For the longest time, I have neglected to think about the journey of my clothes to the rail on the shop floor. I never looked at a new pair of jeans and thought about their carbon footprint, simply because clothes and our changing climate are two spheres that I never thought would even interact. When I think of the climate crisis, I think of deforestation and dirty plumes of smoke billowing into the atmosphere - not the soft and joyful fabrics that we adorn ourselves with. But, I couldn't have been more wrong.
I'm sure it would come as no surprise to you if I was to tell you that the oil industry is the number one polluting industry, but it certainly baffled me to hear that the fashion industry was close behind in second place. I kept asking myself how on earth could the beautiful pieces which we wear be as ruthless as the fossil fuels which we tear out of the ground. The answer lies in our most commonly used fibre because each year we use seventy million barrels of oil in order to meet our annual polyester demand.
It also doesn't surprise me that manmade polyester is our most commonly-used fibre. It's cheap to make, easy to dye and we don't have to wait for it to grow as we do with cotton. This somewhat satiates the appetites of the fast fashion industry - where mass quantities, speed and profits are paramount. Fast fashion is all about a quick turnover; selling a new trend to us almost every week for next to nothing. If any of you have spent any amount of time wandering up and down a high street I'm sure you're well aware that fast-fashion retailers such as Primark, H&M and Zara offer us poor quality clothes, but we continue to buy because of the rock bottom price tags and trend-led culture. This has created a disposable economy around the clothes which we buy; our consumption of clothes has increased by 400% in the past twenty years. But our wardrobes haven't ballooned in size to accommodate for this 400% increase, which must mean we're throwing out more and more clothes. To put it in perspective for you; we throw away enough clothes to fill a bin lorry each second which adds up to 1.5 Empire State buildings full of decomposing clothes each year. But to use the word 'decomposing' is an exaggeration since polyester takes over 200 years to decompose.
Fast fashion fuels the increasing presence of textiles going to landfill as it keeps pumping out poor-quality clothes which we soon feel are unfashionable when the next wave of trends make their way into shop window days after we've made a purchase. You might think the fact that the average consumer in 2014 brought 60% more clothes than in 2000 is a good reflection on how well our economy is doing - but we're actually spending more on clothes now as we're only keeping each garment for half as long as we did in 2000.
I wish I could tell you that the poorer quality garments produced by fast fashion companies are less energy-intensive to make - but sadly this isn't the case. A simple cotton t-shirt uses the same amount of water as a single person would need to drink in two and a half years. I could tell you countless other figures about the impact of clothing manufacture on the planet but the fact remains the same; the mainstream way in which we produce clothes is unsustainable because of our never-ending demand.
To add insult to injury; polyester doesn't just put pressure on the earth's surface, but it also impacts marine life below the surface. Every time we wash polyester it releases thousands of microplastics into our water which are ingested by tiny marine life such as plankton. The tiny marine life are prey for larger aquatic animals such as cod - which often end up on our plates. By the time the cod has eaten several hundred plankton - all containing microplastics - and ended up on our plate, we're consuming microplastics in much larger quantities than what the small marine life ingested. Not only do microplastics affect us but they also hinder growth and reproduction of marine life which could lead to devastating species extinction. All this from a wash cycle?
Cotton isn't much cleaner either. It is a natural fibre and organically grown is a great material - but the fast fashion industry demands haste and a crop can't be made to grow quicker. Instead, pesticides and fertilisers are used to increase the yield. The cotton farmers in countries such as India are desperate to keep up with the demands of textile companies so often run themselves in debt to invest in new pesticides and fertilisers. Not only does this place pressure on communities and lead to increasing suicide rates in farmers, but it also detrimentally impacts the health of the villages dependent on cotton farming. The toxicity of the chemicals being used on cotton crops has led to an increasing amount of birth defects and cancers among those who live in these areas - this is yet another pressure being placed on already unstable lives. As with microplastics, humans are not the only victims of cotton farming. The chemicals in pesticides lead to soil degradation making it even harder for farmers to use fertile soil but also disrupts natural ecosystems through removing natural predators and polluting water sources.
'Nothing in life is free' - that age-old saying really rings true when it comes to fast fashion. It's unrealistic to think that we can pay so little for clothes which have been sourced, sewn, dyed, transported and finally put on display. But the true cost is paid by those who make our clothes. Predominately women and children in countries such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, China and India. Countries where the government sets the minimum wage extremely low so to attract big fast fashion corporations to base their production in the country in order to boost the economy. This means the minimum wage is certainly not a living wage. Cleanclothes.org defines a living wage as enough money for a person to afford; food, clean water, shelter, clothing, transport, education as well as money to put away for emergencies. In Bangladesh, the minimum wage is equivalent to roughly 27 euros, but the living wage has been calculated to be equivalent to 238 euros - and Bangladesh isn't the only country with a huge disparity between the minimum wage and a living wage. The huge disparity between what these people are paid and what they need to live a basic life is so hard to visualise, it left me questioning how the people who make our clothes survive at all between an unrealistic wage and unsafe working conditions.
How awful is the situation of garment workers for their only option to be a non-existent, dangerous and hard life? To help the people that make our clothes sounds like it would be an expensive affair - but it's not. If the clothing companies paid 10-13% more money into the production costs it would be enough for their workers to be paid a living wage and still be profitable. This translates into a 1% price increase for us the consumer. It's a ridiculously minuscule amount which I'm sure anyone would be happy to pay extra for.
The picture that I've painted is a dire one, but changes are being made. Brands are taking onboard sustainability initiatives; H&M promotes a conscious collection and encourages customers to recycle their old clothes there for a voucher. Gucci are taking green fashion seriously and other already ethical brands such as Stella McCartney, Reformation and Everlane are gaining huge momentum. It's difficult to start shopping with a conscience in the first place because of the huge distances that brands have placed between us and those who make our clothes which has consequently broken down transparency and accountability. You can make a stand by choosing not to be ignorant.
I'm not asking anyone to start forking out excessive amounts of money to afford completely sustainable and ethical clothing or to completely cut out brands such as Topshop and H&M out. The changes you make can be tiny ones - whether it be mending a hole in a jumper rather than throwing it out or just no longer leaving Primark with several bulging paper bags filled with items that you've resigned as; 'Oh it doesn't matter if I don't wear it'.
The pieces that I treasure the most and get the most compliments on are all second hand. Get on board with charity shops and second-hand buying/selling platforms such as Depop, Vestiare Collective and eBay. Second hand doesn't necessarily mean old, tired or unwanted - I've found countless of brand new items from charity shops; the other day it was a pair of Levi jeans and a few months ago I found a pair of Gymshark leggings with a label still attached.
Pass your old clothes onto others - whether that be people you know or to charity shops - it'll reduce the number of clothes heading off to landfill or to be incinerated. Learn how to mend holes and minor damages to your most beloved pieces, it'll save both yourself and the planet from heartbreak.
Lastly, the most significant thing that you can do to make a difference is to talk to people. Tell people the truth about the true cost of our clothes on the planet, the people who make them and ourselves.
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