The High Cost of Cheap Clothes: Fast Fashion’s Earth Day Illusion

Every year on 22nd April, Earth Day rolls around, a moment to reflect on how we treat our planet. In theory, it’s about celebrating sustainability and making pledges to do better. In practice? It’s become a prime opportunity for fast fashion brands to roll out limited-edition ‘eco-friendly’ collections and bombard social media with promises of a greener future. But how much of it is actually true? And are we still buying into it?

The Fast Fashion Fallout

Let’s not sugarcoat it: fast fashion is a major environmental villain. The industry is responsible for around 10% of global carbon emissions and is one of the largest polluters of water sources due to toxic dyes and microplastic shedding from synthetic fabrics. Producing just a single pair of jeans is responsible for 11.5kg OF CO2. And yet, despite these alarming stats, ultra-fast fashion brands like Shein, PrettyLittleThing (PLT), and Boohoo continue to thrive.

Shein, infamous for its rock-bottom prices and breakneck production speeds, reportedly uploads thousands of new styles daily. Many of these garments are made from polyester, a fabric derived from petroleum, notorious for its environmental impact. PLT, a brand that once positioned itself as the ultimate ‘cheap and cheerful’ destination, has recently rebranded with a more ‘luxury’ aesthetic, offering premium ranges and collaborations with A-listers. But a closer look at the labels reveals the same old reliance on synthetics.

Then there’s the human cost. Many garment workers making these clothes face low wages, long hours, and unsafe working conditions. PLT was exposed in 2020 for paying factory workers in Leicester as little as £3.50 an hour, far below minimum wage, while Boohoo, its parent company, was linked to sweatshops operating under similar conditions. And let’s not forget Missguided’s infamous £1 bikini in 2019, a marketing stunt that raised serious ethical questions. If a garment is being sold for £1, what does that mean for the worker who made it? The answer: exploitation.

A garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The production of clothes for foreign designers

Greenwashing: The Industry’s Favourite Trend

Earth Day sees a surge in ‘sustainable’ edits from fast fashion brands, but many of these collections include only a small percentage of recycled or organic fabrics, with the bulk still being made from polyblends. This is classic greenwashing, the practice of misleading consumers into thinking a brand is far more eco-conscious than it actually is.

PLT boasts about sustainability initiatives but continues to churn out thousands of cheap polyester items. Even Zara, which has pledged to be ‘100% sustainable’ by 2030, still produces clothing at an unsustainable rate. The reality is, no brand mass-producing new clothes at this scale can ever be truly sustainable.

The Aftermath: Where Do These Clothes Go?

Once the trend cycle moves on, where do all these garments end up? The answer is often landfills, or, more disturbingly, the overflowing markets of the Global South. Ghana’s Kantamanto Market is one of the biggest dumping grounds for second-hand and unsold fast fashion items. Every week, millions of garments arrive, many of which are completely unwearable. Traders struggle to sell them, and vast amounts end up in landfills or burned, polluting local environments and devastating communities who never asked to be part of the West’s fashion waste problem.

How to Celebrate Earth Day (Without Falling for Greenwashing)

If you want to celebrate Earth Day fashionably without fuelling the fast fashion beast, here are some easy switches:

• Shop second-hand- Vintage and resale platforms like Depop, Vinted, and Vestiaire Collective offer stylish alternatives without the environmental guilt.

• Upcycle your wardrobe- Before throwing out last season’s looks, consider DIY hacks to give them a fresh update.

• Buy less, choose wisely- Investing in quality over quantity is the easiest way to reduce fashion waste.

• Call out greenwashing- Social media is a powerful tool; holding brands accountable forces them to do better.

Dumped clothing waste is strewn around Old Fadama, the largest informal settlement in Accra

So, this Earth Day, let’s make it more than just a hashtag. Let’s ditch the synthetic-filled ‘sustainable’ collections and start demanding real change. Because looking good should never come at the planet’s, or a garment worker’s, expense. Sustainability in fashion isn’t just about using ‘better’ materials; it’s about slowing down production, paying workers fairly, and creating garments that last longer than a single Instagram post.

Written by Vanessa Twerefou