Fashion should be about creativity and style, practicality and durability. But fast fashion companies have made it all about newness. And Ghana isn’t the only country facing these massive problems. A recent investigation revealed that Europe is dumping 37 million pieces of plastic clothing on Kenya, too. Textile production generally requires chemicals which need to be diluted through washing, and eventually disposed of – making water pollution another huge issue. Look out for standards like “Oeko-Tex” that provide reassurance that health- and environment-harming compounds haven’t been used in the production of certified fabrics. 9. Growing cotton uses 18% of pesticide 25% of total insecticide worldwide These moments of fashion disaster pierce the reader because they capture the cruelty of other people's judgments – whether real or imagined – and convey the acute anxiety of standing out in all the wrong ways. This is an anxiety that fashion thrives on, both as an industry (what else are trends but designations of "right" and "wrong"?) and a cultural system that frequently relies on dress codes, uniforms, and an unspoken understanding of what is considered appropriate and attractive. No wonder it sometimes all feels a bit crushing.

A project called Dead White Man’s Clothes, after the name given to clothing exports from the West to Ghana, shows grimly the problem of fashion waste exports. They don’t even want to reveal how many clothes they actually produce each year. 100 billion pieces a year is an estimate from a decade ago, before the explosion in ultra-cheap, disposable fashion from companies like Boohoo and Shein.

Our appetite for fast fashion is poisoning the environment

And this isn’t just a fashion thing – it affects most consumer products from food to furniture, electronics, cars, cosmetics and cleaning products. Producing cheaply and selling for a vast profit is what these companies do.

The upcycling and reuse culture in Accra is a great example of what a more sustainable and circular fashion industry could look like. If you successfully solved the above puzzle and are looking for other related puzzles from the same level then select any of the following: There’s clearly a huge problem here. These plastics not only pollute the environment – they are even getting into our bodies through water and food, with still unknown impacts on health. These use large amounts of energy and create environmental damage in their production, and can take thousands of years to break down. Combined with a ‘throwaway culture’, the RSA warns the bulk of these garments will end up in landfill. Giving new meaning to the phrase ‘fashion victim’, a 35-year-old Australian woman had to be cut out of a pair of skinny jeans after developing a condition called compartment syndrome. It’s not the first time someone has succumbed to a dangerous style trend: “They’ve always been around, since the Stone Ages,” says Summer Strevens, the author of Fashionably Fatal. “It’s when fashion is taken to an extreme; I call it vanity insanity.” Here are five of the deadliest fads in history.The import of discarded clothing in South America is concentrated in the Chilean harbour of Iquique in the economic free zone of Alto Hospicio. Every year 59,000 tonnes of clothing are brought here from around the world. What follows is a comparable ecological disaster. Clothing that cannot be used anymore – up to 40,000 tonnes a year – ends up in the adjacent Atacama Desert. What is notable is that many of the clothing in these dumps still have price tags. These are clothing that were not sold and were even never worn. Large fashion brands are responsible for this, but they act as though nothing happens. WILL THE EU PUT AN END TO THIS? What we do know is that the unnecessary overproduction of clothing is a leading cause of climate change and plastic pollution. The demand for oil to make polyester is even fuelling Russia’s war, according to the Changing Markets Foundation. Waste: Deficiencies in the UK’s recycling system means that a large majority of this will likely end up in landfill. Some of it will reach our environment before then: petroleum-derived fabrics make up a large amount of the trillions of microfibres that are showing up in our rivers, oceans and food systems – a recent study found that an average 6kg wash releases over 7 million microfibres. Plastic is made from oil and gas. Polyester is a thread made from plastic, woven into fabric. It’s thought over half of the clothes produced today use synthetic materials like polyester.

Firstly, we can hold companies accountable for their promises. For example, the UK’s Green Claims Code might offer a way to call out companies that promise “green” collections or “recycled” garments. A new @cleanclothes report shows why we’re urging garment brands to sign a binding agreement to make up for workers’ wage losses during the pandemic. Workers are owed 11bn USD and counting! #PayYourWorkers https://t.co/O8EiGKYpIn We probably know this. But it’s become too easy to ignore. Dangerous, low-paid work for ‘disposable’ clothesCircular solutions include using fabrics made from recycled ocean plastics, or reusing offcuts of older materials to make new pieces. These solutions limit the need for new fabrics like virgin polyester, or even biodegradable fabrics like cotton, which consumes a lot of water. But the sheer volume – and poorly constructed fast fashion items that aren’t made to last – means a lot of it is impossible to use and upcycle.

An extensive enquiry and 2019 report by the UK Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) led to a series of impressive recommendations – all of which the UK Government rejected. Polyester is essentially fabric that’s made from plastic fibres. It is now the most commonly used fibre in our clothing. As plastic is made from petroleum, it requires seriously enormous quantities of oil. 5. Polyester takes more than 200 years to decompose We all have to wear clothes, and they need to be affordable for everyone. But there is a better way. The expression ‘mad as a hatter’ was in use 30 years before Lewis Carroll popularised it with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Mercury poisoning was an occupational hazard for hat makers in the 18th and 19th Centuries: the chemical was used in the production of felt, and prolonged exposure led to what was termed the ‘mad hatter disease’. Symptoms included tremors and pathological shyness and irritability – leading to doubts that Carroll’s eccentric milliner was a sufferer, with an article in the British Medical Journal suggesting “it could scarcely be said that the Mad Hatter suffered to any great extent from the desire to go unnoticed”. Data on materials used by Shein was collected between November 1 and 15, 2021. Only women’s new clothing styles were sampled. Data from Asos, Missguided, PrettyLittleThing and Boohoo was collected between May 11 and 29, 2021 by The Royal Society for Arts and shared with Bloomberg News.

Dangerous, low-paid work for ‘disposable’ clothes

When researching bridal party pajama sets, we looked for styles that are, first and foremost, comfortable and cozy, as well as designs that won’t mess up hair and makeup when it comes time to slip into bridesmaid dresses. We also considered fabric quality, construction, and the way they photograph. To help us find the best sets, we tapped Ali Mejia, the co-founder and chief inspiration officer at Eberjey. “One of the best ways for a bride to show gratitude to her bridesmaids is to treat them to super soft pajamas,” says Mejia. "It's a great way to share the joy with friends and family as she's getting ready on the big day."