The Environmental Impacts of Overconsumption in Fashion

Fast fashion is based on cheap productionis a global success that has increased the environmental impacts of the textile industry to catastrophic levels, including the use of 79 trillion liters of water and the production of 92 million tons of waste annually.

Fast fashion is a model based on producing a large variety of trendy items at low prices, allowing consumers impulsive purchases and repeated consumption. This low price has advantages average spending on clothing and footwear fell from about 30% of household expenditures in the 1950s to about 5% in About 62 million tons of clothing and footwear produced annually and expected to rise to 103 million tons by 2030 and the short usage time of items, the average consumer buys a new garment every 5.5 days, has catastrophic environmental impacts.

This supply chain of the fast fashion industry spans the globe with each stage carried out in different locations and items often traveling thousands of kilometers during production and assembly.
More complex and sophisticated stages, such as design and marketing, usually occur in developed countries in the global north. Physical production is typically carried out in developing countries where production and labor are cheaper, so the main social and environmental impacts fall on the global south. This separation of production stages and lack of direct communication wastes resources, and transportation between stages has a significant environmental cost. In the past, most product transportation was by sea, but with the growth of websites promising fast delivery, shipments to consumers often occur by air, greatly increasing carbon emissions.

Water Use The fashion industry consumes enormous amounts of water: about 79 billion cubic meters in 2015 out of the total annual global consumption of about 4 trillion cubic meters. Most of this water is used for cotton cultivation and textile manufacturing processes such as dyeing and finishing. Jeans and t-shirts, about 90% of water consumption is linked to cotton growth, mostly in developing countries, concentrating negative effects on local water sources.

Carbon Footprint According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the textile industry generates about 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Conservative estimates suggest the industry produces about 4 gigatons CO2 equivalent, with one-fifth from footwear production alone. These estimates do not include emissions from the usage phase, including transportation from retailer to consumer and laundering, a stage that may account for up to 14% of a garment’s environmental footprint.

Most carbon emissions in textiles come from energy use, so emissions are highly influenced by raw material and product manufacturing processes and the energy source in the production country.
Natural fibers generally have a lower carbon footprint than synthetic fibers. Conventional cotton generates 3.5 times more emissions than organic cotton, and organic cotton grown in some developing countries can emit twice as much as the same cotton grown in developed countries. Concentrating polluting production stages in developing countries increases emissions.

Use of Hazardous Chemicals Chemicals are used throughout the production chain: they are the base for synthetic fibers, fertilizers, pesticides for cotton cultivation, and chemicals in item processing and manufacturing. Pesticides are linked to severe health effects and death and also cause significant environmental damage by contaminating soils, harming microorganisms, plants, and insects.
Processes such as spinning, weaving, and finishing use chemicals including lubricants, solvents, bleaches, and softeners.

Textile Waste Pre-consumer or production waste occurs during manufacturing and includes fibers, threads, and mostly fabrics. Estimates range from 10–30% of total production material, depending on item, design, print, and production errors. Pre consumer waste also includes large amounts of new, unworn clothing that was unsold or returned after purchase, a common phenomenon in online fashion.

Post-consumer waste includes items purchased and discarded. In 2012, about 150 billion clothing items were produced worldwide, 60% discarded within a few years. Average usage time for items like t-shirts, polo shirts, and pants is 3–3.5 years.

Combined with increased consumption, this significantly increases textile waste, now about 22% of global waste. The growth of fast fashion and increased production and consumption has driven the rise in textile waste. Previously, Western countries exported this waste to developing countries, but many developing countries now ban this, either to protect local production or due to saturated second-hand markets.

Alternative Models: Slower, more durable, and higher-quality production, focusing on smaller quantities of long-lived products. Extended producer responsibility, where producers and importers manage disposal and recycling, creates an incentive to produce more precise quantities.

The problems of fast fashion and proposed solutions require significant, complex change and collaboration among stakeholders with diverse interests. The environmental consequences of continuing as usual are too destructive. Slow fashion is the only responsible way forward.