Sustainable fashion with facts and figures

Consumer habits are changing, and more and more people are making purchases with a positive impact in mind. But outside our circles there are still many others who are still unaware of the real impact behind the fashion industry. Perhaps one of these unconvinced people is close to you. There is a powerful way to explain the importance of sustainable fashion: with data.

In this article we will show you the shocking facts behind the production and consumption of clothing today, and help you explain why fast fashion is an unsustainable model for our planet.

Industry and clothing consumption:

- The fashion industry is one of the largest industries in the world. It is estimated that 1 in 6 people in the world work in a fashion-related job, and 80% of the workers in the entire supply chain are women. (Clean Clothes Campaign)

- Clothing production has increased 2.4 times from 2000 to the present day. Currently around 80 billion garments are made every year (The Economist) and around 20 billion shoes are made every year (Fast Feet Grinded).

- Due to the fast fashion trend the average consumer is now buying 60% more clothes compared to 2000, but the wearability of clothes has decreased by half and 40% of clothes never get worn (UNECE, 2018)

- If consumption continues at the current rate, we will need three times more natural resources by 2050 compared to what was used in the year 2000. Approximately 70 million tons of clothing are currently consumed each year.

Poor working conditions:

- In India, 1 in 7 women workers are sexually abused at work. Only 3.6% of reported cases of sexual abuse receive a response from the factory. (Clean Clothes Campaign)

- Some workers work 10 – 14 hours a day at poverty wages. In the busiest seasons, they may work until 2 or 3 in the morning to meet the orders set by the brands.

- The factories where they work are buildings in poor conditions, usually without ventilation, breathing toxic substances or inhaling fiber or sand dust.

- Because the fashion industry needs low-skilled labour in its early stages, it is estimated that more than 1 million children work in cotton fields.

- It is estimated that around 100 million people worldwide work from home as ​“cottage industry”; that’s roughly twice the population of England, working without rights and at precarious wages. (TraidCraft Exchange)

Impact on climate:

- The fashion industry emits 1.2 billion tons of greenhouse gases each year, more than the emissions from the marine and air transport sector combined.

- If the industry continues on its current path, by 2050, it could use more than 26% of our available carbon budget.

- For every kilogram of textile fabric produced globally , 0.6 kg of oil is consumed and 2 kg of Co2 is emitted into the atmosphere (Cambridge University report).

Pollution and natural resources:

- This industry is the second largest water consumer in the world.

- Textile production (including cotton cultivation) uses about 93 billion cubic metres of water per year, representing 4 per cent of global freshwater withdrawals.

- It takes 2,700 liters of water to make one cotton shirt, almost as much as a person drinks in 2.5 years.

- 8 million tons of garbage reach the seas and oceans every year. That’s more than 200 kilos of garbage per second.

- 35% of all micro-plastics in the oceans come from washing synthetic clothing such as polyester or nylon.

- The highest water consumption of a garment, approximately 40%, is in the use phase, i.e. when the consumer washes the garments.

- More than 100 million trees are cut down each year and the wood is refined into cellulosic fabric (viscose, rayon, lyocell); if these trees were placed in a line, those trees would encircle the earth 7 times.

Toxic:

- Crops and dyes are the second largest polluter of clean water worldwide. Around 28 billion kg of textiles are dyed every year.

- The industry relies on 98 million tons of non-renewable resources per year. The production of plastic-based fibres for textiles uses approximately 342 million barrels of oil each year, and cotton production requires an estimated 200,000 tons of pesticides and 8 million tons of fertilizers per year.

- Around 8,000 synthetic chemicals are used to transform the raw material into fabrics.

Waste and recycling:

- Of the total fiber used for clothing, 87% is landfilled or incinerated. That’s the equivalent of a truckload of clothes being discarded or burned every second. 95% could be recycled. (Ellen MacArthur Foundation)

- Around 5.8 million tonnes of textiles are discarded every year in the EU, and only 26% are recycled.

Shocking facts and figures, right? It’s time to act, and we as consumers have the great power to choose which companies we want to contribute to and which we do not.

Do you know more facts about the impact of the textile industry? Share them with us.

The data are mainly drawn from the following sources:

Ellen MacArthur Foundation -Textiles Economy Report 

Clean Clothes Campaign