CONSUMPTION, AFTERCARE AND WASTE

CONSUMPTION, WASTE AND AFTERCARE

WHY DO WE CONSUME SO MUCH?

Fast fashion has changed our relationship with clothes as we are lured into following constantly changing trends. We value our clothes less than we used to as shopping has become a compulsion.

However, while these clothes may be cheap, they have high social and environmental costs. It is important that we challenge these patterns of consumption by adopting more sustainable behaviours.

Key facts

In the UK, we consume approximately 3,640 billion items of clothing annually

The total carbon footprint of clothing in the UK rose from 24 million tonnes to 26.2 million tonnes between 2012 and 2016 due to an increase in the consumption of clothes

Worldwide during the past 10 years, the number of items of clothing purchased per consumer has more than doubled

The UK consumes more new clothing per person than any other European country

Globally, the average number of times a garment is worn before it is no longer used has decreased by 36% compared to 15 years ago

The market for second-hand clothes could become bigger than ‘fast fashion’ by 2029

The UK’s charity shops diverted over 330,000 tonnes of clothing and textiles from landfill in 2017, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 7 million tonnes through its reuse activities
An increase of 10% in sales of second-hand clothes could save 3% carbon, 4% water, 1% waste per tonne of clothing
The average consumer bought 60% more clothing in 2014 than in 2000, but kept each garment half as long

On average Americans are throwing away 81 lbs of textiles per person per year

The fashion industry has been overlooked and corrupt for a very long time. It produces an immense amount of waste and pollution into our environment every single day. The Business of Fashion (BOF) released a piece looking into different big fashion corporations and in it they stated, “Every year, roughly 40 million tonnes of textile waste is sent to landfill or incinerated, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation” (The Sustainability Index, 2021). When this textile waste sits in the landfills, methane is released, a toxic greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Without a change being made, these numbers are only going to increase and our environment will continue to get worse. The industry also contributes to unclean waterways. According to Morgan McFall-Johnsen, “All in all, the fashion industry is responsible for 20% of all industrial water pollution worldwide” (McFall-Johnsen, 2020). Water is used during the entire process of making clothes, from start to finish. In most third world countries, which is where the majority of our garment workers live, the water that is being polluted from textile factories is the same water people are getting their drinking water from.

In the UK alone , it is estimated that 336,000 tonnes of clothing are thrown into the bin every year, this is estimated at £140 million worth of clothes. Around 20% of this goes to landfill, and 80% is incinerated. The clothes disposed of into landfill take YEARS to decompose. If they contain nylon it could take up to 40 years and if they contain polyester, 200 years.

It is estimated that 16 –24-year olds in the UK throw 35 million items of clothes in the bin every year

Currently 30% of the UK ‘s wardrobes are unworn.

On average, clothes last for 3.3 years in the UK before they are discarded or passed on by the wearer
In the UK, around 650,000 tonnes of unwanted clothes are collected annually from charity shop donations, door-to-door charity collections, clothes recycling banks, school collections, retail take back schemes and kerbside collections
It is estimated that more than half of the fast fashion produced globally is thrown away in less than a year
When garments are cut from patterns, as much as 15% of the fabric can end up on the cutting room floor

WASTE

These high levels of clothes in the waste stream cause a wide array of negative environmental impacts; effecting people and the planet. From harmful chemicals leaching into groundwater and soil, to the release of methane emissions. This is a greenhouse gas twenty times more potent than carbon dioxide and a significant contributor towards climate change and air pollution.

If we were to extend the life of clothes by an extra 9 months, it reduce's a garment's carbon, water and waste footprint by around 20-30% each.

THE KANTAMANTO MARKET:

Section about Kantamanto market here. biggest second hand market. talk about effects on people, livelihood, fast fashion clothes are such bad quality nobody is buying the bales anymore.

Putting our clothes back into circulation for someone else to use is one of the most sustainable actions that can be taken.

CHILEAN DESERT

Awareness of the negative impacts of fast fashion and textile waste has increased significantly in the last decade, but so has the scale of the ecological crisis. In 2018, UN climate scientists stated that ‘urgent and unprecedent changes are needed’ to prevent climate catastrophe and in 2019 the UK Parliament declared a climate emergency. Understanding all the issues that relate to this area of sustainability and education is of utmost importance. If I do not understand how I can possibly hope to educate others. Not only because of the ecological crisis, but also because of the global commitment to meet the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) by 2030.

Simply put, the fashion industry is using both human and environmental resources in a largely inefficient, exploitative, and unsustainable manner. Systemic change is required, and we believe that greater transparency is the first crucial step towards solving the industry’s human exploitation and environmental crises.

While I have been researching for this subject area I have gathered information from many sources two of the main ones have been- Traid, a charity that I have had an interest in before I started my MA has developed an Educational resource pack. This is a wonderful resource and full of interesting facts and information all related to education. I have taken a lot of the following information from there.

Another resource I have used a lot for this research is the Fashion Revolution Educational pack. Both resources are open source and designed for educators to use. Gathering it all together here will allow me to take from in the future.

There is so much information available on line and I have tried to read as much as I can, it is an incredibly interesting subject area and I’m not sure you can every know everything but by trying to absorb as I can will allow me to be in a stronger position when I start my giant jeans project. It has also allowed me to gather visual information to use for my Giant Jeans project.

Another huge problem with Polyester is that every time you wash a synthetic garment it breaks down slightly. If you imagine the fibre as a polymer made of tiny building blocks, when these fibres are washed in our washing machines, rubbing together and being agitated in the water and detergents, minute parts of these block chip off. The tiny bits are called micro fibres or micro plastics and thousands are released with every wash. Our washing machines are not yet fitted with the technology to capture these micro fibres and so they are washed away with the dirty water. Our water treatment plants capture the majority of these fibres but a significant amount are so small that they slip through the treatment plants filters and are washed out into the oceans. A study carried out by Patagonia found that on average a synthetic fleece jacket can shed up to 250,000 fibres per wash. A similar study showed that acrylic garments shed as many as 700,000 fibres in a single spin cycle. It is also worth noting that this is assuming there are local water treatment plants. With the rise of fast and cheap fast fashion and the ensuing waste problem that comes with it much of the unwanted clothing is ending up in countries that do not have this infrastructure and the clothing will end up in landfills and in waterways, literally going straight into the waterways that provide the drinking, cooking and bathing water that the communities depend on.