Jeans - The Impact Goes Beyond Water

I’ve been thinking a lot about the word “impact” lately and what it means within the fashion industry. “How does raw material turn into clothing and who gets affected along the way?” were my thoughts exactly.

Did you know that jeans use 1,800 gallons of water to create ONE pair of jeans?

This stat still boggles my mind to this day! But what most people don't remember is that the impact of jeans goes beyond the water use. I did some research and here is what I found on what it takes to make just one pair of jeans...

To make one pair of jeans you start in a field of cotton. Here cotton farmers are forced to keep up with the demand so often times pesticides are used to increase crop productivity. The farmers then must care for the cotton and harvest. That crop is then sent to “the gin” where it gets cleaned from any unwanted debris. Then the seeds are taken out and the cotton is separated where it next gets blended with various cotton fibers. The cotton then moves into the following sections: spinning, weaving, dying (which often results in the use of heavily toxic chemicals impacting the workers), finishing, packing, and shipping. All sections having their own complexity. The material then gets shipped to what we call Garment factories. The material is then sewed by hand more often than not in the fast fashion industry which is built on the exploitation of it’s workers. 

If your jeans are distressed another level of harsh chemicals are applied to literally strip the material. Workers are exposed to such chemicals often producing respiratory diseases and affecting the worker’s health entirely. Not to mention if your jeans are a mixed material (ex. cotton and polyester). There is a whole process for that too!

The Impact

In the production of jeans people and the environment are impacted. in the fast fashion industry especially, the workers in the garment factories are treated with little respect. They are paid but often times late and not even enough to meet the minimum of a living wage. Not to mention how they are often times overworked, how they get no breaks, and are at direct risk for being physically, sexually, and emotionally abused. The industry IS built on exploitation and what's sad is that people who who need the most help and fairness in this world are the ones without a loud enough voice. They speak up they may very well lose their job and as a mother, sister, wife, husband, father, brother etc. these workers can't risk that.

When it comes to the environmental impact of jeans specifically there are a ton of things to consider. Water contamination, water consumption, soil degradation, air pollution, micro plastics etc. just to name a few. You can read more about the impact of fast fashion in one of my recent blog posts by clicking here.

The impact of your jeans goes MUCH beyond water. Think about how much physical work is being put into the very jeans you are wearing. Jeans. Have. An. impact.