What's the issue with clothing waste?

Textile production contributes more to climate change than international aviation and shipping combined.

The industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions. 

The environmental impact of fast fashion comprises the depletion of non-renewable sources, emission of greenhouse gases and the use of massive amounts of water and energy. Old clothing can be difficult to recycle and the market for recycling textiles is flooded with poorly made clothes that have limited use in other products, this has led to landfill sites and bins full of textiles. 

The fashion industry is the second largest consumer industry of water, requiring about 700 gallons to produce one cotton shirt and 2000 gallons of water to produce a pair of jeans. 👖

Brands use synthetic fibres like polyester, nylon and acrylic which take hundreds of years to biodegrade. 😣

The production of making plastic fibres into textiles is an energy-intensive process. Additionally, cotton is not environmentally friendly to manufacture. Pesticides deemed necessary for the growth of cotton presents health risks to farmers. To counter this waste caused by fast fashion, more sustainable fabrics such as wild silk, organic cotton, linen, hemp and lyocell. 🧵

This video outlines some of the key issues and highlights why reducing textile waste is important. 👇

Find out more about why textiles are an issue and the efforts being made to make them more sustainable, and find out more about the issues with fast fashion. 

Check out our textiles pages on shopping more sustainably, looking after your clothes, and what to do with unwanted textiles to learn what you can do to help reduce the issues associated with waste clothing and textiles.