Nina Ibarria, Mariel Lemair
Sustainability & the Future of Fashion
Group Blog Post #2
9/18/17
Human Impact on Climate Change
Crafting a fashion piece
from inception to collection is a resource-intensive journey that requires an
immense amount of human and natural resources. According to the Word Bank, 20
percent of global water pollution is caused by textile processing, making it
the second biggest polluter of freshwater resources in the planet.
Image Credit:
Noorism.com
Chemical Waste inside a
Fabric Dying Factory in China
Image Credit:
Noorism.com
River Outside Fabric
Dying Factory in China
Image Credit: Khaled Hasan for the
NYTimes
Savar, Bangladesh, untreated wastewater in
neighborhood.
Image Credit: businessinsider.com
A
boy plays in severely polluted water in China
The Human Impact of Producing Viscose:
An example that clearly
illustrates human impact on the planet, is the production of the man-made fiber
Viscose (a synonym for Rayon).
Viscose contains Carbon
Disulfide—a colorless, liquid chemical compound that is highly poisonous. This
fiber is commonly used in the outerwear, dresses, blouses, and home goods such
as carpets. High exposure to this compound during irresponsible production of
Viscose has severe health implications such as damages to the central nervous
system that cause learning disabilities, morphological effects, and infertility
in women. The production of this man-made fiber and its effects, have reached
thousands of women that are inadequately protected against exposure to this
harmful chemical while they work extensive hours in factories.
An alarming (yet
unreported number) of women working in these factories located in third-world
countries suffer from infertility. Women living nearby these factories have
reported to give birth to children with morphological disorders and advanced
learning disabilities due to the consumption of contaminated water and fishes
from the lakes in which these factories are disposing the chemically infused
water that’s used during production.
Infographic and Image Credit: changingmarkets.org
Image Credit: changingmarkets.org
All
children of Kallu Sing—which lives near a viscose plant in Nagda, India,
showed signs of mental and physical
malformations.
Image Credit: changingmarkets.org
Dirty
Fashion
Water Consumption:
Another Human impact that Fashion
has on earth is its high-water consumption during production, and pollution of
natural bodies of water. The ethical fashion site
Gather & See, noted: “The processing of raw materials required for textiles
and the vast amount of water used (2,700 liters per single t-shirt) contributes to
the emission of greenhouse gasses which are causing climate change.”
Synthetic microfibers are particularly dangerous because they have the
potential to poison the food chain. The fibers’ size allows them to be readily
consumed by fish and other wildlife. These fibers have the potential to bio
accumulate, concentrating toxins in the bodies of small to larger animals in the
food chain.
Textile Waste:
The growth of natural fibers, such as cotton or wool, can be
agriculturally damaging; more chemical pesticides are used for the growth of
cotton than any other crop. Then there is the production of non-natural fibers
from petrochemicals, which during production, releases nitrous oxide - a
greenhouse gas is 310 times more damaging than carbon dioxide.
More than 15 million tons of used textile waste is generated each year in the United States, and the
amount has doubled over the last 20 years. An average American throws away
approximately 80 pounds of used clothing per person. On average, nationally, it
costs cities $45 per ton to dispose of old clothing. Synthetic clothing may
take hundreds of years to decompose.
Only about 0.1% of recycled fiber collected by charities and take back
programs is recycled into new textile fiber.
Nearly 100 percent of textiles and clothing are recyclable.
The annual environmental impact of a household’s clothing is equivalent
to the water needed to fill 1,000 bathtubs and the carbon emissions from
driving an average modern car for 6,000 miles
Microfibers made up 85% of human-made debris on shorelines around the world.
Take cotton as an example: it is such a thirsty crop that making a
T-shirt requires approximately 2,700 liters and almost triple that amount for a
pair of jeans.
With a forthcoming increase of 60 percent in the world’s population by 2030, fashion leaders are faced with the challenging decision of continuing to be the second largest contributor of global pollution, or to reexamine the parts of their production that are causing strains on natural resources such as water consumption, energy, chemical usage, and waste creation.
Fashion Leaders and Designers Answer the
Call-to-Action on Climate Change:
A recent example of
Fashion Leaders rising to promote sustainable practices is Vivienne Westwood. She
launched the Fashion Switch Programme, a sustainability initiative whose primary
goal is to encourage the use of green energy within fashion labels. Key
industry leaders that have joined the initiative include—Stella McCartney,
Belstaff, and Kering.
During New York Fashion
Week Spring 2018, designer Yuna Yang used her collection and the runway as a
platform to advocate for climate change and pollution. Her collection was named
“Save the Earth”. Yang is determined to raise her voice and use her
platform and creative talent to encourage others to do business that is mindful
of the reality we face with climate change. She utilized materials such as
recycled organic cotton, and silk.
Image Credit: urbanandstylish.com
By: Yuna Yang for her Save the Earth, Spring
2018 Collection
Image Credit: urbanandstylish.com
By: Yuna Yang for her Save the Earth, Spring
2018 Collection
Image Credit: urbanandstylish.com
By: Yuna Yang for her Save the Earth, Spring
2018 Collection
Nina and Mariel,
ReplyDeleteTo start off, I LOVE your visuals. It further proved the points you were speaking to, such as liquid chemicals, and opens the eyes of your readers. I specifically like your discussion on textile waste as it is the main issue in our industry as of now, in my opinion. It's important to note that the fashion industry is the world's second largest polluter and that change is possible if all take action.
Thank you for comment, Pamela!
DeleteNina and Mariel,
ReplyDeleteI truly enjoyed the visuals you chose to accompany your post. It gives it the added effect that some articles or news releases sometimes lack on a day to day basis. Articles about sustainability are sometimes very word heavy as there is a lot to say! Still, the visuals make it easy for those who may not be as inclined to read an in depth article. I loved that you touched on micro fibers. I did a project on their environmental impact and was shocked at all the information I found. Also, I like that you said the following: fashion leaders are faced with the challenging decision of continuing to be the second largest contributor of global pollution, or to reexamine the parts of their production that are causing strains on natural resources such as water consumption, energy, chemical usage, and waste creation. This is truly a great point, we must reexamine the current flaws and make better and viable choices.
Caroline, thank you so much for reading, and sharing your comments about our post.
Delete