| Title |
Barber, Emilia MED_2025 |
| Alternative Title |
The Environmental and Social Impacts of Fast Fashion |
| Creator |
Barber, Emilia |
| Collection Name |
Master of Education |
| Description |
Fast fashion is severely damaging the environment due to its unsustainable production and consumption practices, yet widespread consumerism and social media influence continue to drive overconsumption. This project aims to address the issue by developing a hands-on, research-based curriculum for secondary students that teaches the environmental, social, and economic impacts of the fashion industry, empowering them to make more sustainable choices. |
| Abstract |
Fast fashion is causing extreme and lasting damage to the earth and its natural resources. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines fast fashion as "an approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers" (Merriam-Webster, 2024). The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world, and the public seems largely unaware of the impact that their indulgence in purchasing short-term disposable clothing has on the environment. Fast fashion's linear approach to production, consumption, and disposal is depleting natural resources and harming communities. Society is fueled by consumerism, and that can blind people from the true effects of their purchasing habits. Because of social media influences, advertising, and new trends being pushed daily, consumers are led to mindless purchasing habits. These habits lead to the over-consumption of clothing that is only increasing and becoming increasingly damaging. Current production and consumption habits are not sustainable.; Family and Consumer Science educators have a unique role in being catalysts for change by educating students on the environmental, social, and economic impacts of their purchasing habits. The reality is that many high school fashion design curriculums do not include aspects of sustainability, which is essential in promoting change (Utah State Board of Education, 2021). The concept of sustainability can be defined as "the meeting of the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future to meet their own needs" (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). Sustainability education must be research-based and offer hands-on experiential learning to change students' purchasing behaviors and encourage them to act to make a difference (Armstrong & LeHew, 2013). It will take the collective effort of everyone to work towards a cleaner future in the fashion industry, and that starts with the daily habits of consumers everywhere. The curriculum planned in this project will focus on a hands-on comprehensive approach to educating secondary students on the environmental, social, and economic aspects of the fashion industry when it comes to sustainability to promote lasting change. |
| Subject |
Education, Secondary; Curriculum evaluation--United States; Education--Research--Methodology |
| Digital Publisher |
Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, United States of America |
| Date |
2025 |
| Medium |
Thesis |
| Type |
Text |
| Access Extent |
89 page pdf |
| Conversion Specifications |
Adobe Acrobat |
| Language |
eng |
| Rights |
The author has granted Weber State University Archives a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce his or her theses, in whole or in part, in electronic or paper form and to make it available to the general public at no charge. The author retains all other rights. |
| Source |
University Archives Electronic Records: Master of Education. Stewart Library, Weber State University |
| Format |
application/pdf |
| ARK |
ark:/87278/s6rhd0sp |
| Setname |
wsu_smt |
| ID |
148286 |
| Reference URL |
https://digital.weber.edu/ark:/87278/s6rhd0sp |
