SUBJECT - RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

TOPIC:

CASE STUDY ON POLLUTION GENERATION

BY FASHION INDUSTRY

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Dr. Arti Anand Jyoti Rawal

INTRODUCTION

The fashion industry has been overflowing with success since the very
beginning. However, creating glamorous dresses comes at a price. All
the harmful waste from these industries is released into the
environment causing harm to various elements of the surroundings.
Surveys show that five percent of waste is textile waste. Besides, twenty
percent of freshwater pollution is made by textile treatment and
dyeing. Land, soil, water bodies and air, every aspect is affected by
these industries.
Pollutants released by the global textile industry are continuously doing
unimaginable harm to the environment. It pollutes land and
makes them useless and barren in the long run. Surveys show that
cotton consumes the highest amount of harmful pesticides
andfertilizers. Majority of them fall on land while they are sprinkle on
the crop. Similarly textile manufacturing units release hazardous waste
into the nearby land.

OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH

To identify weather the fashion industry is the second most polluting

industry or not.     
To establish the flow of sustainable products in our society to
minimize the pollution in the environment.
To describe the good and bad effects of fashion industry and
sustainable products in present scenario.
To determine the more use of sustainable and recycled products and
minimize the pollution.      
To estimate that fashion pollution creating a great loss of water
bodies and also polluting air.     
Todevelop a pollution free fashion environment and use of
sustainable products by conducting different workshops or
seminars.   
Tocompare the rate of pollution in fashion industry and other
industries.   
To analyse the rate of pollution rate of pollution and textile waste at
different countries.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Challa,Lakshmi (2013) Impact of Textiles and Clothing Industry on

Environment; Approach towards Eco-Friendly Textiles: This paper serves
to explain the impact of various chemicals from the fashion industry
that effect flora and fauna. And not just wildlife, according to the
International Labor Organization, there are 246 million child-workers
(age 5 to 14) in the world today. In the textile sector, children are a
cheap workforce for picking cotton, hand-sewing, etc. This paper also
explains the various options of ‘environment-friendly’ materials like
Organic Cotton which uses no pesticides, herbicides or insecticides, Geo
Jute, Tencel which is fully biodegradable, Milkyarn which is recycling of
expired milk, Linen, Wool and Hemp.
The gist of this research work can be summed up to quote, ‘The world
of fashion may be stylish, glamorous and exciting, but its impact on
environment is worsening day by day.’ She gives the readers an insight
of the dangers of harmful chemicals like pesticides and herbicides put
on the crops which ultimately end up harming the wearers of its cloth
and the consumers of the discarded waste. It’s a full circle which keeps
on repeating and harming everything that comes in its way.
Apart from the researcher also describes the precautions to be
taken to prevent causing harm. The other mentions are the inventions
which have changed the textile industry for the better. Safe and healthy
textiles are in trend and she clues in on the brands which support such
textiles and create their clothes from them. Leather and fur have also
gone down in some of these companies.
Hartsia, Anni (2017) Future of sustainability in fast fashion: The main
objectives of the study were to focus on the current global
environment, social and economic issues in the fast fashion industry. It
talks about the issues created in growing and creating raw materials,
manufacturing, processing, consumption and use of end phase. The
study has found that most of the environmental issues arise due to
creating raw materials, processing, manufacturing and most
importantly usage of dyes. Pollution is the main issue in the developing
countries like India where cotton is widely used and planted and for the
growth of cotton pesticides are required which adversely affects the
environment. In fast fashion industry economic issues are related
production, consumption, poverty and increase of population.
Manufacturing and processing of clothes creates various social issues.
Fashion companies have started to pay more attention towards the
working conditions due to several accidents. Most of the fashion
companies like H&M use child labor in their factories. Companies use
corporate social responsibility (CSR) as their guideline for sustainability
strategy and reporting their current state of sustainability and their
future goals. CSR includes different activities related to ethics,
corporate philanthropy, marketing and employment.
 Mukherjee, Sudeshna (2016) Environmental and social impact of
fashion: The main objective of the study is , which process in fashion
industry at different sectors causes harm to our environment  and why
? The result to the study indicates that top three areas which are mainly
responsible for that , that are production of raw material ,textile
processing, consumer washing clothes and the stats shows that the
fashion’s industry CO2 emission are projected to increase by more than
60% per year almost equivalent to nearly 230 million passenger vehicle
driven for a year .Also 20%of the fresh water pollution comes from
textile treatment even the volume of water these industries consumed
are enough to fill nearly 32 million Olympic size swimming pool. Most
people wear only around 20% of their wardrobe. We encourage people
to buy fewer items and to wear them more often. The different kinds of
pollution serves to release toxic chemicals into our air, water and soil. It
also results in the creation of greenhouse gases and depletes our water
and fossil fuel energy resources.
The textile industry in terms of scale, output and production is one of
the largest industries around the globe. The industry is a big
contributor to the economic welfare of several economies around the
world owing to the fact that there is an insatiable demand for clothing,
as well as a need for the garments to be produced at the lowest cost.
Since the textile industry comprises of several different stages of
production, pollution happens in many different ways depending on;
the processes used, the level of technology used to produce fabric, the
type of textile facility, the type of chemicals used and fibers used and so
on.
It is therefore not a coincidence that the textile industry is considered
to be the second most polluting industry in the world. The main
environmental problems caused by the textile industry include; water
pollution, air pollution and solid waste pollution.
There are several ways that the amount of environmental degradation
caused by the textile industry can be reined in. Through recycling and
up cycling of fabrics, the need to produce more and more fabrics can be
greatly reduced. Additional measures to control pollution caused by the
textile industry should also include clean textile production. A cleaner
approach has already been implemented by some with success and
therefore there is no reason why these efforts should not be expanded
industry-wide.
RESEARCH METHOD USED

