Introduction
The production of clothing causes enormous damage to the environment. The frequency with which people buy more and more new clothes is explained, among other things, by their low cost. However, the cost of wastefulness to the environment is truly gigantic. In this study of the dark side of fast fashion, based on the Fashion’s Dirty Secrets film, attention will be paid to its impact on the environment and the population and what this leads to.
Fast Fashion’s Impact on the Environment in Indonesia and Central Asia
One of the regions most influenced by fast fashion is Indonesia: “This is one of many developing countries across Asia that have become international hubs for clothes production” (2018). In addition to local textile manufacturers, this state is also engaged in producing fabrics and large clothing brands. Namely: “High Street brands like Primark, H&M, and Gap also manufacture clothes here” (2018). Hundreds of factories are located on the country’s territory. As the locals say: “They say that hundreds of factories in the area, including some connected to High Street brands, have been used in the river as a sewer” (2018). It can be understood that such an amount of waste dumped into the Chatham river hurts the environment.
The second region will be the Aral Sea, located in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The sea once covered a vast area: “Covering 68 million square kilometers, it was a haven for Fish and Wildlife and famed for its beauty” (2018). Nevertheless, given the above example of Indonesia, one can assume it looks completely different. The region’s problem is growing cotton: “Today, the sea is now famous as a symbol of Cotton’s devastating impact on the environment” (2018). Unlike the previous example, the problem is not water pollution but water use for irrigation. This process began in the 60s: “The mighty Aral has been shrinking since the 60s, ever since the region was developed for cotton production” (2018). To be precise, irrigation water is not drawn from the sea but from the rivers that feed it.
Fast Fashion’s Impact on Population in Indonesia and Central Asia
Given the information about river pollution in Indonesia, it can be understood that this industry also affects residents. According to the movie: “Another shocking thing is that people live along this river’s banks, and many use untreated river water for almost all of their daily needs” (2018). The worst thing about this situation is that people have no alternative; they are obliged to use dirty water and cannot do anything about it. Various problems follow from this, one of them being health-related. As one of the residents states: “Many here complain of skin problems that their doctors cannot treat” (2018). Thus, the discharge of waste into the river affects the environment and the nearby people.
In order not to repeat the dangers of water pollution for health, in the case of the Aral Sea, it is worth turning to the socio-economic problem of the issue. As mentioned earlier, the sea was once full of fish, which cannot be said about now. One of the leading industries in the region was fishing, and the major blow from the drying up of the Aral fell on it: “An entire fishing industry was wiped out. 10s of thousands of jobs were lost” (2018). A huge number of people lost their jobs, and that’s not to mention the fact that, most likely, there were people for whom fishing was the only source of food. The best description of the current situation would be: “Economic inequality and the opportunism of the fashion industry – using power to extract wealth while impoverishing lives” (GEOG 101). In the examples given, the population suffers from the activities of large companies in many facets of life.
Conclusion
To sum up, the production of clothes in large quantities has a devastating effect on both people and the environment. One can say that the concept of fast fashion is to blame for this because companies are releasing more and more clothes due to the rapid change in trends. The saddest thing about this situation is that innocent and uninvolved people suffer simply because they were born in these regions. The film vividly shows the horror of the current situation.
Bibliography
2018. Fashion’s Dirty Secrets. CBC. Web.
Development and Political Geography. GEOG 101. Web.