Redressing the textile industry

The fashion industry might not be the first that comes to mind as a super-user of fossil fuels. But modern textiles rely heavily on petrochemical products that come from many of the same oil and gas companies driving greenhouse gas emissions. The fashion industry is the second largest polluter in the world just after the oil industry. And the environmental damage is increasing as the industry grows.

Today, in fact, fashion accounts for up to 10% of global carbon dioxide output according to the United Nations Environment Programme. It also accounts for 20% of the 300 million tons of plastic produced globally each year. Only a fraction of manufactured textiles gets recycled. Some 87% of the total fiber input used for clothing is ultimately incinerated or sent to a landfill. Fashion brands have come under criticism for destroying - as opposed to selling - unsold product. 

The drop in garment prices over the last 20 years has also allowed us to buy more and more clothing. We now have 500% more clothing than our grandparents had. This continuous accumulation of cheap garments is only possible because of a constant reduction of production costs. Clothing has also become disposable. As a result, we generate more and more textile waste. A family of four throws away an average of 24 pounds of clothing each year. The fashion industry, simply put, has serious consequences for the health of our planet.

However, there are solutions and alternatives to mitigate these problems. The first step lies in building awareness and willingness to change. Sustainability has become a major focus of fashion brands in the past decade. Gucci, Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen have released sustainability reports that detail goals to use more recycled or organic materials. The buying public’s interest in sustainability has never been higher. A recent survey by Swiss global investment group Credit Suisse of 10,000 Gen Z and millennial consumers across the world found that at least 65%  are worried about the environment and almost 80% intend to buy only sustainable products, or at least as many as possible. Over 40% of respondents said they believe the fashion industry to be unsustainable.

With so much clothing saturating the market in recent years, the secondhand market has swelled in parallel. In the first quarter of 2018, Poshmark, an online marketplace where users can buy and sell used clothing and accessories, reported $177 million in sales. The same period in 2020 saw $309 million in sales, a 75% increase. But there’s only so much life left in the clothing that consumers just don’t want to buy–and there is a lot of that. Colleen Morrone, the chief executive officer of Goodwill of Delaware, said that as of 2015, its 16 stores and four outlets racked up 7 million pounds of unsold clothing a year. More recent data is not available, but donations have increased over the past decade, she said. The shelf life of a donated article of clothing is four to six weeks. If items go unsold after that, the store ships them to Goodwill outlets, which sell clothing at 99 cents per pound. Whatever is left gets sent to textile recyclers or overseas.