So, your New Year’s Resolution is to live a little “greener” … maybe this is remembering to use your new swell water bottle, ditching the plastic straws, and taking bags to the grocery store to opt out of plastic ones. Good for you, world changer! These are amazing starts. Now, let us tell you why choosing sustainable fashion brands is the next step.
We are about to throw a lot of facts at you, so buckle in! Did you know:
- Approximately t93 billion cubic meters of water are consumed every year in the garment industry, which would be enough to meet the needs of 5 million people!
- Just one cotton t-shirt can take up to 2,700 litres of water, and a pair of jeans can take up to 3,781 litres, including cotton growth, washing, processing, and dying.
That’s not all…
- Just the conventional cotton industry alone uses 20% of the world’s toxic pesticides, which lead to water and soil pollution, and serious health issues.
And this is all before the clothes reach our favorite online shopping brand’s store! What about after we are done with them?! Well…
- The Environmental Health Perspectives released a study that claims Americans throw out approximately 85% of their clothing annually, averaging about 80 pounds a person, altogether 3.8 billion pounds a year
- And, nearly 80% of used clothing ends up in landfills or is incinerated! In 2018, 17 million tons of textile waste ended up in landfills.
- Synthetic fibers that are widely used now, such as nylon, polyester and acrylic, that are made from petroleum (a type of plastic), can take up to 500 years to biodegrade.
So, maybe it is time to take a look into sustainable fashion brands, after all! Be sure to be on the lookout for a few certifications that may help you choose where to get your next favorite wardrobe pieces! Be on the lookout for GOTS Certified (Global Organic Cotton Textile Standard), B Corp, and Fair Trade tags. Other ways to make your wardrobe a little greener? Challenge yourself to create a capsule wardrobe, made of 30-ish pieces that you rotate every day - start with one month! Let us suggest the Travel Scarf as a staple.. As it serves as shawl, blanket, scarf, pashmina, wrap… it is a good piece to have, especially for our travelers out there!
