Source: Unsplash @FernandDeCanne
We’ve all been there: You spot a cute dress on Instagram that would be perfect for that brunch you have coming up. Better yet, it’s a steal at $15. You wear it to brunch, take a ton of photos in it and it quietly fades to the back of your closet where you don’t see it again until your next wardrobe cleanout. The ubiquity of fast fashion (aka inexpensively produced and priced garments that are trend-focused) has normalized impulse and occasion shopping. The lightning speed at which fast-fashion retailers like Zara and H&M design, produce, and place clothing in stores allows us to buy more, but the quality is lacking. That said, fast fashion isn’t just unproductive for building a quality, meaningful wardrobe—it’s also detrimental to our planet.
Source: Unsplash @SarahBrown
Why? Surprisingly, the fashion industry is the second most polluting industry on the planet. (Let that sink in for a moment.) Yes, clothing is a necessity that each one of the seven billion people on earth interacts with, but fast fashion specifically contributes to climate change and global warming in three major ways: it depletes our natural resources, pollutes our air with carbon emissions, and floods our landfills with textile waste. Let’s dive in a little deeper to better understand how fast fashion impacts our environment.
Here are the three ways fast fashion contributes to climate change:
1- Depleting natural resources like water
A single cotton T-shirt requires 700 gallons of water to make and it takes an alarming 2,000 gallons of water to create a single pair of jeans.
That’s a lot of unnecessary strain on our limited water resources. But that’s not all. Certain fabrics even release microplastics into the water when washed. So clothing that’s not made sustainably isn’t just depleting natural resources, it’s also tainting them. One study found that 500,000 tons of microfibers (about as much as 50 billion plastic bottles) make their way to the ocean each year. Some of those microfibers aren’t biodegradable and account for about 31% of plastic pollution in the ocean.
Source: Unsplash @IanDeng
2- Polluting our air with carbon emissions
The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of total carbon emissions globally. For perspective, this is just as much as the entire European Union or all international flights and maritime shipping combined.
Because fast-fashion companies produce at a higher volume (a traditional fashion house will release two collections a year, whereas a fast-fashion retailer can drop up to 24), the pollutants they contribute to the environment are much greater than those who have more sustainable production practices.
Source: Unsplash @PawelCzerwinski
3- Flooding our landfills with textile waste
It’s hard to believe, but 85% of textiles go to landfills each year. So, after wearing that Instagram dress once, if it’s not donated or recycled, it finds its way to the trash, where—depending on the fabric composition—it may not even break down.
Source: Unsplash @AntoineGiret
So what can we do?
Our mission at dressCODE is to minimize the environmental impacts of fashion consumption, one closet at a time. We aim to do this by increasing the lifetime value of the clothes you already own, recycling what you no longer wear, and helping you invest in quality items that will last years rather than a couple of washes.
Please join us on this journey to fight the global climate crisis. Together, we can make the future of fashion brighter!