Quantitative methods
Online Surveys

HYPOTHESIS

Big brands like H&M are aware of these environmental, economic and
social problems and have started to take action against it. (Remy 6 et
al., 2016) some of the biggest companies in fast fashion have started to
improve their performance as more sustainable companies. Major
issue in fast fashion product cycle is recycling and reuse. Second-hand
shopping and selling are ways to recycle one’s useless clothes but most
consumers do not recycle their clothes and create waste and pollution.
Consumers create a massive amount of waste per year. The current
situation shows that big companies show improvements in their value
chain. A study called the Nielsen Global Survey of Corporate Social
Responsibility and Sustainability (2015) shows that 66% of consumers
are willing to pay more for environmental and socially friendly products
and services. Currant studies show that the industry creates pollution
and waste, exploit societies. So I think fashion companies should
recognize the issues arrange corporation between the companies and
develop more sustainable supply chains and fast fashion companies do
have the opportunity to change the industry if they start making
changes soon.
 SAMPLING

The type of sampling used in this research paper is Systematic

Random Sampling and Quota Sampling. As the overall population is a
certain destined number from instagram and whatsapp, the sample
unit is divided into categories for a better outcome in the research.
The population of the NIFT campus is hence divided into three
groups, faculty, freshers and seniors. Here the quota sampling is
used as it is better if various mindsets are looked into.
Furthermore, these three groups entail a large number of people so
to make this research more generalized, Systematic Random
Sampling is used. Every 15th person from the sub groups freshers
and seniors is taken as a sample unit while every second person from
the faculty is taken for data collection. This process provides me with
a more beneficial and honest result. Through this process, I collect
the data from a total of 37 respondents.

DATA COLLECTION

The data of this research paper has been collected by preparing and
distributing online questionnaires template. Subjects were the
friends and college mates on whatsapp and instagram. They were
given a brief about the research.
The questionnaire is based on the topic, a study on the pollution
generation by fashion industry. It is covering the various spheres of
the industry. It contains questions related to fashion industry,
interests of people in fashion, recycling of fashion products. But the
questionnaire mainly targets on eco-friendly ways to reuse and
recycle fashion products and sustainable fashion. It is prepared to be
filled by youth as they have more understanding of latest fashion and
follow more fashion trends. The data collected from this
questionnaire would be helpful in generating brand importance,
importance of sustainable clothing.
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

The 1st question says that fashion industry is polluting the

environment, for this question 43.24% people have marked
‘Yes’,45.94 have marked ‘No’ and 10.81% people don’t have any
idea regarding this.
The 2nd question is about Branded clothing, 70.27% subjects
mostly prefer to buy branded cloths and the rest  27.02%
sometimes buy branded cloths. 
The 3rd question is about how frequently people do shopping,
where it was found that 48.64% of subjects often do shopping
whereas 51.36% of subjects’ do not shop so frequently.
The 4th question is regarding the quality or price of the product, in
which 97.29% subjects choose quality over price and remaining
5.4% choose price over quality.
The 5th question is regarding sustainable fashion and 86.48% of
subjects know about sustainable fashion and 13.51% subjects do
not know about it.
The 6th question is about understanding the meaning of
sustainable fashion, 35.13% subjects have marked ‘reduction in
chemical used’, 40.54% have marked ‘durable, long lasting and
8.1% subjects have marked ‘fair labour practices’.
The 7th question asks the interest of people in buying eco-friendly
sustainable apparels, for this 91.89% of subjects are in favor
and8.1% are not.
The 8th question is about disposing unwanted cloths, 56.75%
subjects donate it to charity, 10.81% throw it away, 35.13% hand it
down to somebody and 13.51% uses some other ways.
The 9th question is about reusing your old cloths and 72.97% of
subject marked ‘Yes’ while 27.02% have marked ‘ No’.
The 10th question is about having the taking information of
material label before buying any apparel, for this question 37.83%
subjects have marked ‘Yes’ , 13.51% subjects have marked ‘No’, and
the rest 48.64% subjects have marked sometimes’.
The 11th question asks if sustainable fashion contributes to the
environment, for this question 40.54% subjects have marked ‘Yes’,
2.7% subjects have marked ‘No’ and the rest 56,75% have marked
‘sometimes agree’.
The 12th question asks subjects if they prefer to shop in second-
hand store, for this question 8.1% subjects have marked ‘Yes’,
72.97 % have marked ‘No’ and 18.91% have marked ‘sometimes’.
The 13th question asks if displacing the textile industries away from
residential area would help in reducing pollution and 72.97% subjects
marked ‘yes’ while 27.02% subjects marked ‘no’.
The 14th question asks if you are interested in attending creative
workshops regarding use to recycling, 89.18% subjects are interested
and 10.81% are not.
The 15th question asks if organic textiles can replace the original
textiles in future, for this question 75.67% subjects have marked ‘yes’
and 24.32% subjects have marked ‘No’.
SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Invest in quality instead of quantity.

Donate and re-sell the items you don’t want.
Swap clothes with your friends and shop secondhand.
Upcycling 'fast fashion' to reduce waste and pollution.

CONCLUSION

People are fully aware of the damage is created by fashion

industries.
They are willing to make changes in their lifestyle so that they can
make a better environment by doing their small part.
Considering that the youth is aware , it is a large step for the
society because when this youth goes into the industry they would
start working on the problem even it is at the basic level.

REFERENCES

https://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/1709/impact-of-
textiles-and-clothing-industry-on-environment?page=1&amp=true
https://www.thesusfi>bitstream
https://www.redddress.com
https://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/6262/various-
pollutants-released-into-environment

THANK YOU