5 Ways To Reduce Your Fashion Footprint

Five ways to make a difference.

- Rachel Kehoe

A revolution is underway within the fashion industry. Shoppers and designers alike are making choices to reduce their fashion footprint as sustainability becomes the newest trend.

UNDRESSING THE FASHION INDUSTRY

Behind the vibrant colors and eye-catching prints of new clothes lies a dirty secret. The fashion industry is one of the world’s most polluting industries. From contaminated soil and dye-stained rivers to tons of textile waste, fashion comes at a high cost to the environment. Added to this, the process of making new clothes consumes large amounts of natural resources.

The raw natural materials, such as cotton, that make up fabric require an immense amount of space to grow. Land that’s growing cotton for clothing can’t be used to grow food. Farmers usually use vast amounts of water and pesticides to grow the fabric crop. Some estimate that the fashion industry uses a quarter of the insecticides produced in the world. When these toxic chemicals escape into the environment, they pollute land and waterways and harm the health of people who live nearby.

To make one pair of jeans requires 140 square feet (13 sq m) of land and more than 950 gallons (3,625 liters) of water to grow the cotton. That is enough water to quench the thirst of an average adult for around three years.

ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW