Maybe you didn’t know, but the fashion industry, particularly the “fast fashion” model, is a major contributor to global pollution and environmental degradation.
Those are just a few of the conseguences caused by this sector:
Climate Change and Air Pollution
- Carbon Emissions: The industry is responsible for an estimated 8% to 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions, which is more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.
- Energy Consumption: The production of synthetic fibers like polyester and nylon is an energy-intensive process that relies heavily on fossil fuels, releasing significant amounts of greenhouse gases.
Water Pollution and Consumption
- Excessive Water Use: Textile production requires enormous amounts of water. For example, it can take up to 10,000 liters of water to produce just one kilogram of cotton, or about 700 gallons for a single cotton shirt and 2,000 gallons for a pair of jeans.
- Chemical Wastewater: The dyeing and finishing stages are notorious for pollution. The industry is the second-largest polluter of water globally, responsible for about 20% of industrial water pollution. Wastewater often contains toxic chemicals like heavy metals, formaldehyde, and various dyes, which are frequently dumped untreated into rivers and streams, devastating aquatic life and harming human health in surrounding communities.
- Agricultural Runoff: Conventional cotton farming uses vast quantities of pesticides and fertilizers, which contaminate local water bodies.
Waste and Microplastics
- Textile Waste: The fast-fashion model encourages a “buy-throw-away” cycle. An estimated 85% of all textiles go to dumps each year. Millions of tons of clothing end up in landfills where synthetic materials can take hundreds of years to decompose, leaching chemicals into the ground and air.
- Microplastic Pollution: Washing synthetic fabrics like polyester, nylon, and acrylic releases microscopic plastic fibers (microplastics) into wastewater. The laundering of synthetic textiles is estimated to account for as much as 35% of all primary microplastics found in the ocean, which are ingested by marine life and enter the human food chain.
Labor Exploitation
The push for low costs and rapid production in fast fashion is achieved by exploiting workers, primarily in developing countries across the Global South.
- Poverty Wages: Garment workers, 80% of whom are often young women between the ages of 18 and 24, are typically paid extremely low wages—often far less than a living wage that covers basic needs. This traps workers and their families in poverty.
- Unsafe Working Conditions: Factories, often referred to as “sweatshops,” frequently lack basic safety measures. This sistem which causes the death of a mount of workers is one of the deadly consequences of prioritizing profit over safety. Workers may also be exposed to toxic chemicals used in the manufacturing process.
- Excessive Hours and Forced Labor: Workers are often forced to work intensive, extended periods, sometimes up to 80 hours per week or long shifts without adequate rest, especially during peak seasons. Reports of forced labor and child labor exist throughout the supply chain, including in the cultivation of materials like cotton.
- Denial of Workers’ Rights: Employers frequently suppress the right to form and join a union, using threats, harassment, and dismissal to prevent collective bargaining. This denial of the right to freedom of association is a major factor in perpetuating exploitation, as workers lack the power to demand better wages and safer conditions.
- Gender-Based Discrimination and Abuse: Since the workforce is majority female, issues of gender-based violence, sexual harassment, denial of maternal leave, and general discrimination are rife in many garment factories.