How dirty is the fast fashion industry?

by Suzie Mz
It is pretty easy for most of us to fork out our salaries on that organic avocado quinoa toast or that bar of soap at the local artisanal shop nearby. How do I know this? That´s because I am one of those basic millennial. We always say we want the best for ourselves but there is one thing that we disregard the most if it is organic or not - our clothes!

 

When you buy new outfits or clothes, what are the criteria that you usually look for before purchasing it? For me, it´s the design, the fit, and the most importanté - the price tag $$ (coz I am a cheapskate). And there are so many cheap brands out there (*cough H&M*) so how can I not spend on things I don´t really need. WHO IS WITH ME? 

 

I have never been the type to spend big on clothes because I usually wear the same thing over and over again. Even though I save money because I do not shop that much, due to that outfit recycle habit, these clothes usually wear out quickly so I ended up buying more. So technically, I would be spending way more than I thought I would.

One day while I was scrolling Netflix to find something to watch, I stumbled across a documentary called The True Cost. It was one of those docus that I always wanted to watch, but didn't wanna. Oh boy - clicking it on it was a mistake but oh boy, it had also changed my life. 

I learned that all the brands I love are a part of the fast fashion industry and this industry is currently the SECOND most polluted industry in the world, right behind the oil industry!

 

WTF? HOW? WHY?

1. Fashion generates 4% of the world´s waste each friggin' year with 92 million tons. That´s actually way more than toxic e-waste, mind you. 

2. Each year, water used by the fashion industry to create our cheap clothes is equivalent to 32 million Olympic-sized swimming pools!

3. Clothes made from polyester can take up to 200 years to break down. Yep, that new H&M tee you bought could probably be somewhere on earth, found by your great-grandchild. 

4. Around 67 million birds are killed annually due to the chemical environment at cotton farms. 

5. Making 1 kilogram of non-organic fabric generates an average of 23 kgs of greenhouse gasses!

6. Above all that environment pollution, most of the workers in sweat shops or garment factories earn as low as US$1 - $3 a day! Our lattes cost more than that!

 

Wanna know what changes we can do together to combat this problem? Here are the steps: 

#1: Don´t forget to subscribe to our newsletter.

#2: Follow us on Instagram too so you would be able to find out the steps!

 

 

 

 

 

xoxo Suzie

 

Sources: 

The Green Hub Online

The Independent.co.uk

The Current Daily

 

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