Key Insights
The fashion industry produces 10% of all humanity's carbon emissions
Experts predict the fashion industry will be responsible for 26% of the global carbon budget by 2050
The fashion industry emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined
The fashion industry is the second-largest consumer of the world's water supply
Washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean every year
Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water globally
85% of all textiles go to the dump each year
The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second
Less than 1% of used clothing is recycled into new clothing
Consumers bought 60% more garments in 2014 than in 2000
Global clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2014
Clothing keeps are kept for about half as long as they were 15 years ago
Polyester production releases two to three times more carbon emissions than cotton
Cotton farming is responsible for 24% of insecticides used globally
70 million barrels of oil are used every year to make polyester fibers
Carbon Emissions & Energy
The fashion industry produces 10% of all humanity's carbon emissions
Experts predict the fashion industry will be responsible for 26% of the global carbon budget by 2050
The fashion industry emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined
Nitrous oxide, emitted during nylon production, is 300 times more potent than CO2
Textile production generates 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year
Extending the life of a garment by 9 months reduces carbon, waste, and water footprints by 20-30%
Buying one used item reduces its carbon footprint by 82%
A polyester shirt has a carbon footprint of approximately 5.5 kg CO2e
Carbon emissions from the apparel industry are projected to increase by 63% by 2030
The carbon footprint of a cotton t-shirt is estimated at 2.1 kg CO2e
Carbon emissions from textile production are 1.2 billion tonnes annually
The fashion industry accounts for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions
Using recycled polyester lowers carbon emissions by 37% compared to virgin polyester
The Higg Index shows leather has a high impact on global warming due to methane from livestock
Producing 1kg of fabric generates an average of 23kg of greenhouse gases
Ironing and washing clothes accounts for 35% of the total energy use in a garment's life
Air freight of clothing creates 10 to 20 times more emissions than sea freight
The textile industry is responsible for 10% of global industrial electricity consumption
The apparel industry's CO2 emissions are expected to increase to 2.8 billion tonnes by 2030
A generic pair of jeans produces 33.4 kg of CO2 during its lifespan
Interpretation
If fashion were a country it would be a climate heavyweight, already responsible for about 10% of global emissions and more CO2 than international flights and shipping combined, with textile production belching roughly 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year and forecast to surge toward 2.8 billion tonnes by 2030 and to consume up to 26% of the global carbon budget by 2050, while potent pollutants like nitrous oxide from nylon and methane from leather make some fabrics far more damaging per kilogram, yet surprisingly simple choices such as keeping clothes nine months longer, buying a used item, choosing recycled fibres, favoring sea freight and washing less can shrink a garment's footprint by roughly 20 to 82 percent.
Consumer Behavior & Production
Consumers bought 60% more garments in 2014 than in 2000
Global clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2014
Clothing keeps are kept for about half as long as they were 15 years ago
100 billion garments are produced globally each year
Some garments are worn only seven to ten times before being discarded
30% of clothes in UK wardrobes have not been worn for at least a year
One in three young women in the UK consider clothes "old" after wearing them once or twice
The average French citizen discards 12 kg of clothing per year
Ultra-fast fashion brands can release up to 6,000 new styles per day
The number of times a garment is worn has declined by 36% in 15 years
The average UK household owns £4,000 worth of clothes
Online return rates for clothing can be as high as 40%
Fast fashion brands have increased production speed to 52 micro-seasons per year
Over 70% of the world's population uses second-hand clothes
The average consumer buys 68 garments a year
400% more clothes are produced now compared to 20 years ago
The average lifespan of a piece of clothing in the UK is only 2.2 years
Fast fashion retailers have shortened production cycles to as little as 2 weeks
Interpretation
Fast fashion has turned our wardrobes into fast-food trays, churning out roughly 100 billion garments a year and quadrupling production in two decades while launching thousands of new styles and 52 micro-seasons, which convinces people to buy more, keep items half as long, wear them far fewer times, return many online purchases, and ultimately leave homes bloated with barely worn clothes as the planet quietly foots the bill.
