Environmental impact of fashion
The fashion industry, particularly manufacture and use of apparel and footwear, is a significant driver of greenhouse gas emissions and plastic pollution.
[3] According to a 2017 report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, if the fashion sector persists on its same trajectory, its share of global carbon emissions could increase to 26% by 2050.
[4][5][6] The production and distribution of the crops, fibers, and garments used in fashion all contribute to differing forms of environmental pollution, including water, air, and soil degradation.
[11][12][13] Efforts have been made by some retailers and consumers to promote sustainable fashion practices, such as reducing waste, improving energy and water efficiency, and using primarily eco-friendly materials.
According to a report from the World Bank Group, the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of yearly global carbon emissions.
[22] In 2019, France announced that it was making an effort to prevent companies from this practice of burning unsold fashion items.
As online shopping, both for clothing and for other items, has become common, the amount of waste produced has totaled about 75 million tons in the United States alone.
The clothing is made of even worse quality than typical fast fashion items, and it is encouraged to be worn only a couple of times before disposing of it.
[32] Washing polyester clothing leads to shedding of microplastics which enter water systems, including oceans.
[35] Cotton is a water-intensive crop, requiring 3644 cubic meters of water to grow one ton of fiber, or 347 gallons per pound.
[37][36] Half of the top pesticides used in growing cotton in the US are deemed likely to be carcinogenic by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Unlike plastic, textile pollution's impact on marine life occurs in its various supply chain processes.
[42] Pollutants like pesticides and clothing manufacturing chemicals cling to particles that accumulate in the waters ecosystem and consequently enter into human food chains.
[47] This type of waste is most commonly found from washing machine cycles, where fibers of clothes fall loose during the tumbling process.
[citation needed] Clothing often contains non-organic, excessively farmed cotton which is grown with chemicals that are known to cause eutrophication.
The fashion industry consumes a large amount of water to produce fabrics and manufacture garments every year.
[61] While there is minimal research into energy efficient washers and dryers as a method of reducing impact on the consumer side,[61] wearing garments for 9 months longer could cut overall waste by 22% and water use by 33%.
[62] On the producer side, choosing to make garments in popular colors and designs that consumers are more likely to buy is both a financially and environmentally responsible choice.
[63][64] In order to extend the life cycle of garments and slow rates of production and overconsumption, business models such as 'clothing libraries' have been considered.
These businesses collect pieces both from local shops and companies, and allow customers, who pay for a monthly subscription, to borrow clothes for a certain period of time.
