Our everyday actions — the way we live, how we move around and the way we consume things — has a profound effect on our planet.
Fortunately, over the past few years we have seen growing public demand for governments, businesses and citizens alike to focus on the accelerating climate crisis. Global protests have been gaining traction, such as the Climate Strike led by school students skipping school in order to demand climate action and the Extinction Rebellion movement that mobilised the UK government to declare a climate emergency.
It seems the world is finally waking up to the urgent issues of our time and demanding those at the top take immediate actions to change our course. However, if we truly want to reduce our environmental footprint, we as citizens of the world need to learn about the impact our everyday actions have on our planet and equip ourselves with the tools to make a change.
Climate Change
Since the Industrial Revolution, we have been burning fossil fuels which release greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as CO2, that trap the warmth of the sun like a blanket, heating our planet. This heating of our planet, climate change, has widespread impacts across the globe, from an increase in crop vulnerability and extensive biodiversity (meaning plants, animals and habitat) loss to impacts on human health and people’s access to clean water. The climate is now 1°C above the temperature of the earth when we first started burning fossil fuels
If we are to prevent the worst effects of climate breakdown, we need to keep this temperature rise below 2°C, with an ambition to keep it below 1.5°C (to align with both The Paris Agreement and the UN SDG’s).
Water Scarcity
Water covers 70% of our planet and it is easy to think that it will always be plentiful. However, only 0.3% of the planet’s freshwater (water that doesn’t come from the sea) is easily accessible to us, with much of it trapped in glaciers. Currently, more than 2 billion people live in countries experiencing high water stress. This will only get worse when the effects of climate breakdown intensify. At the rate that our climate is changing, water scarcity is expected to displace between 24 million and 700 million people by 2030 [3].
How does the fashion industry contribute to climate change and water scarcity?
Fashion is responsible for around 2%-3% of global GHG emissions , contributing significantly to the climate crisis. Around 63% of our clothes are made from synthetic fibres, such as polyester, acrylic and nylon, which are all plastics, made from fossil fuels The production process of turning fossil fuels into textiles for our clothes releases significant amounts of GHGs. The production of textiles also uses around 93 billion cubic meters of water (m3) annually, which is approximately 4% of the annual global use of freshwater
The growing of conventional cotton, in particular, requires a lot of water. In addition, pesticides and insecticides that are used on cotton crops can also alter ecosystems and biodiversity. The dyes used to colour textiles, if not disposed of properly, pollute local waterways and rivers, which can have massive impacts on local communities who rely on these rivers for their fish and water supply.
Deforestation as a result of growing other crops or grazing cattle for leather decreases biodiversity by damaging soil quality and erasing natural habitat for the species and people that rely on it. Deforestation for wood pulp used to make viscose, a fabric used widely in clothing, is particularly damaging to the environment. Not only does deforestation occur in the tropical regions with the highest global biodiversity but it also contributes to climate breakdown as trees capture CO2 from the atmosphere and store it.
How can you help?
On an individual level, if we doubled the number of times we wore a garment on average, then GHG emissions would be 44% lower per garment . Make sure you really wear the clothes you already have - wear them over and over again - as the most sustainable clothes are the ones already in your wardrobe.
If you are looking to buy new clothes, look for natural and recycled materials and materials with environmental certifications (tip: look for organic, Fair Trade, low carbon, recycled content guarantees). If you cannot find any information on the materials used in the garment, contact the brand directly and ask them!
As a consumer and citizen of your community, your voice and the everyday actions you take are powerful drivers of positive change. Collectively, if fashion brands see the demand for sustainably sourced cotton or recycled materials increase, then they will begin to source more of what people want. Many of the most damaging environmental impacts of our clothes occur far down the supply chain, in the raw materials and processing stages - an area where brands and consumers do not typically have much visibility. As consumers, we need to encourage the brands we buy to have a transparent supply chain, so we can hold them accountable for their environmental policies and impacts.
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