Material Impact & Chemicals
Polyester production releases two to three times more carbon emissions than cotton
Cotton farming is responsible for 24% of insecticides used globally
70 million barrels of oil are used every year to make polyester fibers
60% of all clothing materials are plastic (synthetics)
11% of the world's pesticides are used in cotton cultivation
43 million tonnes of chemicals are used in textile production annually
Nearly 70 million trees are cut down each year to make fabrics like viscose and rayon
Conventional cotton consumes 16% of all insecticides sold globally
342 million barrels of oil are used each year to produce plastic-based fibers
Chromium VI used in leather tanning is highly toxic and carcinogenic to workers
Fertilizers for cotton production release high levels of nitrous oxide
Heavy metals like lead and mercury are commonly found in textile wastewater
8000 synthetic chemicals are used to turn raw materials into textiles
Leather tanning prevents biodegradation of the natural skin
Phthalates used in printing on clothes are endocrine disruptors
Aldehydes and ammonias are frequently released during textile pre-treatment
Non-organic cotton crops degrade soil quality drastically over time
Formaldehyde is used in textiles to prevent wrinkling and is a known carcinogen
Perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) used for stain resistance persist in the environment practically forever
65% of all new fabrics contain fossil fuel-based synthetics
80% of workers in the garment industry are women often working in hazardous chemical environments
Interpretation
Fast fashion may be cheap at checkout, but it is a toxic bargain for people and the planet, built on oil and plastics that pump out huge carbon emissions, clear forests for viscose, drown cotton in pesticides and fertilizers, and run production and tanning through thousands of toxic chemicals and heavy metals that expose predominantly female garment workers to carcinogens and endocrine disruptors—costs no price tag reveals.
Waste & Landfill
85% of all textiles go to the dump each year
The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second
Less than 1% of used clothing is recycled into new clothing
92 million tonnes of textile waste is created annually
The average American throws away approximately 81.5 pounds of clothes every year
The Atacama Desert in Chile receives 39,000 tons of discarded clothes annually
Synthetic fibers like polyester can take up to 200 years to decompose
Returns of bought clothing result in 5 billion pounds of landfill waste annually in the US
15 million used garments arrive in Accra, Ghana, every week
40% of the used clothing imported to Kantamanto Market in Ghana leaves as waste
5.2% of the waste in US landfills is textiles
Textile waste is estimated to increase by 60% between 2015 and 2030
Apparel and footwear release 4 million tons of waste per year in Europe
Only 13% of the total material input for clothing is recycled in some way after use
One garbage truck full of clothes is burned or landfilled every second
59,000 tonnes of clothing arrive at the port of Iquique, Chile annually
57% of discarded clothes end up in landfills
80% of discarded textiles globally are incinerated or landfilled
The average US citizen generates 37kg of textile waste per year
Only 0.1% of all clothing collected by take-back schemes is recycled into new textile fibers
2.6 million tonnes of returned clothes ended up in US landfills in 2020
4% of global solid waste is comprised of textile waste
Interpretation
Fast fashion has turned clothing into a global pollution machine: every second a garbage truck of textiles is burned or buried, 92 million tonnes pile up each year while less than one percent are remade into new clothes and synthetic fibers can linger for up to 200 years, leaving deserts, ports, markets and landfills awash in our throwaway habits.
Water Usage & Contamination
The fashion industry is the second-largest consumer of the world's water supply
Washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean every year
Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water globally
It takes about 2,700 liters of water to make one cotton shirt
35% of all primary microplastics in the ocean come from laundering synthetic textiles
Producing a single pair of jeans requires 7,500 liters of water
Approximately 20% of industrial water pollution comes from textile treatment and dyeing
3,781 liters of water are required for the full lifecycle of a pair of Levi’s 501 jeans
190,000 tons of textile microplastics enter the marine environment annually
Fashion industry water consumption is projected to increase by 50% by 2030
The fashion industry uses 93 billion cubic meters of water annually
Washing synthetic clothes releases 700,000 microfibers per wash cycle
20,000 liters of water are needed to produce 1kg of cotton
The Citarum River in Indonesia is one of the most polluted rivers due to 200 textile factories
Groundwater levels in Dhaka have dropped 60 meters due to textile industry extraction
The fashion industry contributes 20% to global wastewater
A single laundry load of polyester clothes can discharge 700,000 microplastic fibers
1.5 trillion liters of water are used by the fashion industry annually
The volume of water used for cotton in India could provide 85% of the country's population with 100 liters daily
Interpretation
Fast fashion is literally laundering the planet—guzzling vast amounts of freshwater, draining aquifers and fouling rivers with dyes and wastewater while shedding an oceanful of microfibers, so we’ll soon have endless outfits but nowhere clean to wear them if we don’t change.
Sources & References
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