By Karen Dougherty, C-Change Conversations
Here’s a fact that may surprise you: The global fashion industry is a leading contributor to climate change. And because people don’t often make the connection between their shopping habits and rising temperatures, it’s a sneaky culprit.
Our point isn’t to make you feel guilty about shopping – but the more we know about the causes of climate change, the easier it is for us to make behavioral choices. Every single item we buy has to be produced, packaged and shipped, either to us as individual consumers or to a store. Each step along the way uses energy and resources, emits heat-trapping gas and creates waste.
Just like with every industry, some companies are more responsible than others. The worst offenders are those making high volumes of cheap clothing in the trends of the moment, aka “fast fashion.” Mass-produced clothing is often made overseas, in locations where exploitation of workers and environmental pollution can make a bad situation worse.
The textiles themselves are also problematic. Natural fibers like cotton require a shocking amount of energy and other resources to produce, but synthetic fabrics have their own set of drawbacks. Even high-quality brands use polyester and nylon, which are made from oil and contain plastic. Synthetic fabrics shed microplastics during manufacturing and throughout the rest of their lifecycle.
The problem continues even after we are finished wearing a piece of clothing. Sadly, donating isn’t as helpful as we think – an estimated 85% of used clothing ends up in landfills, where it releases methane, a potent heat-trapping gas. Further, because of the plastic content, it may live there forever.
Eye-popping facts about the fashion industry:
- The global fashion industry is responsible for roughly 10% of carbon emissions.
- The industry emits more heat-trapping gas than all international shipping and flights combined.
- It takes around 1,000 gallons of freshwater to make one pair of jeans!
- Every second of every day, a garbage-truck-sized load of clothing is dumped in landfills.
- The average American tosses 70 pounds of clothing each year.
- Over 100 billion items of clothing were made in 2020, double the number in 2000.
Industry-wide change is needed
In order to solve our climate problem, the industry needs to adopt system-wide change. Many companies are responding by reducing their emissions, and are using more sustainable fabrics and manufacturing processes. Some are certified as B Corps, meaning they meet a set of environmental and social governance standards. Consumer demand for these options will help force change.
An inadvertent upside of tariffs
There are new economic factors at play that may have the inadvertent effect of slowing fast fashion and overconsumption, which would ultimately reduce industry emissions. Clothing made inexpensively overseas and imported into the United States is facing new tariffs, including the closing of a key loophole that is expected to lead to higher prices and slower shipping times. This may make the trend of over-buying less appealing.
What can we do?
When it comes to clothing – or any consumer product – the formula is fairly simple: buy less, choose sustainable options, use longer, and recycle more.
Here are some clothing-specific ideas:
- Resist fast fashion and choose quality over quantity.
- Patronize sustainable companies, including B Corps.
- Shop vintage, either through a local consignment shop or an online site.
- Consider a clothing rental company if you plan to only wear an item a few times.
- When it’s time to let go, give some thought about how and where to donate, recycle or sell.
Consumer demand can help motivate companies to change how they operate. We can be a part of the solution by investing in fewer, more sustainably made pieces of higher quality. It may feel like a small change, but it can really make a meaningful impact.
Karen Dougherty writes the B-Change Blog for C-Change Conversations, a national nonprofit that provides nonpartisan education on climate change, and also blogs about climate change at unheating.com. Banner photo: A pile of inexpensive, low-quality clothes (iStock image).
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