The environmental price of fast fashion

Sat, 25 Apr 2020 04:36:59 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-020-0039-9

"The fashion industry is facing increasing global scrutiny of its
environmentally polluting supply chain operations. Despite the widely
publicized environmental impacts, however, the industry continues to
grow, in part due to the rise of fast fashion, which relies on cheap
manufacturing, frequent consumption and short-lived garment use. In this
Review, we identify the environmental impacts at critical points in the
textile and fashion value chain, from production to consumption,
focusing on water use, chemical pollution, CO2 emissions and textile
waste. Impacts from the fashion industry include over 92 million tonnes
of waste produced per year and 79 trillion litres of water consumed. On
the basis of these environmental impacts, we outline the need for
fundamental changes in the fashion business model, including a
deceleration of manufacturing and the introduction of sustainable
practices throughout the supply chain, as well a shift in consumer
behaviour — namely, decreasing clothing purchases and increasing garment
lifetimes. These changes stress the need for an urgent transition back
to ‘slow’ fashion, minimizing and mitigating the detrimental
environmental impacts, so as to improve the long-term sustainability of
the fashion supply chain."

Via Manuela Casasoli and Jennifer Freeman.

Cheers,
        *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net                   Andrew Pam
http://www.xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
http://www.glasswings.com.au/             Partner, Glass Wings
http://www.sericyb.com.au/                Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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