FASHION AND SUSTAINABILITY: ARE YOU REALLY AWARE?

After watching Sarah Dooley's investigation on 'Fashion's Dirty Secrets', I have been concerned with the major effects that the fashion industry has on our planet and how little percentage of the population are actually educated on this topic, which has urged me to blog about the subject.

A shocking fact that many people are unaware of is that the fashion industry is the second most polluting industry in the world after coal and oil production. Overall, the phenomenon of fast fashion (companies such as Asos and Primark) is most to blame for the enormity of the garment industry's impact. The fast fashion industry brings us clothes at such a rapid rate, causing companies to have as many collections as 50+ a year rather than the traditional standard 4 seasonal collections; ask yourself, is this really necessary? Being such a dynamic industry, our demand for instant new releases to keep us up to date with the latest trends means that the high-street brands that we're most familiar with are competing to supply us with these garments, which only causes excessive production and therefore mass pollution. 

Cotton production is one of the most shocking aspects of this subject to me; as much as 15,523 litres of water can be used to produce one single pair of denim jeans. Whilst people in this world are struggling to access clean water (a basic human right) for survival, this is completely catastrophic. Cotton is Britain's favourite fabric and uses more water than any other fibre to produce along with various chemicals which massively pollute our precious rivers and oceans. In fact, half of the clothes that we wear are made from cotton, explaining serious water shortages from the huge industrial scale we produce it on. Hundreds of thousands of miles of dried out seabeds that exist today were once the source of water used by cotton farms which have wiped out species and destroyed the habitats of many living creatures. As well as this, these cotton farms have caused a reduced quality of life for thousands of people living in various regions of the planet, such as by increasing levels of unemployment, effecting the weather and seasonal rhythm, and the rise of public health crisis'. Alongside this, approximately 300,000 tonnes of clothing are dumped in landfill every single year. Excessive, much?

Fashion is literally costing us the earth. I think we need a major sense of urgency within our attitudes towards this situation - a situation which needs addressing fast. It's not that people don't care, we just don't know and we are not informed enough. There is nothing wrong with a treat-yourself-shop or a bit of retail therapy every now and then, but I urge you to educate yourself and others to spread awareness and keep our planet safe. Recycle your clothes, don't overfill your wardrobe and shop less.