Fast Fashion and the Economy

This lesson is designed to build students’ competencies in the following skills:

• creativity
• critical thinking
• collaboration
• communication
• curiosity
• digital literacy
• problem solving
• reflection

Australian Curriculum (v9.0) content description:

Year 8 Economics and Business:

• how markets influence decisions about the allocation of resources to the production of goods and services, and the effect of prices on these decisions (AC9HE8K01)

General capabilities: Critical and Creative Thinking, Digital Literacy, Personal and Social Capability 

Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability 

Relevant parts of Year 8 achievement standards: Students develop a range of questions to investigate an economic and business issue. They locate, select and organise relevant information and data. They interpret information and data to identify economic and business issues and trends, and describe economic cause-and-effect relationships. They develop a response to an economic and business issue. They identify and evaluate potential costs and benefits. Students use economic and business knowledge, concepts, terms and research findings to create descriptions and explanations.

• Computer or device to conduct research
• Images of clothing industry waste
• Online Search Strategies (optional)
• Student worksheet

This unit of work examines the fast fashion industry, its contributions to the economy, its impacts and solutions for reform. Later in the unit, students will explore the solutions to these issues being initiated by First Nation creative entrepreneurs such as Ngali, Aarli and Clothing the Gap.

Australians purchase on average 56 items of new clothing each year. There is no national approach to textile waste or reprocessing. Textile waste is a national problem of massive proportions, with 200,000 tonnes of clothing and textile waste ending up in landfill. 

In May 2023, the Australian Federal Government announced the National Clothing Product Stewardship Scheme. The scheme is designed to reduce the environmental impacts of the clothing industry through industry players acting in a collaborative and focused way. Companies, organisations and individuals have been invited to pledge their support to the scheme, which aims to see the Australian textile industry become net zero by 2050. 

In this, the third of five lessons, students will appreciate that the issue of fast fashion is global, complex and multifaceted. They will understand how the industry contributes to a global economy and appreciate how the linear supply chain must be reformed to a more circular economy. They will consider what small act they could make to move towards this change.

Create a Culture for Change (Cool+)

Quick Summary: This course will help you to tackle the tricky changes we can make for a better world, and how to guide students through this process as well.