Climate Change and Fast Fashion

Leah Snider

Article Overview●“Fast Fashion is the second dirtiest industry in the world, next to big

oil”

●The clothing industry is the second largest polluter in the world

●Cotton clothing takes over 5,000 pounds of water to produce

●Dyes for clothes are being dumped into rivers

●90% of clothing is being shipped in cargo to other countries

Climate Change Climate change: an issue that can no longer be denied. Upward shifts

in overall global temperature, rising sea levels, extreme weather events

Global warming can be linked to activities of individuals and organizations

Sea levels rising, glaciers shrinking, permafrost melting

Changes in plant and animal life

Climate Change and Fast Fashion- Cotton Cotton makes up 40% of our clothing

It is the most chemically dependant crops in the world

Can take over 5,000 pounds of water to produce a shirt and jeans

Organic cotton is a more sustainable choice but is more expensive to grow and need more water to produce

Growing cotton in Uzbekistan has dried up the sea and led to major health concerns in

Cotton can take over 5,000 pounds of water to produce a shirt and jeans

Climate Change and Fast Fashion-DyesChemical dyes are put on clothing to give it color

The dyes are being polluted in the Citarum River in Indonesia

The river is “nothing more than an open sewer containing with lead, mercury, arsenic and a host of other toxins” (Sweeny)

Half a trillion gallons of fresh water are being used each year to dye the textiles

60%Of clothing is produced in developing

countries

Climate Change and Fast Fashion- Shipping

60% of clothing is produced in developing countries

32% from Asia

13% from China

Clothing is put in shipping containers, rails, trucks and sent around the world

There is no way to gauge how much fuel is used to ship clothing

These pollutants are damaging the air and contributing to the greenhouse effect

One single ship can produce as much asthma and cancer pollutants as 50 million cars in a year

Hope for FashionClothing designer Eileen Fisher is using 84% organic cotton, 68%

organic linen and reducing water and carbon emissions

Nike is another company working on reducing their impact on the earth

Nike ColorDry

Eliminate use of water and processed chemicals

H&M is working on being more sustainable “Looking good should do good too” (H&M Conscious)

“Make a better future for fashion” (H&M Concious)

Questions1.What do you think will happen to the retail industry as technology

increases? Do you think that increased technology will have changes on the way operates or thinks about the environment?

2.Water from dyed clothing is being dumped into rivers and its polluting the earth. What is a more efficient way of disposing this water or reusing it?

3.60% of our clothing is being made in developing countries. Even though the labor cost are cheap and make the clothes very affordable, do you think that labor should be move to the United States?

Work CitedSweeny, G. (2015). Fast Fashion Is the Second Dirtiest Industry in the World, Next to Big Oil. Retrieved January 18, 2016, from http://ecowatch.com/2015/08/17/fast-fashion-second-dirtiest-industry/

Persson, K. (2014). H&M Conscious. Retrieved January 19, 2016, from http://about.hm.com/en/About/sustainability/hm-conscious/conscious.html

Sustainable Business Report. (2014). Retrieved January 19, 2016, from http://www.nikeresponsibility.com/innovations/nike-colordry