Only recently have I become aware of the dirty tactics used by big companies. I used to be tempted by those trendy outfits. But since joining the anticonsumption community, I’ve learned more about what really goes on behind the scenes. The more I look, the more I see.
I discovered the dark side of fast fashion. All the brands I used to shop like Zara, H&M, Shein, and others, have a hidden side to how they make these “lovely” clothes. Now, when I think about it, I see people suffering, the environment being damaged, and companies never telling the full truth. It feels unfair and really upsetting to realise what’s behind those bargains.
🧵 Stitched by Exploited Hands
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Fast fashion brands like Shein, Zara, H&M, and Primark churn out thousands of styles each week. But the hidden cost? The sweat and suffering of overworked and underpaid labourers, primarily women and children, in countries like Bangladesh, China, Myanmar, and Ethiopia.
In Myanmar, children were found sewing garments for H&M suppliers, earning the equivalent of 13 pence per hour. Meanwhile, executives rake in millions, profiting from a system that treats human lives as disposable.
Source
A recent BBC investigation revealed that Shein factory workers in Guangzhou were working 75 hours a week, earning less than one cent per garment. Many reported 17-hour days, no weekends, and fines for making mistakes. This is not fashion, it’s modern-day slavery.
🏚️ Factories That Kill
The Rana Plaza disaster in 2013, which killed over 1,100 garment workers in Bangladesh when a factory collapsed, should have been a wake-up call. Yet, a decade later, little has changed. Unsafe buildings, locked fire exits, and deadly working conditions remain a staple of fast fashion production. Even after the tragedy, companies continued sourcing from unsafe facilities.
🌊 Dumping Ground for the Global North
Fast fashion’s waste doesn’t end in the factory. A recent investigation by Greenpeace Africa and Unearthed exposed how UK fast fashion brands like Primark, Zara, and H&M dump unsold or returned clothing in Ghana’s protected wetlands. The clothes clog waterways, strangle wildlife, and devastate ecosystems in the Ramsar-protected Korle Lagoon, despite international conservation laws.
Every week, up to 100 tonnes of discarded clothes arrive in Accra, overwhelming waste systems and turning once-beautiful coastlines into toxic textile graveyards.
☣️ Toxic Clothes and Microplastic Seas
Cheap clothing isn’t just bad for the people making it, it’s poisoning the planet:
Synthetic fibres like polyester shed hundreds of thousands of microplastics with every wash, polluting oceans and entering the food chain. Read
Source
Dyes and finishing chemicals used in clothing production account for 20% of global water pollution, often dumped untreated into rivers near garment factories.
Read
Fast fashion garments have tested positive for hazardous substances like lead, phthalates, and other hormone disruptors. Read
💚 Greenwashing: The Lie of ‘Sustainable’ Fashion
As public awareness grows, brands have scrambled to rebrand themselves as ethical. But don’t be fooled.
H&M promotes “conscious” collections, and Shein runs “recycling” campaigns, but these gestures are mostly PR smoke screens. In reality:
Their “take-back” schemes often send clothes to the Global South, where they are burned, buried, or dumped.
Recycling technologies like H&M’s "Green Machine"
remain experimental and not scalable.
The vast majority of their profits still come from unsustainably mass-produced clothing.
Shein has launched initiatives like "SHEIN Exchange," a peer-to-peer resale platform, and "SHEIN Cares," a program promoting recycling. However, these efforts have been criticized as greenwashing, with limited transparency and impact. Investigations have found that Shein's clothing often contains hazardous substances like lead, phthalates, and other hormone disruptors. Additionally, Shein's rapid production cycles and lack of sustainable practices contribute to environmental degradation.
👗 Who Really Pays?
Consumers may pay a low price at the till, but someone else foots the real bill:
Garment workers sacrifice their health, safety, and dignity.
Communities in places like Ghana pay with their environment and public health.
Future generations inherit a polluted, exhausted planet.
So what can we do?
We don’t have to stop loving fashion. We just have to choose it differently. I used to buy lots of clothes without thinking, but now I try to buy less and choose better. I look for good quality pieces that last longer, and I shop secondhand or from small, ethical brands when I can.
I’ve also started fixing my old clothes or swapping them with friends. It feels good to give things a new life instead of throwing them away. Most of all, I’ve learned to ask questions like where my clothes come from and who made them. The more we ask, the more we can push brands to be honest and fair. Every small step matters.
https://pollybarks.com/blog/handm-recycling-scam
https://www2.hm.com/en_us/sustainability-at-hm/our-work/close-the-loop.html
https://www.sheingroup.com/our-impact/process/designing-circular-systems/
https://www.voguebusiness.com/technology/hm-fast-fashion-sustainability-recycling-hong-kong
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8392/5/2/84
https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2023/jul/02/fashion-chemicals-pfas-bpa-toxic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shein
https://www.earthday.org/beneath-the-seams-the-human-toll-of-fast-fashion/
Mariah 💚