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As we all know, every action we take has an impact on the planet: from the hot shower that lasts more than 10 minutes, to the constant use of cotton buds, and even the choice, which may seem trivial, of deciding what to wear every day.
Although we sometimes forget, fashion pollutes, consumes energy, water, and resources to create every piece of clothing and accessory that we buy and wear without feeling guilty. According to the most recent data, one kilogram of fabric used by the fashion industry generates 23 kilos of greenhouse gases during the production phase. As a result, fashion would produce more greenhouse gases than ships and planes moving from one part of the planet to another.
A United Nations report points out that this sector is largely responsible for global pollution. From the moment a product is made to the moment it is disposed of, the impact on the planet is staggering. Indeed, 20% of the world's water waste and 10% of carbon dioxide emissions come from our beloved fashion industry.
Earlier this week, we celebrated World Water Day. One of the most important sources of life on our planet. The textile industry is dependent on the water at virtually every stage of production. The dyes, specialty chemicals, and finishing chemicals used to make clothes are all applied to fabrics in water baths. This means that enormous amounts of water are used to dye, finish and wash the clothes. In most countries where clothing produced, untreated toxic wastewater from textile factories is discharged directly into rivers creating further damage to the environment and people's health.
Fashion pollutes even when it is in our wardrobe. The fast-fashion style, for which we often opt in a logic of savings, imposes tight and sudden purchases. Trends are constantly changing and all we do is keep up with them. And what we bought a month before may already be out of fashion.
The result is that 85% of the clothes we produce end up in the undifferentiated bin. Only insignificant amounts are recycled, also because garments are often made from mixed fabrics, which makes recycling of raw materials practically impossible.
We buy more and more clothes that we wear less and less and that we throw more and more in the recycling bin.
A vicious circle that must be stopped. And that the fashion industry, with the Fashion Pact, has already tried to counteract.
But it is by starting from raw materials, and therefore from the production itself, that the fashion industry can be made green and sustainable. It is precisely in this sector, that of sustainability and reuse, that a glimmer of light appears, giving us hope of breaking out of this vicious circle.