Technology

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/20327401

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We have all been sucked in by those videos circulating online of “My $200 Shein Haul” or “Everything I bought for less than $5 from TEMU Review”, but who actually are the two new giants on the ultra fast fashion scene?

In a world where it seemed the general consensus had shifted towards more environmental and ethical consumption, how have these two brands established a global network reaching 150 countries worldwide, and what is at stake if they continue to grow unchecked?

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How Are They So Cheap?

• Labour: The general rule is if you are paying an unbelievably low price for a product, the person making it has been paid an unfair wage for their labour. Often this means involvement of forced, child or penal labour and workers are subjected to awful conditions and chemicals. US lawmakers have previously warned of an ‘extremely high risk’ that Temu and Shein were using forced labour – for Shein this would look like as part of their supply chain manufacturing and Temu for offering products on their e-commerce site.

• Materials: Another huge sacrifice Shein and Temu make in a bid to keep prices extremely low yet profits up is with the quality, in particular the materials they use. The low-quality materials used and assemblage of items with little attention to longevity means the products often deteriorate and/or break quickly. But this is good news for Shein and Temu! Throwaway culture is how these platforms thrive, as they rely on our constant need to consume.

• Mode of production: Both Shein and Temy rely on high levels of consumption, to drive high levels of production, with a streamlined mode of production. This requirement for overconsumption is evident in marketing efforts on both brands’ platforms. Users are constantly bombarded with micro-advertisements on social media outlets such as Tiktok and Instagram, and even on their individual apps, there are offers, games and gambling opportunities to keep users addicted to buying.

What Are the real costs?

• Carbon Emissions: It is no secret that the fast fashion industry is one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions, responsible for approximately 10% of all global emissions every year. Global supply chains, manufacturing of textiles, assembling of garments and transportation all add up towards a brands carbon footprint. Shein and Temu, more than ever, prioritize and even encourage throwaway culture (buy, throwing away, buying again) for profit.

• Toxic Chemicals and Pollution: Dying and treating textiles in the fashion industry is a huge contributor to water pollution globally, especially when regulation is poor/poorly enforced by authorities. This affects the quality of water for people locally and also for aquatic life. Furthermore, a recent investigation carried out by authorities in South Korea found carcinogenic substances (promoting the development of cancer) hundreds of times over the legal limit in Shein clothing. Similarly, a European investigation into toys, baby products, electronics and cosmetics sold on Temu that breach European regulation, with one toy tested containing phthalates 240 times above the legal limit. (Phthalates can affect the function of organs and long-term can affect pregnancy, child growth and development and affect reproductive systems in both children and adolescents).

• Excessive Demand for Raw Materials and Textile Waste: The world consumes approximately 80 billion new clothing items every year – that is a lot of new clothes! Brands like Shein and Temu rely on this constant consumption to continue to make a profit, however there is only so much resource on Earth, and everything has to go somewhere. Estimates predict Shein alone produces nearly 200,000 new items each day. One of the ways countries have dealt with ultra fast fashion consumption is by shipping textiles overseas. Ghana receives 150,000 tonnes of used clothes dumped every year, with approximately half of these unusable. The clothing is commonly dumped and burnt, polluting local ecosystems with dangerous industrial chemicals, and damaging freshwater sources for local people. This exportation of textile waste is a new wave of ‘clothing colonization’, in which exponential consumption in the ‘Global North’ flows to the ‘Global South’.

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