Our consumption of clothes, shoes and accessories, otherwise known as ‘the fashion industry’, is seeing explosive growth and this industry is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases (GHG).
The textile industry is responsible for between 4% and 10% of global emissions, and this could reach 26% by mid-century. Carbon emissions exceed those from all international flights and maritime shipping combined. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), the fashion industry’s production chain is the third largest sector in terms of emissions, after food and construction.
Greenwashing abounds within in the industry with many companies trying to market themselves as green and sustainable. Second hand or vintage shopping is one way to be truly environmentally friendly but with fashion trends often circling and consumers increasingly looking for vintage-style clothing, retailers are responding through the production of vast quantities of imitations.
Global clothing production has doubled since 2000 and consumers are wearing items less before discarding them. To meet this demand for fast fashion, brands are stepping up the pace of collections – brands such as H&M launch between 12 and 16 collections a year; Zara reached 24!
During the lockdowns, many people cleared-out their wardrobe – the UK public disposed of roughly 67 million pieces of clothing! Most stored their items to donate to charity once the shops reopened.
However, 14% disposed of their unwanted clothes in general rubbish, and these items ended up in landfills or incinerators. Pre-lockdown, over 80% of transactions in the fashion industry took place in stores; during lockdown people switched to on-line purchases and searches for ‘cheap clothes’ increased by 46.3%.
Its carbon footprint isn’t the only environmental impact of fashion. Water consumption of the fashion industry is around 215 trillion litres each year and many of the key cotton-producing countries such as China, India, the US, Pakistan, and Turkey are already under high water stress. Textiles is a thirsty industry – its consumption of water every year is equivalent to the needs of five million people, and it generates 20% of all wastewater on the planet, plus 87% of all fibre is incinerated or sent to landfills. And it’s not just discarded synthetic clothes that pollute: each year, washed garments release half a million tonnes of microfibres—the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles—into the oceans.
Materials such as nylon and polyester are plastics. Every year, some 342 million barrels of oil are used to manufacture synthetic fibres, adding to the world’s major plastic pollution problem. Until the end of the 20th century, cotton was the major player; now polyester makes up 65% of the total, compared to cotton’s 21%. In 2015, polyester production generated more than 706 billion kg of CO2e.
The conclusion might seem obvious: abandon synthetic fibres and return to cotton. Unfortunately, the problem is not that simple. The Aral Sea, once the world’s fourth largest lake in the former Soviet Union, began to dry up in the 1960s when the rivers that fed it were diverted to irrigate fields. Today it is a desert. It takes about 3,000 litres of water to make one cotton shirt; land use, pesticides and fertilisers adds to cotton’s environmental bill.
There is a massive call for transformation. In 2018, United Nations launched the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, aiming to decarbonise the industry and reduce emissions to net zero by 2050. In recent years, major brands and small startups have adopted green initiatives, from more sustainable production to recycling, as less than 1% of textiles are recycled.
Efforts by the industry are in vain, however, unless consumers change their buying habits, too. A return to ‘slow’ fashion is needed – higher quality garments with longer product life and use. Choosing more sustainable products is supported by governments, industries and organisations but various experts caution: consuming green will not save the climate; we need to consume less. Put quality over quantity, repair clothes, donate and recycle, buy second-hand clothes and buy less.
For more information, find us on Facebook: Dukeries Eco Watch.
Pauline Meechan
Dukeries Eco Watch