Our Red-Bottomed Environmental Footprint
Image Courtesy: Pinterest
When Cardi B said "I got red-bottoms, I got bloody shoes" we felt that… and unfortunately so did our planet.
It might not come as a shock to you that the fashion industry is the second-largest source of pollution in the world. Between the resources being used to create the clothes, as well as the amount of discarded garments put into a landfill every year, the toll that fashion takes on the planet adds up horrifically fast.
A large issue regarding fashion is how much water is necessary to produce clothing. For example, up to 20,000 liters of water are needed to produce just 1 kilogram of cotton. Unfortunately, water is becoming a more and more precious resource on our planet as watersheds are being drained and more water is becoming necessary to irrigate agricultural fields. Beyond this, many water sources are being dried up for this specific reason such as the desertification of the Aral Sea, where cotton production has entirely drained the water. Not only does the fashion industry use up a lot of water in regards to production, but they also pollute many additional water sources as well. Untreated toxic wastewater is frequently dumped into our waterways containing arsenic, mercury, lead, and many other harmful toxins. Chemicals can disturb the creatures native to these habitats, as well as the people who utilize this river as a water source.
Image Courtesy: BBC
Another large problem with the fashion industry lies with how we, as consumers, handle the products. The average lifetime of a garment of clothing today is only 3 years. That means that, on average, after three years of wearing a particular item we throw it out because it is "out of style". The short lifetime the clothes combined with the mass amounts of articles produced each year leads to an astronomical amount of clothes in landfills. Only 15% of our clothing is recycled, so the rest of this makes up 5.2% of landfills that are only textiles/cotton. As landfills get larger, more carbon is emitted, furthering the impending doom that is climate change.
Not to worry though, it is not all bad news. There are many things that you can do to lessen the blow of all of this. For example, thrifting is a great way to cut back on the amount of clothing that goes into landfills, as well as a good way to get some cute finds for less money. You can also make an effort to recycle your old worn-down clothes as much as possible if they are unable to be donated. Lastly, the best way to help our planet and look great while doing it is to do the research. If you look into the background of all of the companies you buy from to see what kinds of environmental practices they use, then you can be smarter about whose actions you are funding.
Image Courtesy: The University of Queensland
Just remember, it doesn't matter how cute your jeans are if you have no planet to wear them on!
Strike Out,
Writer: Tabitha Labrato
Editors: Gillian McKendree and Savannah Tindall
Tallahassee