{"id":10985,"title":"How Fast Fashion Hurts the Planet","description":"The fashion industry emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined.  Here are the biggest ways it impacts the planet.","content":"<h3><strong>The fashion industry emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined. Here are the biggest ways it impacts the planet.<\/strong><\/h3><p>Some parts of modern life are, at this point, widely known to cause environmental harm \u2014 flying overseas, using disposable plastic items, and even driving to and from work, for example. But when it comes to our clothes, the impacts are less obvious.\u00a0<\/p><p>As consumers worldwide buy more clothes, the growing market for cheap items and new styles is taking a toll on the environment. On average, people bought 60% more garments in 2014 than they did in 2000. Fashion production makes up 10% of humanity's carbon emissions, dries up water sources, and pollutes rivers and streams.<\/p><p>What's more, 85% of all textiles go to the dump each year. And washing some types of clothes sends thousands of bits of plastic into the ocean.<\/p><p>Here are the most significant impacts fast fashion has on the planet:<\/p><ul><li><p><strong>Clothing production has roughly doubled since 2000.<\/strong><\/p><p><\/p><\/li><li><p><strong>While people bought 60% more garments in 2014 than in 2000, they only kept the clothes for half as long.<\/strong><\/p><p><\/p><\/li><li><p><strong>In Europe, fashion companies went from an average offering of two collections per year in 2000 to five in 2011. <\/strong>Some brands offer even more. Zara puts out 24 collections per year, while H&amp;M offers between 12 and 16. A lot of this clothing ends up in the dump. The equivalent of one garbage truck full of clothes is burned or dumped in a landfill every second!<\/p><p><\/p><\/li><li><p><strong>In total, up to 85% of textiles go into landfills each year! <\/strong>All of our apparel can be sent back to the factory for recycling and being made into new product, creating cyclical fashion. If you choose not to send it back, and donate it instead, you are keeping the product out of landfills. Most donation companies will send 100% cotton apparel to be recycled versus sending it to a landfill if they can't sell it. And..should one of our tees eventually land up in a landfill, they are biodegradable, and thus won't harm the earth.<\/p><p><\/p><\/li><li><p><strong>Washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean each year \u2014 the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles! <\/strong>Many of those fibers are polyester, a plastic found in an estimated 60% of garments. Producing polyester releases two to three times more carbon emissions than cotton, and polyester does not break down in the ocean. A 2017 report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimated that 35% of all microplastics \u2014 very small pieces of plastic that never biodegrade \u2014 in the ocean came from the laundering of synthetic textiles like polyester. Overall, microplastics are estimated to compose up to 31% of plastic pollution in the ocean! <em>This is why we only use 100% organic cotton. No PET or synthetic fiber blends!<\/em><\/p><p><\/p><\/li><li><p><strong>The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of humanity's carbon emissions. <\/strong>That's more emissions than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. If the fashion sector continues on its current trajectory, that share of the carbon budget could jump to 26% by 2050, according to a 2017 report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Our textile factory in India is wind-powered and our printing facilities in the UK are solar-powered. We don't want to contribute to the negative carbon emissions damaging the environment.<\/p><p><\/p><\/li><li><p><strong>Fashion causes water-pollution problems, too. Textile dyeing is the world's second-largest polluter of water, since the water leftover from the dyeing process is often dumped into ditches, streams, or rivers. All in all, the fashion industry is responsible for 20% of all industrial water pollution worldwide. <\/strong>Our textile factory cleans and recycles all its water, reusing it and not polluting nearby waters. This also greatly reduces water waste.<\/p><\/li><\/ul><p>Some apparel companies are starting to buck these trends by joining initiatives to cut back on textile pollution and grow cotton more sustainably. In March 2019, the UN launched the Alliance for Sustainable Fashion, which will coordinate efforts across agencies to make the industry less harmful. We are partnered with a certified organic eco-friendly manufacturer and printer, and are proud to be a part of the sustainable fashion movement.<\/p><p>You can check out our awesome eco-conscious apparel at <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.inspiraecotees.com\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">www.inspiraecotees.com<\/a><\/p><p>Sources: BusinessInsider.com, wri.org, UNEP, The New York Times, The Guardian, UNECE<\/p>","urlTitle":"how-fast-fashion-hurts-the-planet","url":"\/blog\/how-fast-fashion-hurts-the-planet\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/how-fast-fashion-hurts-the-planet\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/inspiraecotees.com\/blog\/how-fast-fashion-hurts-the-planet\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1618172018,"updatedAt":1679360857,"publishedAt":1679360857,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":35498,"name":"Inspira Eco-conscious Tees"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/e2svaynqpr2v9lxwgyr50dozlcz6b95mtqemv1mfqpsbf7ll.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/e2svaynqpr2v9lxwgyr50dozlcz6b95mtqemv1mfqpsbf7ll.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/e2svaynqpr2v9lxwgyr50dozlcz6b95mtqemv1mfqpsbf7ll.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"","metaDescription":"","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":25873,"title":"The Power of A Great Inspirational T-shirt","url":"\/blog\/the-power-of-a-great-inspirational-t-shirt\/","urlTitle":"the-power-of-a-great-inspirational-t-shirt","division":35498,"description":"I\u2019m a firm believer in the power of a great t-shirt, especially an inspirational t-shirt.  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Slowing fast fashion down a bit won't fix it.  But when we take the waste material at the end, and make new products from it at the start, it changes everything..","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5cfd3ae83194f5.75989853.jpg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/5cfd3ae83194f5.75989853.jpg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}