This story was produced as part of ThreeSixty Journalism’s 2025 Opinion and Commentary Workshop for youth, in partnership with Sahan Journal and MinnPost. ThreeSixty is a multimedia storytelling program for Minnesota youth, focused on contributing to more accurate narratives and representative newsrooms.
Fast fashion is harming the environment and workers, but we have better options that have net positive impacts. Each of us can make a difference by choosing ethical and sustainable ways to buy clothing.
Just within walking distance from my house, there are at least 10 secondhand or sustainable clothing stores that offer better quality items than fast fashion shopping platforms like Shein. If more of us shopped there, we could help reduce environmental damage and labor exploitation caused by fast fashion.
My friends and I first discovered thrifting in middle school. It exposed us to new styles and helped us define our own. Jessica Esterez-Rhodes, owner of Stitch and Styles in St. Paul, has been in the resale business for nearly 20 years. “It’s kind of given me a unique, one-of-a-kind, sense of style since I was really young,” she said.
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The goal of fast fashion is to produce as much clothing as quickly and cheaply as possible, encouraging people to buy in bulk. But such clothes are often made with low quality materials, poorly assembled and environmentally damaging.
It takes enormous resources to make clothing. For example, it takes about 2,000 gallons of water to produce a single pair of jeans. If that pair of jeans is barely worn, all that water is wasted. Any clothing requires resources to make, but fast fashion often gives you very little in return.
The harms of fast fashion aren’t just environmental. Garment workers are often overworked and underpaid. The U.S. Department of Labor found cases of workers earning as little as $1.58 an hour. Pressure to mass-produce creates toxic work environments.
One of the biggest problems with fast fashion is how it promotes quantity over quality. Clothes often fall apart after just a few washes, contributing to the 92 million tons of clothing that end up in landfills each year. Buying secondhand can help stop that cycle.
“It makes me feel like I’m actually contributing to [a future] where we’re not adding more to the landfills,” Esterez-Rhodes said. “We can recycle the fashion, and other people can enjoy it too.” Thrifting isn’t just affordable; it’s essential to protect the planet.
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Another sustainable option is shopping at local stores that sell ethically made clothes. These businesses prioritize quality and fair labor, and your dollars support your community, instead of a large corporation. Jill Erickson, owner of Spoils of Wear in St. Paul said, “what is undervalued in every shopping space, including sustainable fashion, is local brick and mortar shops.”
The main appeal of fast fashion is affordability. Ethical fashion does cost more upfront, but as Erickson puts it, “the things in here I pick out because they’re going to last… if you want a garment that you’re going to keep for a while, the cost per wear [of] something that’s sustainable is far less than a fast fashion garment.”
Money, location and size accessibility can make sustainable shopping harder. That’s where online resale platforms like Depop, Vinted and ThredUp come in. They offer quality secondhand clothing without requiring in-person shopping.
Our world is changing fast and our individual impact can feel small. But this is one area where personal choices add up. Buying jeans secondhand saves 2,000 gallons of water. Buy a dress from an ethical local business and support fair labor. Next time we’re tempted by the cheapest item online, we should ask: “Could I buy this secondhand for less?”
The post Fast fashion is destroying the planet. Thrifting locally and online can help fix it. appeared first on MinnPost.
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