Think before you buy about harm done by fast fashion

THE re-opening of big stores and shopping centres across the country this week has seen a frantic scramble, spurring thoughts on the sustainability of the fast fashion industry and the role consumerism plays in our lives. Its role in the lives of others, in a far distant reality, is a particular issue we rarely give a thought to.

Workers in sweatshops that make the €2 tops and socks we buy in bulk from fast fashion retailers are paid a pittance and work in inhumane conditions.

Land-filling and incineration of unused clothes at the end of the supply chain has deeply adverse effects on the environment of those most vulnerable, in developing and Third World countries.

The use of toxic chemicals and microfibres is causing mass contamination of rivers and oceans, again, in areas most vulnerable. The exploitation of animals for their skin and hair is a problem not many think of when making their purchases in high street stores.

The list of impacts is endless but the problem at its core is the disconnect in the minds of consumers between where your clothes come from and where they end up.

They are made in Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, China and so on, by normal people, usually young women trying to provide for their families by withstanding harsh and unfair conditions for near to no pay.

They are made from finite resources that will eventually run out and leave the environment in tatters.

And so I would like to pose these questions to frequent shoppers: Is it worth it? Do you think about where it comes from when you’re buying something you “cannot live without”? Ruth Kiely

Dublin 22