Today I will be writing my article...
One of the biggest ways teens keep up with the hottest trends is through fashion. Celebrities such as Kanye West and the Kardashians have sparked up trend after trend, which has caused a huge demand for popular clothing stores to keep up with. Although clothing companies have been doing a good job at supplying the demands from teens, a lot of people don't know that they are actually hurting the environment by buying from these mainstream companies. I spoke with a friend of mine about this issue to test how educated she was on this terrible trend called... fast fashion.
SO WHAT EXACTLY IS FAST FASHION?
"...Fast Fashion is the process of clothes being mass-produced... trends go in and out and the clothes that aren't sold are put into landfills", According to Alexa. She is right. Fast Fashion is the term used to describe clothing that is produced on a massive scale to reach demands from consumers, including teens. These clothing articles are often made of cheap, unsustainable materials. Once trends go out of style, they are simply tossed away in the trash. Many popular clothing brands, such as Hollister, Zara, H&M, and Forever 21 use some level of fast fashion in their clothing. However, many teens do not realize that most of the places they regularly shop are using fast fashion, so I asked Alexa to see if she was aware. "I like to shop at a long of second-hand stores... sometimes Pacsun and Nike." Second hand stores are a good alternative to shopping at mainstream stores that use fast fashion. Normally, it is easy to find trendy brands such as Champion, American Eagle, and H&M for half the price. Not only does this save money, but it also prevents the profit made of that article from going to stores that utilize fast fashion. However, Alexa mentioned that she also sometimes shops at the more trendy stores, such as Nike.
Although most trending teen fashion stores do use fast fashion, it is good to do research about each brand before assuming so. According to Nike's newspage, they claim that they are doing the best they can to limit their environmental impact. They include statistics like, for example, that 75% of energy used in their facilities were from renewable resources. It is important that fashion companies start using sustainable business practices to lessen their impact on the enviroment. However, just because companies claim that they're doing good things for the environment does not mean they are still not doing anything bad. The website goodforyou.eco mentions that Nike scored a 36 out of 100 on the 2017 Fashion Transparency Index, which means that the company does not make a lot it's environmental practices public. This indicates that Nike has a lot of things going on in their franchises that they keep secret, which may include fast fashion.
*photo with caption*
Even though some companies may reduce their impact through fast fashion, it still does not make enough of a change. According to Business Insider, the average American throws away 81 pounds of clothing a year, totaling up to 13 million pounds. Additionally, fast fashion makes up 10 percent of the overall carbon emissions and is the second largest consumer of water supply globally. "It's disgusting" says Alexa. "We could easily prevent this." This is true. By simply doing research about a company and finding out their sustainability reports, people can easily find out which fashion companies to support and vice versa.
Although Alexa knows a lot about fast fashion and it's detrimental effects, many teens do not. It is important that teens become more educated on fast fashion because the teenagers of today are going to be the adults of tomorrow who have the power to make a change. And it is actually as simple as buying from thrift shops, donating unwanted clothes, and doing research about a brand before buying their products. Little changes in shopping habits can catch on in numbers, which may lead to something even bigger. It is time that a new trend rises up. One that favors sustainability over affordability. Because in the end, a piece of clothing is not worth the destruction of our planet... and eventually ourselves.
This entire article will take up the last of the four pages of my magazine. This is because the picture for my article of Alexa will take up the entire third page. I am a little nervous because I wrote a lot and I do not think the text will fit along side with the caption. However, I know that if it does not all fit, I am definitely going to cut out the part that talks about Nike first and go from there. Otherwise, I would have to add a fifth page.
One of the biggest ways teens keep up with the hottest trends is through fashion. Celebrities such as Kanye West and the Kardashians have sparked up trend after trend, which has caused a huge demand for popular clothing stores to keep up with. Although clothing companies have been doing a good job at supplying the demands from teens, a lot of people don't know that they are actually hurting the environment by buying from these mainstream companies. I spoke with a friend of mine about this issue to test how educated she was on this terrible trend called... fast fashion.
SO WHAT EXACTLY IS FAST FASHION?
"...Fast Fashion is the process of clothes being mass-produced... trends go in and out and the clothes that aren't sold are put into landfills", According to Alexa. She is right. Fast Fashion is the term used to describe clothing that is produced on a massive scale to reach demands from consumers, including teens. These clothing articles are often made of cheap, unsustainable materials. Once trends go out of style, they are simply tossed away in the trash. Many popular clothing brands, such as Hollister, Zara, H&M, and Forever 21 use some level of fast fashion in their clothing. However, many teens do not realize that most of the places they regularly shop are using fast fashion, so I asked Alexa to see if she was aware. "I like to shop at a long of second-hand stores... sometimes Pacsun and Nike." Second hand stores are a good alternative to shopping at mainstream stores that use fast fashion. Normally, it is easy to find trendy brands such as Champion, American Eagle, and H&M for half the price. Not only does this save money, but it also prevents the profit made of that article from going to stores that utilize fast fashion. However, Alexa mentioned that she also sometimes shops at the more trendy stores, such as Nike.
Although most trending teen fashion stores do use fast fashion, it is good to do research about each brand before assuming so. According to Nike's newspage, they claim that they are doing the best they can to limit their environmental impact. They include statistics like, for example, that 75% of energy used in their facilities were from renewable resources. It is important that fashion companies start using sustainable business practices to lessen their impact on the enviroment. However, just because companies claim that they're doing good things for the environment does not mean they are still not doing anything bad. The website goodforyou.eco mentions that Nike scored a 36 out of 100 on the 2017 Fashion Transparency Index, which means that the company does not make a lot it's environmental practices public. This indicates that Nike has a lot of things going on in their franchises that they keep secret, which may include fast fashion.
*photo with caption*
Even though some companies may reduce their impact through fast fashion, it still does not make enough of a change. According to Business Insider, the average American throws away 81 pounds of clothing a year, totaling up to 13 million pounds. Additionally, fast fashion makes up 10 percent of the overall carbon emissions and is the second largest consumer of water supply globally. "It's disgusting" says Alexa. "We could easily prevent this." This is true. By simply doing research about a company and finding out their sustainability reports, people can easily find out which fashion companies to support and vice versa.
Although Alexa knows a lot about fast fashion and it's detrimental effects, many teens do not. It is important that teens become more educated on fast fashion because the teenagers of today are going to be the adults of tomorrow who have the power to make a change. And it is actually as simple as buying from thrift shops, donating unwanted clothes, and doing research about a brand before buying their products. Little changes in shopping habits can catch on in numbers, which may lead to something even bigger. It is time that a new trend rises up. One that favors sustainability over affordability. Because in the end, a piece of clothing is not worth the destruction of our planet... and eventually ourselves.
This entire article will take up the last of the four pages of my magazine. This is because the picture for my article of Alexa will take up the entire third page. I am a little nervous because I wrote a lot and I do not think the text will fit along side with the caption. However, I know that if it does not all fit, I am definitely going to cut out the part that talks about Nike first and go from there. Otherwise, I would have to add a fifth page.
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