Doing Our Part

As individuals, it feels very difficult to make a positive impact on the environment. Even if one person moves away from fast fashion, the industry will still carry on as per normal. According to McKinsey, the fashion industry is now worth about US$2.4 trillion. The industry is just that huge. It seems almost hopeless to even want to help the environment. The free market capitalist economy means that governments generally do not interfere with private business models. While systemic change from governments and multinational companies will probably take an extremely long time, as consumers we need to change our behaviours.

We cannot simply just wait for large-scale changes to happen. We need to take charge of our own actions in order to see the changes we want. Consumers have great power to effect change. Research has shown that young consumers are able to drive change. A retail analyst for Mintel said, “44% of younger millennials – the 17-26 age range – said they would like to see more eco-friendly fabrics used in clothes.” Unfortunately, even though people can have good intentions, this does not always translate into behaviour. Perhaps this is due to a lack of knowledge on how to do so. In this section, I have introduced a few simple tips for the budding environmentalist to reduce his or her consumption problem. Do remember to spread the word and share this knowledge with your friends!