THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF THE FAST FASHION INDUSTRY

COTTON PRODUCTION: 33% needed for the industry (includes denim)

Water consumption – cotton is a very thirsty crop and it takes 2,700

litres of water to make a T-shirt.

The Aral sea = in the 1920s irrigation systems were built to use the

water in what is now Russia so the lake has disappeared

To rinse off the chemical dyes

WATER PRODUCTION: – chemical dyes / toxic water thrown back into

local rivers

LEATHER PRODUCTION:

Water consumption = it takes about 36 litres of water to produce 1

square metre of leather

Water pollution – chemical dyes

Deforestation – the land is needed to breed cattle

Animal cruelty – treatment of the cattle when alive and once dead

FUR PRODUCTION:

Animal cruelty: treatment and skinned alive

PETA

COSMETICS:
Animal cruelty: animal testing

WATER POLLUTION:

Chemical dyes released back into local rivers

People and animals’ health – water is needed for local fishing,

drinking, washing, cooking – marine life ingest the toxic water (skin

rashes, numbness of the limbs, skin condition, forms of cancer)

LAND / AIR POLLUTION:

Cotton production – use of pesticides / insecticides to protect both the

flower and the land – those chemicals are sprayed

Human health – farmers develop brain tumors or cancer associated to

their pesticides exposure (breathing / skin exposure)

Clothing landfills – toxic / harmful gases from chemical dyes are

released into the air

CLOTHING WASTE:

Mass production – clothes are not all sold in shops

Charity donations – 10% of donated clothes get sold only

Landfills – clothes that are not sold are shipped to poorer countries

(Haiti, Ethiopia, etc.) and unwanted clothes are dumped and landfills

build up – the dirty shadow of the fast fashion industry