The fashion industry: climate focus
We live in a world where the fashion industry is the second-largest polluter in the world; where pollution is threatening biodiversity; where the aquatic life is being strangled in plastic; where fast fashion is taking the world by storm; where children are working in sweatshops to meet the demand of the industry; where the world is facing an ecological crisis. Does it have to be like this?
Absolutely not! Eco-conscious buyers are raising awareness and are willing to change, in doing so they are putting immense pressure on the fashion moguls of the world to enact real change. However, unobtrusively, the fashion industry is reaping havoc on the already threatened biodiversity of the world.
In countries where garments are produced, the untreated wastewater from the industrial process flows directly into rivers, killing biodiversity, alliterating habitats and making the water we drink toxic. The impact of This contamination is widespread as it courses into the oceans and rivers of the world. The ocean is already facing a binomial crisis but the microfibres and microplastics that are released in the production of the garments are damaging aquatic life, astronomically!
This isn't just a threat to animals and sea life, but a serious threat to us. We could kill ourselves by digesting plastics when eating food with microplastics, which can be poisonous if ingested. Plastics can also obviously trap animals as in Sardinia last week a pregnant sperm whale was found washed up on a beach with fifty pounds of plastic waste inside her, this killed her and her unborn calf. Tragically, the great garbage source gyre, a plastic island, is formed when lots of plastic is accumulated. This attracts the animals and when they eat it mistaking it for food, and they think they are full, but they are not, and they starve and die If an animal eats food
““As consumers, we have so much power to change the world by just being careful in what we buy” ”
The fashion industry has also caused huge water shortages globally. The plants require an immense amount of water to grow, but it is normally cultivated in warm or dry corners of the world. The striking ecological consequences, such as the desertification of the Aral Sea, where cotton production has entirely drained the water. This, in turn, damages vital ecosystems and as all species are interdependent on one another this damages the biodiversity beyond a single species. It can take up to 200 tons of freshwater per ton of dyed fabric!
Furthermore, vast amounts of chemicals are also used in the fashion industry and shockingly, millions of premature deaths of farmers have been recorded of who use the chemicals to grow the crop needed by the fashion industry to produce the garments and pollution. Fertilizers, a form of chemical used in farming, are used in the cotton industry and are toxic and heavily pollutant in runoff and evaporation water.
In addition, as the fashion industry is a huge commercial enterprise, its impact on the world is equally widespread. 15 million people work within terrible working conditions on landfill sites in Third World countries, where 96% of our waste gets sent. Even just a few weeks ago, at least 49 homes were destroyed by the collapse of the Ethiopia Koshe landfill site. The workers every day face the threat of disease and illness. If even one plastic bottle ends up in the landfill and is compressed and water or any other liquid substance ends up, it releases a toxic chemical, which when ingested by humans or animals it can poison them. The worst effect is when they enter the ocean and enter ecosystems, this is also a humongous factor of why coral bleaching is happening even in the most sustainable coral reefs in the world like the Great Barrier Reef that has been truly flourishing in recent years. Not only ecologically devastating, it is also morally troubling.
What can be done to reverse this calamity?
Innovation is our way out of this crisis! Companies like Patagonia, Fjallraven Kanken and Apple are the pioneers leading an example for a more ecologically viable industry. They are adopting sustainable natural & vegan fabrics, Vegan and synthetic fabrics, Sustainable Semi-Synthetic Fabrics, over traditional fabrics. For example, ECONYL, a fabric made from recycled nylon. It uses synthetic waste from ocean plastic, fishing nets, waste fabric and these are formed into ECONYL. It doesn’t require much water in the growing process and has similar properties to nylon but is more economical.
This is incredibly exciting, and the consumer’s engagement and fascination with this new concept are immense. Hemp has also become incredibly popular among eco-conscious consumers, It is trendy and hipster. Hemp is one of the most eco-friendly fabrics around. It’s high yielding, growing it supports the soil, and also requires significantly less water than cotton. It absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere. Likewise, it is naturally sun protection and anti-microbial. In a similar space, Scoby Leather, made from Kombucha. It obviously doesn’t require animal products, is biodegradable, requires zero heavy metals and other tanning chemicals, and is significantly cheaper than genuine leather, too.
Imagine a world where the ocean and aquatic life is free to breathe; where we are recycling and repurposing is commonplace; where innovation leads to a brighter future for the fashion industry and ultimately the world. This vision could become our actuality…
