It is our responsibility as humans to take proactive steps in finding solutions to slow and reverse the damage of our planet. Our lives on earth is a blessing. As people, we need to take care of planet not just for our lifetimes but for our future generations. While you may think you have a minuscule impact compared to 8 billion people on our planet, it is everybody's responsibility to be mindful of the resources they use. Fast fashion has emerged with cheap clothing made so poorly that 60% of it is thrown out within a year, often after being worn just once or twice. By buying inexpensive and harmful fabrics, we are incurring a significant environmental and public health cost. Fast fashion, especially in America, has released a habit among people to buy clothes at a rate too fast for our earth to keep up with. The manufacturing sector is responsible for roughly 20-25% of global greenhouse gas emissions, meaning a significant portion of global warming can be attributed to the production of goods through commerce and manufacturing processes. Currently, most clothing factories contribute to water pollution, microplastic pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. Not only is the manufacturing process harmful to the environment but all factors of the supply chain. From the time a garment is made, to the time it decomposes on the earth, it produces a concerning amount of pollution to our earth. The process of picking raw materials with machinery, knitting fibers together, weaving yarn, dying, washing, ironing, sewing, packaging, shipping to port, sea freight, shipping to supplier, shipping to customers, trash from packaging, and ultimately getting thrown away is the extensive life cycle of a single garment. Everything comes at a price.

Landfills - Many discarded fast fashion garments end up in landfills. Landfilling clothes before they're even sold is a common practice in large fast fashion brands. These brand new, unused clothes caused so much pollution in the supply chain only to be dumped in a landfill, our ocean, or incinerated.

Ocean - 35% of primary microplastics in the ocean are from washing synthetic textiles. These release millions of kilograms of microplastic fibers into the ocean each year. Heavier materials sink to the ocean floor, where they can form long, writhing arms of fabric.  Synthetic fabrics can choke fish and other marine life. 

Incinerated - Incinerating unsold clothes is harmful to the environment because it releases harmful air pollutants like carbon dioxide, dioxins, and other toxic substances into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change and impacting human health, even though it might seem like a way to reduce textile waste in landfills;essentially, burning clothes adds to the overall carbon footprint of the fashion industry by generating further emissions.

Other destinations - Fast fashion pollution is dumped in other countriesbecause wealthy countries export used clothing to developing countries, which are unable to handle the amount.This practice is known as "dumping" or "textile dumping". Ghana is a major importer of used clothing, making it one of the dumping grounds for fast fashion. A massive, illegal landfill of used clothing from around the world is located in the Atacama Desert, Chile. The landfill is visible from space...

Water Supply - Climate change is impacting our water supply by causing more extreme weather events like droughts and floods, leading to reduced water availability in some areas and potential contamination in others, while also affecting water quality through increased temperatures and altered precipitation patterns, ultimately impacting access to clean water for humans and ecosystems across the globe. Warmer temperatures lead to increased evaporation, resulting in less precipitation in certain regions, leading to longer and more severe droughts. Rising sea levels can push saltwater into coastal freshwater aquifers, contaminating drinking water sources. Increased runoff from storms can carry pollutants and sediment into water bodies, reducing water quality. Warmer water temperatures can promote the growth of harmful algae, further impacting water quality and aquatic life. Melting glaciers and snowpack can initially increase water availability in some regions, but can lead to reduced water supply in the long term as glaciers recede.

Labor - The fast fashion industry employs approximately 75 million factory workers worldwide, yet less than 2% earn a living wage. Garment workers endure unsafe conditions, wage theft, exhausting hours, and gender-based harassment. They face high pressure to produce large quantities of clothing quickly, often getting exposed to harmful chemicals, all while struggling to meet basic needs due to the low wages earned;essentially, it's a highly exploitative working environment with little protection for workers, particularly prevalent in developing countries where labor laws might be weak. Fast fashion contributes to modern slavery, which includes forced labor, human trafficking, and forced marriage. Child labor is also a commonality in the fast fashion industry. These illegal practices are inhumane, unspoken about, and hidden away from consumers.

Other effects - Fast fashion significantly impacts the world in terms of transportation by requiring the movement of large quantities of clothing across long distances through a global supply chain, leading to substantial carbon emissions from air and sea freight, particularly due to the need for rapid production and delivery to meet fast-changing trends;this practice is considered a major contributor to the fashion industry's environmental footprint. Raw materials are often sourced from one country, manufactured in another, and then shipped to various markets worldwide, resulting in long-distance transportation needs. To quickly meet demand and keep up with fast-changing trends, fast fashion brands often rely on air cargo, which generates significantly higher carbon emissions compared to sea freight. 

Currently, our brand isn't perfect. As we launched 7 months ago, optimizing our sustainability has always been a priority. Recently, sustainability has been used as marketing tactics among many product based brands to guilt-trip and persuade people to buy green products. However, for us, sustainability is about making a genuine impact on everyone and the planet. Marieloulou as a company has set goals for sustainability within the next couple of months, year, 2 years, 5 years, and 10. This year, 2025, we will have converted to 100% sustainable packaging and hang tags. By next year, we plan to source high quality, recycled material for all of our garments and accessories. In 2 years, we will manufacture all of our pieces in Portugal with great working conditions, ethical/eco-friendly manufacturing processes, and minimizing our carbon footprint as much as possible. In the next 5 years, we plan to start a foundation in which we would help the planet by recycling garments and fabric based products. In 10 years, we will have been the pioneers of recycling clothes, slow fashion, and inspiring young generations to be sustainable and planet aware.

Slow fashion can help reduce your environmental impact, save money, and support fair trade practices. Slow fashion encourages buying fewer, higher-quality items that last longer, which reduces the amount of clothing that ends up in landfills. Slow fashion uses eco-friendly materials and practices like recycling and upcycling, which reduces the amount of pollution from the fashion industry. Slow fashion encourages buying well-made/high quality clothing that lasts longer, so you can get more use out of each item and save money in the long run. Investing in classic pieces that can be worn repeatedly can save you money. Furthermore, sustainable fashion encourages a shift towards slower production cycles and quality over quantity. This not only reduces waste but also allows for better working conditions for garment workers who often face tight deadlines and unrealistic production targets in fast fashion companies. Lastly, slow fashion can inspire a new era of less societal pressure as people would be less willing to feed into the new hottest thing or the sale incentives. Its impossible for everyone to push for slow fashion in this day in age but if everyone makes an effort to see and share what is going on with our planet, what's happening behind closed doors, the animals we love going extinct, and resources we need running out, we can inspire change.

Instead of buying 10 shirts that last you 3 wears, invest in acouple high quality pieces to last you years. Invest in slow fashion and reduce what you buy. A rule to go by is when you buy a piece, sell or donate a piece. Sustainable ways of getting rid of clothes is to sell, swap, donate, repair, repurpose, and recycle. Spread the word of global warming and the issues of fast fashion. Stop supporting brands that have reputations of poor labor practices and fast fashion practices.