By now we have all heard that Millennials are \u201ckilling\u201d just about everything, from family dining, to starter homes as they\u2019re forced to rent longer and even, apparently, bars of soap. Now it seems the repercussions of said \u201ckilling\u201d could help rather than hinder. The increase in Millennial online shopping is forcing close to fast-fashion retailers, which I believe could ultimately better the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fast fashion is sold by popular brands like Forever 21, H&M, and Zara, which all have the same goal of selling trendy and affordable clothes while sacrificing the quality of the item. Because of how fast trends change in fashion, these stores mass-produce items at a rapid pace, causing an abundance of materials to be left in landfills where it takes 30-40 years to decompose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, there are currently 549 Forever 21 stores in the United States, which approve roughly 400 new designs per day. Just thinking about the massive amount of textiles used to distribute all the designs to multiple stores makes me cringe. There\u2019s so much waste and so little space left in America for it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, textiles and unwanted clothes take up 5% of America\u2019s landfills, with an average of 21 billion pounds of textile waste per year says Harmony Enterprises, a waste handling company. Shockingly, it\u2019s on the lower percentage of objects being thrown away, making it an easier problem to fix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n