Did you know that the fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries on the planet?
80 billion clothes are being manufactured every year but most of that product ends up landfills. In Britain, 300,000 tonnes of clothing end up in landfills every year - It is the fastest growing category of waste in the country. In the USA, the average American throws away 70 pounds of clothing each year, sending large amounts of garments to landfills and incinerators - which contributes to the mass emission of hazardous chemicals and greenhouse gases.
The fashion industry is also responsible for 10% of the global carbon footprint, water pollution, and the use of toxic chemicals.
This is a growing problem and it is our responsibility to make sustainability a priority so that we protect our planet.
Here are some ways we can take part in sustainable fashion:
Create a Capsule Wardrobe
Nowadays, clothes don't have a long life span in closets because of people splurging on fast fashion clothes and wearing these garments once or twice, and disposing them at an unprecedented rate; Leaving billions of pounds of shoes, clothes and textile-related accessories into landfills.This is a result of The fast fashion industry stimulating demand for consumers to buy more clothes at a fast rate.The problem with this is that these items are made so cheaply that they have become single-use purchases.
The solution is to create a sustainable capsule wardrobe by investing in high quality, practical garments that are versatile and timeless - So that you buy less, and wear more of your existing clothes.
Donate and Re-sell Items You Don't Want
The clothes that you throw out actually have a lot of value. 95% of clothes that are thrown away can easily be re-worn. Making it more than possible to resale your unwanted clothes to other consumers through sites like Poshmark.
You can even go the donation route and send your clothes to shelters.
Clothes that you may find useless can be useful and really help someone in need.
Clothes that you may find useless can be useful and really help someone in need.
Read the Label
Reading clothing labels is a step to becoming more mindful about the types of chemicals and materials that are used in the clothes that we buy.
When buying clothes, make sure that you look for clothes that have eco friendly fibes like:
- Organic Wool
- Alpaca wool
- Linen
- Vegan Silk, also known as peace silk
- Lyocell
- Bamboo
- Hemp
The aforementioned eco fibres are renewable fibers which are easy to grow or produce. They use limited water and energy to produce and are recyclable.
A part of supporting sustainable fashion is to also buy clothes that were fairly made because to be truly sustainable, clothes must be made in ways that are safe and healthy for workers.
A way to find worker-friendly clothing is to look for the fair trade label.