Fast fashion is a term used to describe the most recent and most popular fashion trends on the market, sold at the cheapest possible price. Since everyone loves a good deal, the brands selling fast fashion have become some of the most popular places to shop.

New trends are coming out every week- even every day- and with advertisements and the media claiming one thing is so in and another is so out, the pressure is definitely on to stay on top of the trends. So, when all the new trends are thrown at us so quickly and so cheaply, how could we resist?

I mean really- what’s so horrible about a $4 skirt?

For starters, fast fashion brands like Zara, Forever 21, and H&M, manufacture their products in terrible working conditions. Workers are so easily and commonly exploited that in some families, every member is working for the fast fashion industry, making little to no money and hardly surviving day to day. These families work long hours in dangerous and unsafe factories with rare breaks. Fast fashion workers die every day – for what – shoppers to get a “good deal”?

Secondly, most of the clothes made are not safe. The majority of cotton used for this industry is genetically modified. Yes- we have moved onto genetically modified tank tops. Along with this, the dyes used to create the color of the garments is polluting our environment and drastically increasing our carbon footprint.

If this isn’t bad enough already, most of these “trendy fashion items” end up in landfills an average of three months after being purchased. And since 14 million tons of clothes are dumped into landfills every year solely in the United States, fast fashion is quickly earning its title as a major contributor to global warming.

So what can we do?

We can stop buying from brands that participate in the fast fashion industry, and we can support our local businesses. Ethically-produced and environmentally-friendly clothes cost less—even if the number on the price tag is a little higher.