The fashion industry is the second largest polluter in the world. Freshwater and ocean pollution, the accumulation of textile waste, and the emission of greenhouse gases are just a few examples for the disastrous environmental impacts of the industry. There is a pressing need for initiatives to mitigate these problems, and render fashion more sustainable.
The numbers are shocking when it comes to the damage that the fashion industry is causing. According to the UN, the industry is responsible for 20 percent of water pollution worldwide. The apparel and footwear industry account for over 8 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions, and by 2030, the industry’s CO₂ emissions are projected to increase by more than 60 percent.
The rise of fast fashion, which relies on mass production and low prices, has further aggravated the environmental impacts of the industry. Due to the high numbers of clothing collections that these apparel companies release each year, consumers increasingly see cheap clothing items as perishable goods that are ‘nearly disposable ‘. People tend to buy clothes incessantly, throwing them away after having worn them only a couple times.
In recent years, the amount of clothes bought per person in Europe has increased by 40 percent. Some 30 percent of them are worn only once, and only 1 percent is recycled. Many forget that it takes nearly 8,000 litres of water to make the jeans that they simply throw away, and 2,720 litres of water to make the cotton T-shirt that they once adored, but quickly got bored of.
The fashion industry needs to be increasingly conscious about the environmental effects and introduce reforms to mitigate these effects. Individuals can contribute to mitigating pollution with fewer washes and a sparing use of detergents. To successfully reduce pollution on a larger scale, there is a need to develop technologies to filter microplastics from the water in washing machines.
