By Alyson Lundstrom
(Originally published for ZeroMe)
Our collective fashion choices make up 10% of the world's global emissions from textile production to their end life in the landfill. Here's a quick guide on reducing your fashion footprint.
By now, we have the central tenets of being conscious earth dwellers tattooed in our brains: reduce, reuse, recycle. We know that our plastic water bottles are problematic and that food waste is a troubling issue on several levels, but there is another fossil fuel bad actor out there lurking in the shadows: our fashion.
What Is The Impact Of Our Outfit?
The fashion industry contributes to nearly 10% of the entire global output of CO2 emissions. According to the United Nations Environment Program, this equates to more than international flights and shipping combined.
Where once cotton was king, polyester now dominates our textiles. Polyester and other synthetic fibers are plastic derivatives, which find their building blocks in fossil fuels. Unfortunately, it is also a massive contributor to microplastic pollution which ends up in our water systems and oceans.
Clothing is now made faster and cheaper than ever, leading to it being tossed at alarmingly increasing rates. The United States alone threw away 11.3 million tons of textiles this year, double the rate from 2000.
While minimizing is always the best sustainable practice, we all need clothes, and there are a few simple ways we can green up our shopping habits.
Support Brands Who Do Better
The good news is that fashion brands are committing to improving production practices, including using ecologically grown cotton, using recycled materials, and introducing buyback programs.
Supporting brands who commit to more sustainable practices, even in gradual steps, is a great way to leverage your dollar and your voice for a better earth.
Get To Be Best Friends With Your Clothing Choices
Studies have shown, on average, that people wear an article of clothing just 7-10 times before it makes its sad descent to the donation bin- or worse- the trash bin.
Before purchasing, ask yourself: Will this withstand the trends for a long time to come? Is it well made, and will it last? If the answer to either is no, leave it on the rack.
Get Thrifty
Second-hand clothing stores are a great place to find a bargain or look for vintage pieces, but they are also a way to keep textiles out of the landfill and give a second life to clothing.
In addition to thrift stores, you can make upcycled clothing at an event by hosting or attending a clothes swap. Recently the clothes rental market has also been growing to accommodate those with clothes commitment issues and those who just want to reduce their fast fashion imprint.
Give Them The Next Life They Deserve
When it does come time to downsize your wardrobe, be thoughtful about where those bell bottoms from 1972 go to next.
Avoid tossing them in the trash bin; this will only contribute to an incredibly overburdened landfill system. Instead, donate used clothing, return them to a buy-back program if offered, or drop used clothing at a designated textile recycling bin.
The bottom line is that our clothes contribute to a global waste problem that is the result of 85% of all textiles ending up in the landfill each year. Approximately 60% of those textiles are made of plastic. If you think water bottles are a problem, it's time to also look at your wardrobe.
Comments