The Scary Similarities Between Fast Food and Fast Fashion

Light on your wallet and easily accessible, fast food and Fast Sustainable Fashion are two sides of the same coin that satisfy short lived needs — neither one of which is sustainable. Ahead, we uncover the stark similarities between the two that will help you reconsider your next indulgence. 

Inexpensive pricing doesn’t always mean a good thing. A £4.99 value meal or t-shirt stems from some form of exploitation or another somewhere along the supply chain. Earlier last month, an undercover investigation revealed that garment workers that made clothes for fast-fashion retailer Boohoo were paid as little as £3.50 an hour, even though the minimum wage in Britain for those aged 25 and over is £8.72. Flipping burgers doesn’t pay enough either and almost 80% of fast food employees have suffered multiple injuries at work.

Studies claim that eating fast food may kill more people prematurely than cigarette smoking. An average Big Mac is high in sugar, salt, and saturated or trans fats, as well as many processed preservatives and ingredients. The health risks of consuming which come with that of obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and various cardiovascular conditions. Fast fashion on the other hand is not only made from synthetic materials but also processed with carcinogenic chemicals like formaldehyde that has been linked to dermatitis and lung cancer. Watch out for fast fashion labeled ‘easy care’, ‘wrinkle-free’ or ‘shrinkage-free’ as they are often treated with formaldehyde that can’t be scrubbed off with detergent or water.

Livia Firth, founder of the sustainable platform Eco-Age once quoted; “Fast fashion is like fast food. After the sugar rush, it just leaves a bad taste in your mouth,” and we couldn’t agree more. Fast fashion, like fast food has long survived on its ability to reach the consumer at warp speed. For clothes, this has given rise to a throwaway culture that makes fast fashion akin to single-use purchases, owing to their cheap quality of material and make. Over the past 15 years, global Sustainable Women's Clothing production doubled to meet demand and left a trail of cast-offs, with more than half of fast fashion items thrown away in less than a year. This form of consumerism emerging from both industries has not only led to climate change but perpetuated a capitalist culture that has left the consumer with little regard for the social and environmental impact being caused.

Published by: Vibhuti Vazirani/ 2020-09-24