Fashion Industry Pollution is Accelerating Climate Change

When it comes to the world’s pollution, the fashion industry is a huge contributor. Between the trillions of liters of water usage that can’t be reused because it’s too toxic, using synthetic materials and the greenhouse gasses produced by all the deliveries - the environmental damage caused by the fashion industry is increasing.

Just how much is the fashion industry polluting?

It all sounds really nice: buying things for a fraction of the price and getting them in a few days or sometimes hours. But at what cost? 70 million trees are cut down each year to keep up with the fashion industry’s need for synthetic fabrics, and that number is expected to double by 2034. Billions of disposable apparel items are created each year by companies who will somehow find a way to make us feel bad about those same items the next year. And if we’re not replacing them because they’re out of style, we’ll be replacing them because they only lasted a few wears. 

Corporations are tricking us with low quality items and new trends - the hamster wheel of consumption. Zara produces 450 million garments and 20,000 styles each year and Shein produces 6,000 styles each day. Every year, 11.3 million tons of unworn and sample clothing is tossed into landfills. That’s around 2,150 pieces of clothing per second. 

What can we do about the waste?

• Invest in higher quality clothing. Sure we could try to consume less, but what if we can still buy the things we need and want without increasing fashion industry pollution? High quality clothing doesn’t have to be replaced every year (or every wear) and regardless of what fashionistas may say, some things will never go out of style when YOU love them. 
• Buy clothing made with  organic & natural fabrics and dyes to reduce the toxic chemicals that are released when they’re created or washed. 

A big part of fashion industry pollution is the high levels of carbon dioxide it emits.

Lots of energy is used to create and transport the amount of clothing that’s made and bought each year. Between 5% and 10% of global greenhouse gasses created comes from the fashion industry. On top of that, the fast fashion clothing created in countries powered by coal, like China and India, create the worst type of carbon emissions. 

What can we do about carbon emission? 

• Well since you asked, DoneGood.com automatically offsets carbon emissions for every order shipped. So you can check “not contributing to climate change” off your list whenever buying things from the brands on our site. And many of our partner brands also offset shipping for each order placed, so you order just might be carbon negative!

5 DoneGood Brands That Don’t Contribute to Fashion Industry Pollution (None of them do, but you can check out all 120+ by clicking this link.)

1. Nisolo’s timeless and stylish shoes and accessories are handcrafted with living wages and also reduces and offsets carbon emissions. They've even created their own "Sustainability Facts Label'' to keep themselves accountable!
2. Groceries Apparel creates their own non-toxic dyes from foods like carrots, coffee grinds and beets. Get it, “Groceries” Apparel?! Their clothing and undergarments are ethically made in Los Angeles with organic cotton and hemp. 
3. Etica’s denim is made with advanced technology to reduce water usage by 90%, energy consumption by 63% and chemical usage by 70% compared to the fashion industry’s standards. 
4. Not only does Toad & Co. ship their clothing made with organic cotton and recycled fabrics in reusable mailers - they also repair gently used clothing for you to love again. 
5. Passion Lilie’s clothing for women are created with living wages by women in India and made of natural, biodegradable fibers. The handwoven items are made with locally sourced materials from where they’re produced.

Wanna find brands that are doing good things the big guys aren’t? Check out our alternatives series to find them!