Greta Thunberg, a Swedish climate activist, has blamed the fashion industry for its contribution to climate change. She believes that for the impact made on the environment, fashion brands must take responsibility. As well as accusing various companies in the industry of making their products seem sustainable to their audience through ‘greenwash’ ad campaigns, while they are not environmentally friendly. Fast fashion is believed by many to be disposable, and this term describes the mass, low-cost, and rapid production of seasonally trending clothing. (BBC, 2021) In the current state of our world, fashion can not be consumed sustainably if mass-produced.
The U.N. believes the fashion industry to be one of the top polluting industries in the world right now. Over 20% of global wastewater, and 8% of carbon emissions, are caused by this industry. (BBC, 2021) In response to reducing environmental footprints, fashion brands seem to be addressing the problem. Many of these companies make use of greenwashing to mislead consumers about their products. Meaning they market their products with fake environmental merits. (BBC, 2021) And by using cheap labour and harmful environmental processes to mass-produce trending clothing, the fast fashion industry has grown as consumers purchase these products.
Among the many reasons these productions are harmful, the main ones include water contamination, damaging substances, and landfill production.
1. Water contamination and textile dyeing
According to the UNEP, the second largest water polluter globally is textile dyeing. Waterways have found 72 toxic chemicals originating from textile dyeing. Nations like Bangladesh who produce garments are affected by the water contamination that destroys their local environments. Due to factories being left unaccountable for dumping wastewater into bodies of water as disposal is rarely monitored. (Clingham-David, 2021)
Waters sport a black colour with no fish, impacting local Bangladeshi residents living near garment manufacturing districts. Ecosystem biodiversity is destroyed as plants and animals near the waterways are killed to do chemical-infested waters. (Clingham-David, 2021)
Following consumer pressure and advocacy groups such as Agroho, companies have tried to clean up rivers and keep dye water disposal under control. Environmental measures taken by China to combat textile dye pollution have considerably improved water quality in some areas. (Clingham-David, 2021) However, water pollution remains an issue in others.
2. Damaging substances
Polyester, a synthetic fabric created from fossil fuels, releases three times more CO2 emissions than cotton does, and about 60% of clothing pieces contain a certain percentage of it. (Greenpeace, 2021)
35% of microplastics in the ocean come from synthetic fabrics, according to the IUCN report from 2017. (IUCN, 2017) These microplastics can come from synthetic garments that are washed repeatedly. As they never biodegrade and pollute waterways. Marine life ingests these microfibers, and as it works its way into the human body from consuming marine animals, harmful bacteria carried from the fibers can be ingested, causing sickness. (Clingham-David, 2021)
3. Production of landfills
Fast fashion is known for its easily disposable products. Those of which are poorly made in order for consumers to purchase more after discarding the clothes, which end up in incinerators. Every second, one garbage truck filled with clothes is burned or sent to landfills. (Clingham-David, 2021)
About 85% of these pieces are made of materials taking up to 200 years to decompose and end up in landfills. (Clingham-David, 2021) The clothes that sit in landfills release greenhouse gases, and pollution is produced as they are burned. Not to mention the waste of resources used to manufacture these products.
“There are fantastic ways to get new clothes without buying new. We can hire. We can rent. We can swap. Or we can invest in clothes which are made by artisans, which have taken time and skill to produce.” - Carry Somers, founder and global operations director of Fashion Revolution.
Yearly, 10% of global CO2 emissions are produced by the fashion industry and are estimated to be using 1.5 trillion litres of water every year. (IPCC, 2021)
It is possible that every piece of clothes has travelled around the world more than once, due to the global nature of the fashion industry, during manufacture. A new trend in the industry is adding more carbon emissions on top of those travels, and shifting only 3% of garment transportation from ship to air cargo will result in 100% more emissions than if all pieces were transported by ship. (Perry, 2021)
Not only do the industrial processes pose an environmental threat, but health concerns as well. Carbon dioxide emissions, chemical usage, water consumption, and textile waste can harm the environment and the people working there. (Davis, 2021)
“A single European textile-finishing firm, for example, consumes almost 466g of chemicals every kilogramme of cloth.” (Perry, 2021)
The industry must adopt a few new ways of producing clothing. Such as embracing renewable energy, reducing polyester in garments, and developing new methods of recycling. (Davis, 2021)
Businesses should shift their focus towards manufacturing products that last longer and are of higher quality. (Davis, 2021) Innovations such as resales, thrifting, second-hand buying, and clothing rental should upscale, all in an attempt to reduce fast fashion as we now know it, an emitter of emissions and a factor affecting climate change.
“The only sustainable future for the business and the world is slow fashion” (Peake, 2021)
Work Cited
“Thunberg Calls out Climate Impact of Fashion Brands in Vogue Interview.” BBC News, BBC, 9 Aug. 2021, www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58145465
Clingham-David, Jaia. “How the Fast Fashion Industry Destroys the Environment.” One Green Planet, One Green Planet, 24 May 2021, www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/how-the-fast-fashion-industry-destroys-the-environment/
Davis, Nicola. “Fast Fashion Speeding toward Environmental Disaster, Report Warns.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 7 Apr. 2020, www.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/apr/07/fast-fashion-speeding-toward-environmental-disaster-report-warns
Comments