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Fast fashion is both an economic and a sociological phenomenon that has grown to a higher level. What we spend on clothes is covered twice by the planet, and it is very important to change our norms and behaviors. We believe in empowering people with knowledge, so here’s our list of the 10 most important fast fashion statistics to help you understand the harmful impact of this industry on the environment.
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1 – 2. Clothing production has doubled – the lifespan of clothing use has decreased
These two statistics are the epitome of fast fashion. Apparel sales have doubled from 100 to 200 billion units per year, while the average wear time of an item has decreased overall by 36 percent.
3. Fast fashion creates more CO2 than aviation and shipping combined
4. More than $500 billion is wasted each year due to recycling and reuse of clothing.
About $500 billion worth of clothing is thrown away each year instead of the pre-released and recycled mix. A large part occurs on the consumer side, but retail stores are just as guilty, often seen throwing away or burning unsold items.
You may also like: How Can the Fast Fashion Industry Reduce Textile Waste?
5. Fashion trends around the world are different
Previous statistics have provided a global snapshot of the situation, but fast fashion is more or less prominent depending on where you live.
6. 20% of the world’s wastewater comes from textile dyeing
The fashion industry consumes nearly 93 billion cubic meters of water, much of which is contaminated with toxic chemicals. As of 2011 United Nations Environment Programme, 20% of the world’s wastewater comes from textile dyeing. Because most of the production is in countries with little regulation, the waste water often finds its way into rivers and seas, causing destruction.
7. We dispose of 92 million tons of clothing-related waste every year.
This next figure on our list of fast fashion statistics can be difficult to understand, so let’s reframe it.
8. It produces half a million tons of microplastics
You’ve surely heard about the microplastic epidemic that seems to be everywhere on Earth right now. They are everywhere, from the top of Mount Everest to the air we breathe. The oceans are full of them, they are regularly caught by fish, then eaten in turn as the plastic moves up the food chain.
Clothes are a huge source of microplastics because many of them are now made of nylon or polyester, both durable and cheap. Each wash and dry cycle, especially the latter, dislodges microfilaments that circulate through our sewage system and end up in waterways. We estimate that half a million tons of these pollutants reach the ocean every year.
You may also like: Are microplastics harmful and how can we avoid them?
9. The return of items purchased online is greater than the amount of items purchased
As more and more online retailers offer the option of easy, and often free, shipping on large and small items, the cost of returns has increased, especially for fashion items.
10. You can easily help cut consumer emissions by more than half.
as if –
- skip one of six wash loads;
- Wash half load below 30 degrees;
- and replacing every sixth dryer use with an open-air dryer;
We will cut consumer emissions by more than half.
That may sound like a complex set of instructions, but the message is that small tweaks or changes here and there a Big difference. You can be a part of that.
You may also like: Fast Fashion and Environmental Impact
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