Why our addiction to cheap, disposable clothing is an environmental disaster

In Paris next week, Dubliner Sean McGirr will showcase his second collection for fashion powerhouse Alexander McQueen, where he took the helm last year, adding to the roll call of Irish success stories in the world of high fashion. For a small country, Ireland’s creative contribution to the fashion industry is nothing short of extraordinary. But our love affair with clothing has a flipside. Irish people consume more than twice the EU average of textiles per person per year – more than 50kg – most of which ends up incinerated, exported or dumped in landfill.
As fast-fashion brands Shein and Temu continue to push into Ireland with a barrage of online advertising, our addiction to cheap, disposable clothing shows no sign of abating, despite the growing evidence that our fashion habit is an environmental disaster. The fashion industry is responsible for 10 per cent of global carbon emissions – more than aviation and maritime shipping combined – as well as contributing to the pollution of water, the destruction of forests, and the release of microplastics into the food chains.
Clearly, our insatiable appetite for new clothing needs to be addressed, but for many of us, it’s not always obvious how to make more sustainable choices. It’s an ethical minefield to differentiate between brands with a genuine ethos of sustainability and those who merely appropriate green terminology. Brands like Shein loudly tout their eco credentials and commitment to sustainable choices despite emitting more pollution than the entire country of Paraguay. And that’s the problem with sustainable fast fashion – it’s an oxymoron and it doesn’t exist.
Proponents argue that fast fashion provides clothing options for people who might otherwise be unable to afford to dress themselves or their children. It also creates jobs both here and abroad. These points are valid – it would be churlish and impractical to suggest that we all boycott fast fashion in its entirety. But for most of us, shopping fast fashion is not an economic necessity and is more akin to a hobby, or if we really examine our habits, a mindless addiction.
Though I’ve yet to succumb to the allure of Shein or Temu, I’ve lost many a lunch hour ambling through Penneys, idly throwing yet another black T-shirt in my basket on account of it being only a fiver and that you can never have too many black T-shirts. Except of course I can. The idea that we need a constant rotation of any item of clothing is a myth created by the industry whose business model is reliant on the idea of overconsumption and accelerated trend cycles.
The majority of our discarded clothing is exported – usually to countries in the Global South already struggling with the effects of climate change. In Chile – the world’s third largest importer of second-hand clothing – a textile landfill in the Atacama Desert is now so large that it is visible from space. In landfill, the decomposition process of textiles generates greenhouse methane gases and releases toxic chemicals into the soil and water.
There is no easy solution in solving a problem of this magnitude – the complexity and fragmentation of global supply chains as well as differing regulatory frameworks creates a mammoth task. Without substantial effort and collaboration between politicians, producers and consumers, the industry is destined to continue its cycle of “promises” and “commitments” without any real action. A raft of regulations are working their way through EU institutions aimed at reducing waste in textiles as well as clamping down on greenwashing. The Waste Framework Directive will introduce a “polluter pays” policy, requiring fashion brands to pay towards waste collection and the recycling of clothing. But while these efforts are to be applauded, critics argue that the text is vague and lacks teeth since there are no concrete targets for waste prevention and management and it fails to address the underlying source of our excessive consumption, namely, advertising.
There’s a direct correlation between the rise in textile consumption – 400 per cent in 20 years – and the incessant advertising of fashion brands via social media. How many of us have made a resolute decision not to make a purchase, only to later give in following a relentless chase by targeted social media advertisements?
The French parliament this year voted unanimously in favour of a Bill to ban fast-fashion advertising altogether, addressing the problem before the clothes can even reach customers’ wardrobes. With one of the highest levels of textile consumption in Europe, Ireland’s relationship with clothing is clearly in need of similar reform. Waiting for EU regulations to come into force is shirking our responsibility and the need for effective, achievable interventions now.
Elaine Maguire O’Connor is a writer and consultant working in fashion law