COULD FASHION CHOICE IMPACT THE ENVIRONMENT?

RIYA GOYAL

I am sure almost all of you reading have bought clothes from fast fashion brands like H&M, Zara, Gap, and Uniqlo. In fact, you are probably wearing them right now. But have you ever thought of the environmental impact of fast fashion? This brings into question the need of sustainability in the world of fashion. Sustainable fashion is very important because, unlike fast fashion, it requires less water and reduces your carbon footprint.    

Moreover, the world of fashion largely contributes to the deterioration of the environment. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, greenhouse gas emissions related to textile production are 1.2 billion tons annually, more than those of all international flights and maritime shipping trips combined. This means that the world of fashion leads to climate change and global warming. By introducing sustainable fashion, we will be able to reduce our carbon footprint by a substantial amount.   

Furthermore, the fashion industry is the second largest consumer of water. According to the Global Fashion Agenda, the fashion industry consumes 79 billion cubic meters of water. To give perspective, that is enough to fill 32 million swimming pools. We could save a huge amount of water by switching to sustainable fashion.   

To sum up, the environmental impacts of fast fashion include water pollution, emission of greenhouse gases, and the use of massive amounts of water. These pose a serious threat to the environment. Therefore, I would encourage each one of you to buy sustainable fashion from brands like Lucy & Yak and Everlane. It is up to us whether we want to save the environment or destroy it. To conclude, I would like to quote Antonio Bohike: “Sustainable fashion is not a trend but the future.”