Slay Now, Pay Later: The Fast Fashion Dilemma

YOUGAL SAPKOTA

On Environment Day, while most people focus on plastic pollution, deforestation, or air quality, but one trending yet often ignored source of pollution is the clothes we wear. Fast fashion has made it normal to buy new outfits every week, wear them once for a party or an Instagram reel, and then discard them just to avoid repeating clothes. But behind every "classy look" is a heavy cost, toxic dyes polluting rivers, massive water consumption, and heaps of textile waste piling up in landfills. Our obsession with staying trendy is silently choking the planet, and it's time we rethink our habits, normalize outfit repeating, and choose sustainable fashion over mindless consumption. Fast fashion is a clothing industry model that focuses on rapidly producing large volumes of trendy, low-cost garments to keep up with constantly changing styles.

Buy One , Destroy One Free (Earth Included)

Fast fashion brands like Zara, H&M, Zudio, and Shein, along with e-commerce platforms such as Myntra, Amazon, Ajio, and Flipkart, employ aggressive marketing strategies like"Buy One, Get One Free," "End of Season Sales," "Festive Offers," and "Clearance Discounts" to attract consumers into impulsive purchases. These tactics foster a culture of overconsumption, where clothing is bought not out of necessity but due to perceived deals and trends. Consequently, a significant portion of these garments is discarded shortly after purchase, contributing to the staggering 92 million tonnes of textile waste produced annually, with projections indicating this could rise to 134 million tonnes by the end of the decade . This cycle not only strains landfill capacities but also contribute in environmental degradation.