is also Wolfie’s Wardrobe, a student-run thrift store under the Undergraduate Student Government that provides students with affordable clothing at $1 per item.
Shelly Gupta, the vice president of Wolfie’s Wardrobe and a senior majoring in biology, shared that, similar to Fashion Club and Hidden Treasures, Wolfie’s Wardrobe hosts pop-up thrift events. She added that the clothing sold is donated by the student body and the money raised goes toward local charities on Long Island such as the Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island and local homeless shelters.
“Wolfie’s Wardrobe directly addresses the overconsumption and waste promoted by fast fashion by giving new life to donated clothing and making sustainable shopping accessible to students,” Gupta said. “By offering affordable thrifted clothes, we help students build their wardrobes without supporting harmful fast fashion practices.”
Gupta noted their goal is to educate students on making sustainable fashion choices while supporting socially and environmentally responsible causes.
“Our model encourages students to think about reuse, quality over quantity and the environmental impact of their fashion choices,” she said. “At the same time, all proceeds go toward causes that align with our values of social and environmental responsibility, creating a full-circle impact.”
These organizations are just a few examples of efforts aimed at actively minimizing waste by promoting sustainable practices and encouraging conscious consumption.
Fast fashion’s environmental damage is fueled by various factors, and despite efforts being made to reduce the damage on a smaller scale, there is a large and complex barrier which makes tackling this issue difficult.
Charboneau emphasized that on a larger scale, attempting to resolve the damages of fast fashion would be a lengthy and difficult process.
“Usually, [change] doesn’t happen overnight. If there’s any kind of historical analogue, it’s usually some curve where it gets bad before it gets better,” he said. “But should we always have to do that? The answer is no, but it’s hard to make [change] happen.”
