BEYOND THE CLOUT: Why Your £5 Shein Haul is Lowkey Killing the Planet
This article was written by one of our Young Reporters, a scheme that gives 14 to 18-year-old school students a chance to write for a real newspaper. Find out more at the Young Reporter website.
You see it all over TikTok, the massive "clothing haul" where someone unboxes twenty new outfits for the price of a Nando’s.
It looks like a massive win, but that £5 "stunning" dress is actually a total disaster for the world.
While these massive brands promise us the "clean girl" aesthetic for basically zero effort, the actual reality is straight-up toxic.
From mountains of trash to rivers changing color, our obsession with "newness" is a nightmare.
The price is literally lethal.
Back in the day, people actually kept their clothes for years, but now everything is "disposable drip" that lasts about two washes.
Shocking stats show that fashion now creates more CO2 than every international flight and cargo ship on the planet combined.
That basic cotton tee you’re wearing "drank" 2,700 liters of water just to get made, that is literally enough for one person to drink for over two years.
Experts say we are "drowning in denim" because production has gone up by 400% since our parents were teens.
Brands are dropping thousands of new styles every single week just to keep us scrolling.
But it’s not just the planet getting wrecked; the human cost is actually heartbreaking.
Behind those "Girl Boss" slogans on the racks is a dark secret that most of us just scroll past.
We can’t forget the people working in terrifying conditions just so we can have a cheap Friday night outfit.
In reality, underpaid women are trapped in 16-hour shifts, making pennies while the CEOs make billions.
Big brands are experts at "ghosting" their responsibilities and hiding behind messy supply chains to stay "aesthetic."
Think buying the "Eco-Range" makes you a hero?
Think again.
Most of these "sustainable" lines are just a massive greenwashing scam to make us feel less guilty about shopping.
Despite what the PR says, about 85% of all clothes end up in a landfill or getting burned anyway.
Every time you wash a polyester top, thousands of tiny plastic fibers go into the ocean and end up in the food we eat.
Most people only wear an item seven times before throwing it away, which is basically turning our wardrobes into graveyards.
Is a few seconds of "clout" on Instagram really worth ruining the entire planet?
These fast fashion empires are betting on us staying silent and keeping the tabs open.
Style shouldn’t cost the earth or £500 a t-shirt
It’s time to slow down and slow down fashion.
