Engaging brands, policymakers & people to realise a more sustainable future for fashion.
Climate change mitigation is the most pressing issue of our time. With the fashion industry now understood to be one of the most polluting industries in the world, it is time to make drastic changes if we are to avoid climate catastrophe and environmental collapse.
The Campaign
The problem at hand demands that we cohesively reimagine our relationship to clothing; looking not only at what we buy but also at how we can buy less, produce less & re-purpose more, keeping resources in circulation for longer and out of landfills.
OUR CLOTHING CONUNDRUM
We buy 3 times as many clothes as we did in 1980…
and wear them for half as long.
SOURCE: The numbers here range from 2 to 5 times as many clothes depending on the country and study. This Wall Street Journal article by Dana Thomas states that American shoppers buy 5 times as much clothing as they did in 1980. This McKinsey study states that the number of garments purchased per capita between 2000-2014 more than doubled. SOURCE: McKinsey
-
3 out of 5
3 out of 5 garments go to landfill within one year of purchase.
SOURCE: McKinsey -
5 Countries
A typical garment travels to at least 5 countries before reaching the customer.
SOURCE: BBC -
35%
35% of ocean microplastics come from synthetic clothes shedding in washing machines.
SOURCE: International Union for Conservation of Nature report -
62%
62% of all clothing is made from synthetic fibres.
SOURCE: Textile Exchange 2021
“Fashion is a complex industry with extensive, often opaque, global supply chains whose environmental and social impacts reverberate across the globe”
— British Fashion Council, The Circular Fashion Ecosystem
THE DEAL WITH DENIM
At any given time, 50% of people on earth are wearing denim.
SOURCE: Riveted: The History of Jeans
Traditional denim washing uses 1500 litres of water for 1 pair of jeans.1 person’s drinking water for 2 years.
SOURCE: Kingpins
Our stat is based on one person drinking the recommended 2 litres of water per day.
Cotton uses some of the most dangerous pesticides in agriculture, driving the extinction of bees…
…and fatal to people, if inhaled.
SOURCE: Cotton: A Case in Misinformation (P. 96)
Dozens of harmful chemicals and processes are used in denim production to create the “worn-in” look we’ve come to expect…
…causing lung disease, eye damage and cancer in denim workers.
SOURCE: These sources list some of the many toxic chemicals used in denim production and their impacts.
“The global apparel and footwear industries account for up to 8% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions”
— QUANTIS, MEASURING FASHION
If the fashion industry were a country, it would be ranked third for greenhouse gas emissions after the US and China.
— SOURCE: Environmental Justice Foundation report (P. 7).
How this statistic was calculated: According to Quantis, the apparel and footwear industries account for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions at about 3,999 million metric tons annually. With China emitting around 9,877 million metric tons, the US 4,745 and India 2,310, if the fashion industry were a country, it would take the third spot (World Population Review).
Note: there are many sources listing greenhouse gas emissions by country. While the numbers vary slightly, the top positions of China, the US and India remain constant. Here is another ranking from the World Bank.
