A popular clothing retailer is selling fast-fashion junk, as revealed in this TikTok.
Livekindly (@livekindly) showcased the abundance of plastic junk and fast fashion inside a Forever 21.
@livekindly Back with another fast fashion ANTI-HAUL 🚫 These anti-hauls are designed to bring awareness the wasteful nature of fast fashion and to remind you to be a more mindful consumer! Do you aboud fast-fashion? #fastfashion #antihaul #deinfluencing #forever21 #shein #slowfashion #sustainability #overconsumption ♬ original sound - LIVEKINDLY
The "fast-fashion anti-haul" video shows a ton of cheap-looking Coca-Cola merch, which Livekindly mentions is the "world's biggest plastic polluter."
They're right — Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé have been named the top plastic polluters for several years in a row, according to Waste Management World.
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Livekindly also finds neon plastic bags, deceptively DIY'd shorts, and a bunch of plastic-packaged useless gadgets.
"Save your money, save the planet," they say.
Fast fashion is terrible for the planet, and it's not great for your wallet to buy new clothes that often, either.
Business Insider detailed the intense environmental harm caused by the fast-fashion industry, like polluting waterways with toxic chemical byproducts, depleting finite natural resources, and producing 10% of the planet's heat-trapping carbon air pollution.
Fast-fashion products are usually hastily made from lower-quality materials.
🗣️ What should the government do about the fast fashion industry?
🔘 Set strict regulations 🚫
🔘 Incentivize sustainable options 💰
🔘 Use both regulations and incentives 🏛️
🔘 Nothing 🙅
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
Because of their quality, most of these clothing items are only worn a handful of times before they're discarded, and it's getting worse. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, "the number of times a garment is worn has declined by 36 percent in 15 years."
Then, "85% of all textiles go to the dump each year," per Business Insider.
That's billions of pounds of clothing bound for landfills.
Break up with fast fashion. Shop at thrift stores or locally for new clothes. And if your clothing wears down, extend its life span by trying visible mending, donating to local thrift stores or shelters, or recycling your fabric scraps. Some companies, like Trashie and ThredUp, will reward you for sending in old clothes.
Commenters were disappointed in Forever 21.
"Forever 21 should be ashamed of themselves," one user wrote.
"Also, let's not forget the workers aren't paid for this stuff fairly," another commenter mentioned.
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