The Basics - The Environmental Impacts of Fast Fashion

Fast fashion is such a complex topic and one that even a hundred blog posts won't fully cover. If you are new to this movement and need to learn and unlearn your ways this post is for you!

Fast fashion impacts all life. Humans, animals and the environment.

Environmental Impacts:

Fashion has an immense impact on the world around us and is one of the top contributors to climate change. It affects many parts including water as in water contamination (microplastics, toxic chemicals), air quality, soil degradation, rainforest destruction, water consumption, waste accumulation etc.

Water:

When it comes to water we all know it is an essential for life. While 70% of the earth is covered in water only 2.5% is fresh water while less than 1% being available for use. It is one of the most sacred resources to say the least. When it comes to fashion impacting our water systems there are two main areas we must look at water consumption and water contamination.

Water Consumption: Any t-shirt, pair of jeans, leggings, etc. has a water footprint depending on the materials used. For example to create ONE pair of jeans it takes 1,800 gallons of water - enough for 10 years of drinking water. This is mainly due to the water needed to grow the material (more often than not that is cotton which also uses tons of chemicals ).

Water Contamination: Not only does your t-shirt need a lot of water to make but it also contaminates that water in unspeakable ways. Did you know that there are over 200,000 dyes are lost to effluents every year? And that 20% of water pollution comes from the production of textiles? These chemicals are toxic to aquatic life and could cause serious harm on the eco systems in that area. Plus when it comes to synthetic fibres every time you wash them they release what we call micro fibres or microplastics which are little tiny plastic particles. These go directly into water ways which contaminate it for the people and life dependant on that essential.

Air quality:

The emissions created from producing clothes is seriously unbelievable. It is said that the apparel industry is responsible for 10% of carbon emissions. 10%!

These greenhouse gas toxins come from several aspects of the supply chain:

• production

• manufacturing

• transportation

Not to mention how synthetic fibres (polyester, acrylic, nylon etc.) contribute to this as well as they are made of fossil fuels which makes production much more energy intensive.

Soil degradation:

As talked about on another blog post (click here to view) soil degradation is the loss of fertility in soil which leads to decreased crop productivity. In the clothing industry to keep up with such a high demand for clothing farmers are forced to use pesticides. While YES they do create more crop productivity overtime they also create less due to the loss of fertility in the soil. Not only does that effect the industry but also the environment in that area and eco systems which depend on that soil.

Rainforest Destruction:

Yearly thousands of ancient forests are cut down to create new plantations for materials like rayon and viscose in the fashion industry. Beyond the environmental impact of this on ecosystems it also threatens indigenous communities and their right to live their way of life.

Waste Accumulation:

With the consumer culture we have today people have this "throw-away mindset" if they don't need something or feel its not of use to them anymore.

A family in the western world throws away an average of 30 kg of clothing each year.

And many people look at donating as the answer but only about 20% of clothes donated actually gets sold and put to good use. The rest is often incinerated or sent to landfill where it doesn't degrade for years.

So after knowing all of this what can you do? Choose sustainable. Look at the brands you buy from and ask questions like what the material is, how it was made/where, there stance on the product's afterlife, the water use and contamination etc. Or choose secondhand as NO new resources are used to create that item and you support a circular economy! Not only that but look at whether you REALLY need something because the most sustainable option is the one you already own.

If you got this far thank you and my hope is that you take this information and build an awareness. An awareness that will lead you to taking action. Because you matter and what you choose to do next can shape the world you want to live in.