We have a fashion problem. No, I am not talking about the t-shirt I have had for seventeen years! Well I am, sort of.

The fashion industry, as in the whole supply chain for clothing and textiles from raw material to end use and disposal, is the second most polluting industry in the world.

The figures involved are vast.

Physical impacts on the environment

It is the source of 20 per cent of global wastewater, with textile dyeing the second largest cause of water pollution in the world. It takes 2700 litres of water to make a single t-shirt and 7500 litres for a pair of jeans, or as much as a single person drinks in seven years. Tying up so much water for textile production has had colossal effects on the environment. Irrigation for cotton farming in Uzbekistan has caused the destruction of an entire sea.

In terms of carbon emissions, the fashion industry accounts for 10 per cent of global emissions, greater than international flights and maritime shipping combined. As a raw material, polyester production alone is equal to the effect of 185 coal fired power stations annually.

An inefficient machine

The issues are not just on the side of production either. During use, the repeated washes of synthetic materials sends microplastics into the environment. Very little clothing gets recycled and in the UK 300,000 tonnes ends up in landfill or incinerated every year. Due to the speed of changing styles and general inefficiencies in the system there is a global wastage – clothes that never get worn – of $500billion annually.

Such sizeable numbers should not be too much of a surprise, after all, with 7 billion people needing to be clothed, fashion is big business. In 2018 the UK spent more than £58 billion on clothes, equal to roughly £850 per person.

This, in and of itself, is not the problem. The problem is that the system is vastly inefficient, and the negative side is magnified with the way we wear clothes. In 2018 the British public spent £3.5 billion on party clothes for Christmas with 8 million items being discarded after a single use. The average lifespan of an item of clothing is shrinking, with the number of times a garment is worn having declined by 36 per cent in 15 years.

Whose problem? Whose solution?

The fact that this is a problem is recognised by charities, governments and NGOs. In the UK the Environmental Audit Committee published a report that looked at the societal and environmental costs of our clothes, prompting the establishment of an All-Party Parliamentary Group to try and solve the dilemmas.

Many look to the industry to be the solution to the problem of their own making. Moving to more sustainable and efficient practices are seen as the best way to mitigate the damage done. It is also seen as the easiest option, as getting the general public to change their buying habits is considered unrealistic.

Clothing for all

Fast fashion is a by-product of two needs. The first is the often talked about one of growing the profits of the clothing industry. The other is the need to supply cheap clothing to a large part of the world’s population. There was a time when textile creation was one of the most labour intensive and expensive tasks. There is no call for the return to that experience. Fast fashion, where clothing gets cheaply made, bought, and quickly disposed of exists because there is, in some lucky parts of the world, enough wealth to make it happen. The brands associated do supply clothes for those with less.

There are undoubtedly benefits, the most striking being the democratisation of fashion to ordinary people. In the words of Dr Sumner of Leeds University School of Design: “Fast fashion has allowed all segments of society, irrespective of class, income or background to engage in the hedonistic and psychogenic pleasures of fashion. At no other time in human history has fashion been so accessible to so many people across our society. This is the power of fast fashion.”

Break the addiction to break the cycle

It is the ever-faster fashion cycles creating the ever-mounting pile of waste combined with the excess resources that turn this into the problem it has become. The internet is awash with advice on what an individual can do to be a part of the solution and not the problem, allowing us all to take responsibility for reducing our impact.

Many of these tips involve alternative ways of getting a new (to you) outfit. The fact remains that the most sustainable and environmentally friendly piece of clothing you can have is the item you already own. Only by inoculating ourselves to the constant marketing messages will we be able to break the addiction of buying clothes when we do not really need them. The only way to really reduce the waste is to buy and use less.

This is a rather extreme position. The t-shirt I have had for more than half of my life is certainly not the last thing I have bought. However, the way it is still able to be worn once a week, even after all of these years, shows that even a cheaply made garment can be made to last.

One chapter in a larger story

This blog has focused on the environmental costs of the fashion industry. It has not addressed the many other factors involved. Any parent will tell you that children outgrow or wear out their clothes at an astonishing rate and there is little that can be done to avoid this. The cheaply made and cheaply bought clothes are often the only option. It has also not addressed the number of people involved in the textile and clothing industry world-wide (roughly 1 in 6 people) or the poor conditions the majority (mainly women, 85% of the 40 million garment workers) work in. These are topics that are for blogs all on their own. Hopefully though it can serve as a start, to get us all thinking about what the true costs of the clothes we buy and wear are.