Protests Against Fast Fashion At Tel Aviv Port

A mock fashion show was held by the NGO Fashion Revolution at the port of Israel’s coastal city Tel Aviv on November 19, protesting against environmental damage from fast fashion.

Fast fashion refers to the business model based on mass-producing high-fashion designs at low costs, which is criticized by some as exploitative. 

Bar Stefalsky, a member of the so-called “fashion revolution parade,” told i24NEWS that the protesters “want to show people that we must save our environment.”

Participants at the Tel Aviv protest wore clothes made of cardboard and plastic garbage to raise awareness of the heavy burden that the consumer trend places on the environment.

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The World Bank reported that the fashion industry accounts for up to eight percent of global carbon emissions, and estimated that the production of just a single pair of jeans can require 10-years worth of drinking water for a single person. 

A report by the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection found that, of Israel’s annual waste production of 5.3 million tons, three percent of its composition by weight is from textiles. 

Protester Eden Machnai said that the demonstration highlighted “the issue with trends that people go after” as well as society’s consumer nature.

There are ways to shop more ethically, i24NEWS suggested, with vintage stores on the rise in Tel Aviv as well as phone apps that make it easier to buy used clothing. 

“There’s no reason for us not to buy second-hand clothes and use what we have,” Machnai said.