The Fashion Footprint: How Trends are Shaping Our Planet
Fashion is one of those fast-paced industries where everything you see trending today will be out of style tomorrow. But what about the carbon footprint left behind? Fast fashion means manufacturing clothing in haste to capture current designs. Whether it's the newest Channel handbag or Kim Kardashian wardrobe staple, the carbon price tag that comes with it isn't cheap.
From creation to arrival in your closet, every single piece of clothing has a carbon story. Textiles are produced through various processes like spinning, weaving and dyeing on a large scale that require huge energy as they are largely dependent on fossil fuel sources. Moreover, chemicals and water used in textile manufacturing are of that harm to the environment (Dulova et a1 2004). Here, by soaking cloth in dyeing chemicals, they release toxic chemicals into natural water that result in intense water pollution. The fashion industry has worldwide supply chains and destructive manufacturing practices which contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, making it imperative there is a change in consumer behaviour as well as business practice. From the transport of garments across continents, to how energy intense and programmed manufacturing makes it impossible to determine what your clothes are made from, fashion & its figures on climate change show a bleak future.
The carbon emissions of fast fashion are fueled by transporting raw materials and the finished products around to different ends of the world. Our energy demands have nearly doubled since 2000, with at least 80% of these needs in India being met by coal followed by oil and then biomass.
Synthetic fabrics like polyester and nylon are possibly the most harmful features of fast fashion. They have a very strong connection to fast fashion, and this goes further than looks. This is a widely favoured type of material because it is comparatively cheaper, adaptable, and resilient. Nylon and Polyester are plastics made from fossil fuels, crude oil or natural gas extracted from the earth. This causes carbon dioxide to be released in a high amount in the atmosphere. Unlike natural fibers, synthetic fabrics such as polyester do not decompose once thrown away and can remain in the environment for hundreds of years. A report by organizations including Changing Markets highlighted that as well as being a major contributor to oil consumption around the world, fashion leads to extreme levels of environmental degradation everywhere from extraction through manufacture down to disposal. In many developing countries, factories and manufacturing plants often affect the most vulnerable communities the most. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution causes around 7 million premature deaths annually. Fast fashion doesn't just pollute the air but defiles the very earth that we stand on. Scientists have even identified microfibres everywhere, even in the Atlantic Ocean. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, pH in seawater increased to 30% by absorption from CO2. The drop in pH is increasingly affecting marine life that rely on calcium carbonate shells and skeletons, such as coral reefs and shellfish. It destroys the whole ecosystem and creates biodiversity loss in land as well as water. Change is necessary and it needs to happen quickly.
In the name of sustainability, brands often glorify green efforts that are not even close to reality. But are these initiatives truly transformative, or are they mere greenwashing? Only in most cases, clothing labelled as “green” and recycled”, or the like is notoriously not what it seems. The reality, however, is that much less of this material actually gets recycled. That is an unsustainable lie we tell consumers, making them believe they are doing the more responsible thing while all clothes happily find their way back into a landfill. It is time to examine our fashion choices and demand more transparency from brands and labels. Ultimately, the industry is focused on making a profit. For any initiative falsely labelled as "sustainable" or "green," there is usually a hidden profit involved. It can certainly be quite arduous for us to differentiate between genuine sustainability efforts and mere marketing tactics. However, being aware of the environmental and social consequences of clothing purchases can push consumers to make more responsible choices. Every time we buy something, we have the chance to support practices that prioritize the environment rather than financial gain for these big corporations.
In recent years, a change towards sustainability in fashion is gaining steam. Advances in sustainable and low-impact materials like organic cotton as well as recycled fibres move growing alternatives to petroleum-based fabrics. The durability and recycling encouraged by the circular fashion models can limit the environmental harm done by the fashion industry. So, not just new ways clothes are being produced but also the sort of proposals that challenge consumers to question their consumption tendencies. Consumers are the key to driving change as we have a choice on what companies and products to use. We can help redefine style without harming the planet by supporting brands that put a premium on sustainability. Together, we can reshape the future of fashion into one that's not only fashionable but also mindful of its environmental footprint.