Have you ever been scrolling through your favorite social media app and see an ad for cute clothes and you click on the link? The link brings you to a website with super cute clothes for an unbelievably low cost. More than likely the site you are on is Shein, Romwe, or something of that nature and is one of the biggest examples of fast fashion. 

Fast fashion is often described as cheap, trendy clothing, that is often modeled off of catwalk fashion pieces or celebrity culture that is currently in demand. These clothing items are made in mass quantities at extremely low prices. This leads to less than desirable quality and terrible working conditions for the ones making the clothing items. 

Fast fashion pollutes our rivers and streams as well as depleting our nonrenewable resources. Brands that use synthetic fibers will contribute to the waste just sitting on Earth since these materials take hundreds of years to biodegrade. Aside from the impacts on the environment fast fashion affects human workers as well. 80% of apparel is made by women in less developed countries between the ages of 18 and 24. The women will have low wages and poor working conditions despite the profits these companies are bringing in. 

There are many ways you can avoid fast fashion shopping. One example is shopping at thrift stores. Thrift stores can provide you with preloved clothing items that can also be trendy. On top of that, they will often be as cheap as those fast fashion sites but way better for the Earth.  Wearing the clothes you already have instead of buying new items will benefit both your wallet and the Earth. More times than not, the majority of clothes sitting in our closets never get worn anyway.