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Sustainable holiday fashion: how your ugly holiday sweater is helping fight climate change

Conservation Surge

Ugly holiday sweater season is upon us, and whether you love it or hate it, it’s become an integral part of the holiday season. They may not always be the most stylish, but surprisingly, your old, “ugly” holiday sweaters are much better for the environment than many of the trendy clothes we might buy from fast fashion retailers for our holiday get-togethers. So, whether it’s been knitted by a family member or is another hand-me-down, it may be time to give “ugly” sweaters—and all sorts of alternatives to fast fashion—another try this holiday season.

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A woman in a resale clothing shop contemplates buying a vintage sweater.

Photo by: © Pawel Gaul/Getty Images

Fast fashion's eco-footprint

Despite shipping and manufacturing costs continuing to rise for retailers in the wake of the pandemic, the fast fashion industry is only projected to grow in the coming years. But even though the clothes we like may be more affordable, the toll of their production on the environment is far more costly.

As the term implies, fast fashion moves quickly: meaning the clothes produced are based on current trends and often not of a particularly high quality, so they’re less likely to be worn as often and fall apart more quickly. Beyond the tremendous amount of waste that comes with regularly emptying our closets of clothes we’ve only worn a few times, the resources manufacturers use to produce new clothes for us to cycle through also takes a heavy toll on the environment.

For example, according to Princeton University, the fast fashion industry uses excessive quantities of water to grow cotton commercially and overuses plastic microfibers that end up in our water.

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The next fashion trend

So, where exactly do ugly sweaters come in? Well, fast fashion, like any other trend, starts to decline whenever consumers make the decision to move away from it, and maybe ugly sweaters can help us do that. While you don’t exactly need to break out an old argyle top for this year’s holiday festivities, that’s the right spirit—combating fast fashion starts with changing how we look at and shop for our clothes.

There are a lot of ways to stay stylish during your holiday gatherings this year, and none of them need to involve a last-minute order from your most frequented fast fashion outlet. Instead, consider whether you can give a new life to any of the clothes you already have or something from a thrift shop or clothing swap. You can also explore clothing rental options, like Rent the Runway. By repurposing or buying clothes that already exist, you can bypass all the harmful manufacturing and resource-consuming effects of clothing production and still find something stylish.

—Basia Urban, public relations intern at Shedd Aquarium

Conservation Surge