Is Fashion Harmful To The Environment?
Global warming,
Usually when we hear or see the word global warming, the first thing that comes to mind is the emission of greenhouse gasses caused by human activities such as deforestation, we hardly ever think of the clothes that we wear as the main cause of global warming. When only doing my research on whether the fashion industry has any effects on the environment is when I discover things that I have never thought off before.
The Fashion Industry involves a lot of process, from long supply chains of production, textile manufacture, clothing construction to the disposal of garments. It is certain that the fashion carbon footprint is immense. Not only do they use pesticides in cotton farming or use toxic dyes in the process of manufacturing, but they use an extremely large amount of natural resources for extraction, farming, harvesting, processing and shipping.
Another way of how fashion is causing harm to the environment is through globalization. Online shopping is where we all turn to when it comes to purchasing clothes that are not available in our own country. This does not only apply to consumers but also designers who wants to get their hands on a certain fabric that is not available in their own country. This means that the clothes we have ordered will travel halfway around the world in a container ship fueled by fossil fuels to get to us. Even after purchasing the clothes, fashion still continues to have an impact to the environment, by the washing of our clothes to the disposal of them once we do not want to wear them anymore or when they do not fit.
The chemicals used in dyes has proven to be causing harm in certain countries for example, Indonesia. The Citarum River is considered to be one of the most polluted rivers in the world and this is also because of all the textile factories lining its shores. According to Greenpeace, with 68 percent of the industrial facilities on the Upper Citarum producing textiles, the adverse health effects to the 5 million people living in the river basin and wildlife are alarming. The attention spent on Indonesia's water infrastructure was close to nothing when its textile boom started, there was no proper framework for waste disposal. Clothing manufacturers dumped their chemicals into the river, making the Citarum nothing more than a open sewer containing lead, mercury, arsenic and a host of other toxins. Greenpeace tested the discharge from one of these textile plants along the Citarum and found disturbing amounts of nonylphenol, something that can be deadly to aquatic life. Greenpeace also found the water to be highly alkalinity and had apparently not even received the most basics of treatment. Greenpeace described the discharge as 'highly caustic, will burn human skin coming into direct contact with the stream and will have a severe impact on aquatic life. The menace caused by nonylphenol does not end at the Citarum River. It remains in our clothes after they are produced, and only comes out after a few washes. For this very reason, the European Union member states have banned imports of clothing and textiles containing nonylphenol ethoxylates . While not banned in the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency has identified alternatives to nonylphenol ethoxylates. More than half a trillion gallons of fresh water are used in the dyeing of textiles each year. The dye wastewater is discharged, into nearby rivers, where it reaches the sea, eventually spreading around the globe. China, according to Yale Environment 360, discharges roughly 40 percent of these chemicals.New technologies, such as waterless dye technologies have been developed, but have not yet been deployed at most manufacturing sites. The textile industry, which has been using copious amounts of water to dye garments for hundreds of years, may be reluctant to embrace this change. After all, this new technology is expensive to install and only works on certain fabrics.
Usually when we hear or see the word global warming, the first thing that comes to mind is the emission of greenhouse gasses caused by human activities such as deforestation, we hardly ever think of the clothes that we wear as the main cause of global warming. When only doing my research on whether the fashion industry has any effects on the environment is when I discover things that I have never thought off before.
The Fashion Industry involves a lot of process, from long supply chains of production, textile manufacture, clothing construction to the disposal of garments. It is certain that the fashion carbon footprint is immense. Not only do they use pesticides in cotton farming or use toxic dyes in the process of manufacturing, but they use an extremely large amount of natural resources for extraction, farming, harvesting, processing and shipping.
Another way of how fashion is causing harm to the environment is through globalization. Online shopping is where we all turn to when it comes to purchasing clothes that are not available in our own country. This does not only apply to consumers but also designers who wants to get their hands on a certain fabric that is not available in their own country. This means that the clothes we have ordered will travel halfway around the world in a container ship fueled by fossil fuels to get to us. Even after purchasing the clothes, fashion still continues to have an impact to the environment, by the washing of our clothes to the disposal of them once we do not want to wear them anymore or when they do not fit.
The chemicals used in dyes has proven to be causing harm in certain countries for example, Indonesia. The Citarum River is considered to be one of the most polluted rivers in the world and this is also because of all the textile factories lining its shores. According to Greenpeace, with 68 percent of the industrial facilities on the Upper Citarum producing textiles, the adverse health effects to the 5 million people living in the river basin and wildlife are alarming. The attention spent on Indonesia's water infrastructure was close to nothing when its textile boom started, there was no proper framework for waste disposal. Clothing manufacturers dumped their chemicals into the river, making the Citarum nothing more than a open sewer containing lead, mercury, arsenic and a host of other toxins. Greenpeace tested the discharge from one of these textile plants along the Citarum and found disturbing amounts of nonylphenol, something that can be deadly to aquatic life. Greenpeace also found the water to be highly alkalinity and had apparently not even received the most basics of treatment. Greenpeace described the discharge as 'highly caustic, will burn human skin coming into direct contact with the stream and will have a severe impact on aquatic life. The menace caused by nonylphenol does not end at the Citarum River. It remains in our clothes after they are produced, and only comes out after a few washes. For this very reason, the European Union member states have banned imports of clothing and textiles containing nonylphenol ethoxylates . While not banned in the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency has identified alternatives to nonylphenol ethoxylates. More than half a trillion gallons of fresh water are used in the dyeing of textiles each year. The dye wastewater is discharged, into nearby rivers, where it reaches the sea, eventually spreading around the globe. China, according to Yale Environment 360, discharges roughly 40 percent of these chemicals.New technologies, such as waterless dye technologies have been developed, but have not yet been deployed at most manufacturing sites. The textile industry, which has been using copious amounts of water to dye garments for hundreds of years, may be reluctant to embrace this change. After all, this new technology is expensive to install and only works on certain fabrics.
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