We don’t mean to be party poopers but it IS Halloween, ergo the most opportune time to tell you a horror story.
Picture this: It’s Halloween weekend and your friends have made a last-minute plan to go to a theme party. You rush to the nearest party store and quickly pick up a devil horn headband, a bunny one too (just in case!), and some glittery plastic stick-on for your eye makeup. Oh also, there’s a witch’s cape that you’ll figure out later what to do with. It’s like 300 bucks, so who cares!
The devil horns broke by Sunday morning so you just tossed them in the bin. The glitter stick-ons…uhh you have no clue where they fell off! You put the cape in the deep, deep dungeons of your closet, hoping to use it next year. Spoiler Alert: this cape will stay unused in your closet for 2 years after which you’ll get sick of it and donate it along with your other used clothes to an NGO that will have no clue what to do with it.
So finally the cheap polyester cape will end up in the landfill joining 1.92 MILLION TONNES OF YEARLY CLOTHING WASTE – something you bought on an impulse and wore for ONE day will now take about 200 years to decompose. Pretty spooky stuff :/
While we relive fictional horror stories, the real-life fast-fashion monster is getting bigger every year. Here are some terrifying fashion facts to take into consideration before we shop our hearts out this festive season:
It Takes 2,700 Litres of Water to Make a T-Shirt which would be enough for one person to drink for 900 days.
No new tees for me, pls thnx.
The Apparel Industry’s Global Emissions Will Increase by 50% by 2030
Umm what?
The fashion industry is already one of the top ten environmental polluters in the world. Can we please stop making more clothes?!
Fast fashion is responsible for 20-35% of ocean microplastics (McKinsey).
Everytime you wash your fast fashion clothing, you’re littering the ocean.
All the nasty plastic microfibers released, especially from polyester clothing, eventually ends up in the ocean, inadvertently consumed by marine life….and eventually…err you! Boo!
Some fast fashion brands still employ child labour (Unicef)
If you dig deeper, the reality of where your clothes really come from keeps getting grimmer and grimmer :(
93% of brands aren’t paying garment workers a living wage (Fashion Checker)
Fast fashion keeps its workers in modern slavery conditions. They can’t afford a basic living standard and live in extreme poverty. A new dress you bought this Halloween probably cost you more than the monthly salary of the person who made them :(
While the festive season brings joy, it is also a time when throwaway fashion culture is at its peak. After the festivities are over, the shiny, happy costumes lose their lustre and a darker, uglier side of fashion rears its head. While it’s all scary, change starts with us. The smallest changes in our shopping habits can yield big results. Watch this space for insights on how YOU can make a difference.
Sources:
https://earth.org/statistics-about-fast-fashion-waste/ https://www.projectcece.com/blog/517/fast-fashion-facts-and-stats/