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Anahi Ochoa

Professor Fountain

ENGL-1302 MHS04

February 20, 2022

The Alarming Truth of Fast Fashion

When reading the article “The Impact of Fast Fashion on the Environment” by Ngan Le

informs you of all the harm the fast fashion industry brings. When going shopping the majority

of consumers do not consider where the clothes came from or how they can be sold at low prices.

When they purchase these garments, they quickly notice that they get old or tear relatively fast.

As the saying goes “You get what you pay for,” gets its meaning, therefore if something has a

low price it cannot be of decent quality or nevertheless sourced ethically. The article, “The

impact of Fast Fashion on the Environment” by Ngan Le, plays into the readers’ emotions, with a

few misconceptions, and utilizes logic with facts to emphasize the contribution to climate change

caused by the fashion industry.

One way the author really gets into the readers' emotions is by talking about animals, in

specific marine animals. When talking about the fast fashion industry, a huge factor is pollution.

The public does not realize that polyester clothing is made from synthetic cotton which is plastic

making up a great amount of plastic consumption. Big companies save more money using

polyester than natural cotton for fabric. “When plastic finally breaks down, it creates a toxic

substance with a harmful impact on the marine ecosystems.” (Le) the quote explains how these

plastics become toxic, especially when they go into rivers and large bodies of water. As a result,

it harms the ecosystem due to all the toxicity going into the oceans. The author uses that to their
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advantage to make the reader guilty and pity the marine life that is being hurt by fast fashion.

This makes them think twice before purchasing an item at a fast-fashion retailer since all they

will remember is the animals' lives being risked for their clothes. It essentially becomes a sad

puppy commercial that makes people adopt recuses from shelters rather than buying a puppy.

Animals make people feel bad and want to do something or spread awareness as they would

much rather want to prevent it from happening more.

Throughout the entirety of the article the author does an excellent job using logic to back

up their argument, they used statistics to stay consistent. They go in-depth on the multiple factors

to how it harms our environment. One is the excessive amount of water by the industry and how

it becomes toxic with added dyes. Which countries that do not have regulations in place get

taken advantage of. Another issue is overconsumption by consumers, when going to the store

they do not realize how buying so much clothing can add to climate change as most of these

clothes rather than being donated get sent into landfills taking forever to decompose. “57% of all

discarded clothing ends up in landfill,” (Le) the author uses these statistics and percentages to get

their point across to the reader. To bring more awareness of climate change, hopefully put a stop

to it before it is too late, and the damage becomes irreversible. This makes the readers feel the

author is a creditable source and is right as they use facts rather than opinions to add to their

argument further proving their point. Several of these factors have extensive research behind

them and evidence, such as how even environmental activists have taken it upon themselves to

not purchase any clothes to fight this problem headfirst. Many give up fashion from their life and

no longer keep up with trends to want to save the planet as shoppers might not realize until it is

too late.
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One of the misconceptions that the author did use is that they believe overconsumption

might eventually die off as the value of clothes at low prices becomes nothing. Nothing can

prove that, and the author does not use evidence to prove their point. Consumers will want to

purchase more clothing as through the years we see an increase in online shopping. Fewer people

go to the store to shop as now they can do it from the comfort of their home. Consumers are not

aware of the impact of overconsumption as often they see it as “retail therapy” or building up

their dream closet. As trends come and go the public will always want to keep up with what the

celebrities are wearing and want to wear themselves as well. These fast fashion companies profit

the most from it as that is what they do getting runway looks affordable for anyone to be able to

wear and it comes out as fast hence the name fast fashion. “Due to how affordable the clothing is

and how new trends convince consumers to seek out more, the value of clothes may diminish in

the eyes of consumers,” (Le) it becomes hard to believe especially in the culture our society is in.

Influencers on social media platforms play a huge role in trends and with the rise of social media

networks like Instagram. Especially teenagers who want to keep up and post pictures with their

new outfits and how posting pictures with something they have already worn before is frowned

upon and can even be shamed in worst cases.

When putting all these points together you can see the author ideally accomplished their

goal of spreading awareness. They used many key points and different tactics to keep the reader

intrigued while learning something important that can save the planet's future as a whole. It truly

enlightens on a topic that is easily looked over as consumer culture glamorizes having a big

closet with endless different outfits for all seasons of the year. Le uses emotions, logic, with a

few controversial points to persuade readers to be more mindful of their new purchase at the mall

as it has great environmental issues.

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Work Cited

Le, Ngan. “The Impact of Fast Fashion on the Environment.” Princeton, July 2020.

https://psci.princeton.edu/tips/2020/7/20/the-impact-of-fast-fashion-on-the-

environment