Christmas is approaching fast, the high streets are alive with shoppers, and presents are mounting up ready to be wrapped. Among the most popular of gifts are clothes; after all, we love to look good. But, do we really need them?
I recently wrote about ‘millennials’ wasteful ways – our high consumerist, and high impact lifestyle. This week I’m delving a little bit deeper, discussing our relationship with clothes.Clothing is something I enjoy – if I look good, I tend to feel good – I’m sure a lot of you feel the same.
And I would be the first to admit that I’ve probably got too many clothes, accumulated over the years, now stored at home collecting dust. But they’re not doing any harm, right?The global garment market is huge, estimated in 2012 to be worth US $1.7 trillion, and employing around 75 million people in 2014. The manufacture of clothing has been invaluable for many developing nations in building a strong economy, especially China, Bangladesh and India. This global industry has been vital for these nations, and others, but as is usual with production of this scale, the environment pays the price.The growth of natural fibres, 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 fibres from petrochemicals, which during production, releases nitrous oxide – a greenhouse gas is 310 times more damaging than carbon dioxide. But the production is only part of the problem. The annual waste, water and carbon footprint of new and existing clothing in each UK home equates to 100 pairs of jeans, over 1000 bathtubs of water and the emissions released from driving a car for 6000 miles.The average value of the clothes in our homes is £4000, but only 30% of them have been worn in the last year; the cost of this unused clothing in the UK is estimated to be around £30 billion. That’s a staggering amount of money to be sat in boxes and bags doing nothing.The causes of this wasteful practice are many; we are in the west excited by new clothing and looking good – who can blame us? But for the sake of the planet and our pockets, we cannot go on.
source:The Huffington Post
