Youth Talk

The fashion industry is apparently the second largest contributor of environmental pollution.

It seems that fast fashion especially, with low prices and high labour and environmental costs, is particularly damaging to nature.

From the negative impacts of excessive pesticide use to the wasteful effects of clothing disposal, while staying in trend might be fun, it certainly does not do the environment any good.

What prompted me to point this out is the rise in bloggers online challenging themselves to spend a year without clothes shopping. 

While the majority of them do so for minimalist, financial or even self-development reasons, I reckon that such a move – where you avoid purchasing new items and instead buy second-hand or swap clothes with friends – is crucial to slowing down fast fashion practices that are quite detrimental to the environment.

Here in Bahrain, businesswoman Lana Furman decided to go a year without shopping when she learned that certain retail practices and associated global warming could lead to the disappearance of penguins! 

Because I was never one to try to keep up with trends, and as Lana said in a recent interview, most of us have enough clothing to last us years anyway, I am led to believe that I would fare quite well if I ever decide to take up this challenge myself.

And, if you decide to contest your shopping habits as well, rest assured that that doesn’t mean you have to put up with the same boring items of clothing! Project 333, a capsule wardrobe as well as tips on mix-and-matching, have all been proposed as ways to make better use of your wardrobe by using the clothes you already have to the fullest and steer away from surplus spending. Nature will thank you.