Assess the validity of the view that the impact of fast fashion on water security is irreversible

Aral Sea

Jude Franklin Upper Sixth

Humanity is entering a new era. The human race is becoming increasingly aware of the immense impact it is having on the environment, and perhaps more importantly, the irremediable nature of this. As we edge further and further towards the precipice of irreversibility, people and our governments alike seem to be awakening to the impending peril. The general population lacks the knowledge needed to understand the severity and harm that almost all commodities, taken for granted in the developed world, have on our environment. One of the lesser known industries that has huge consequences for the environment and society, more specifically water security, is that of fashion. The clothes we wear, utilise, consume, are quite possibly contributing to a major global disaster.

One of the obvious causes of a lack of potable, usable water is the immense consumption that the fashion industry requires. This, by its very nature, reduces result of the Soviet Union diverting two of the availability of water, and therefore its main tributary rivers: the Syr and Amu water security. The fashion industry is the Darya. They did this in order to irrigate a third largest user of water desert - primarily for the globally, according to the fashion industry network The fashion growth of cotton for use in the fashion textiles Common Objective, with industry is the industry. Large parts of an estimated consumption of around 79 billion cubic meters per year. This third largest user of water the lake began to dry up, shrinking rapidly over time, so that it should be considered a globally. became split into various disaster for the planet. lobes. Huge expanses of With just 3% of global desert, that once were water supplies being fresh water, it is key submerged, now lay bare, encrusted with that we protect these reserves, and with both the natural salts from the dried-up industries such as textiles using so much lake, as well as inorganic fertilisers and of it, it is hard to see how a disaster can be pesticides that drain from the surrounding averted. cotton fields. An area that less than a century ago supported both aquatic, An example of this is the case of the Aral terrestrial and human life, as well as one Sea. Once the fourth largest lake in the of Uzbekistan’s main tourist industries, is world, it is now a shell of its former glory. now a symbol of the immense destruction As demonstrated in the diagram below it humans are having on the Earth. The has been shrinking since the 1960s as a people in the area have very little; once

being supported by the fishing and tourist textiles companies. Though not direct industries they now live on the verge of ‘corruption,’ the government undoubtedly poverty. benefits from such investments, and Cotton is by far the most popular natural income. According to Business of Fashion fibre, accounting for over one third of all “Several major international apparel and fibres found in clothing. It also happens manufacturing players have invested in to be hugely India already” implying that water intensive, using a massive volume to produce Levi’s are developing the technology to turn large corporations could have influence over how resources, such as water, are distributed. relatively simple and common garments. One the tough hemp stalk into a soft, cotton like fibre. There is no doubt that were the fashion industry not as water intensive as it is, shocking claim there would be fewer issues is that it can take upwards of ten thousand with providing largely underdeveloped litres to manufacture just one pair of blue areas with the water needed to live. Not jeans. Those jeans require around 750 only is the growing of the crop most used grams of cotton to create, which in turn in clothing hugely reliant on large water requires 7,500 litres of water to grow. That supplies, but also every process after the means that the majority of water used in moment the cotton bud is harvested is the manufacturing of natural fibre comes exponentially thirsty. from simply growing the product. As Stacey Dooley looked into big industry’s demonstrated through the photo of the approach to tackling the issue. In her Aral sea, huge areas of land can be turned documentary Stacey approached various into deserts through the draining of lakes, fashion giants, asking about what they destruction of natural habitat and creation are doing to combat their impact on the of monocultures. environment. Many declined to answer, The water used in the manufacturing of textiles has been diverted from other Levi Jeans pursuits less harmful and wasteful. In an article by Stephen Leahy for the Guardian , he explains how the water consumed by India’s cotton exports alone is enough to supply 85% of the population in the country with 100 litres of fresh water every day. Despite this huge usage by the cotton industry, 100 million people in India do not have access to the potable water that they need. It begs the question that were the garment industry not so water intensive, would there be less of a humanitarian crisis in the country.

India’s lack of water is attributed to “lack of government planning, increased corporate privatisation, industrial and human waste and government corruption.” All these reasons tie into the global textiles industry, and the growing and treatment of fibres for fashion. The lack of government planning can be seen through the subsidies provided for water to be pumped to arid regions, not only being diverted from human consumption, but also being moved to an area where it is more likely to evaporate. The increased corporate privatisation and government corruption can be seen through huge amounts of money invested into India by global likely aim to maintain these flows of which provides a worrying suggestion that many aren’t willing to do enough in order to curb their industry’s impact on the environment.

Though the outcome of the fashion industry’s water usage seems bleak, there are some companies, initiatives and products that provide hope for reducing this industry’s thirst. In the same way corporations have committed to reducing the impact of fast fashion in general, there are those which focus specifically on water usage. One of the key focuses of reducing the fashion industry’s water usage is through tackling the largest source of the problem - the growth of cotton. As cotton is extremely popular, as well as highly water intensive, it makes sense to find ways in which its thirst can be quenched. One option is to reduce the use of cotton in clothing, in favour of other natural fibres that will use less water and encourage changes in the industry. One example of a cotton alternative is hemp, which uses just 20% of the water cotton does. It can also be grown on a much smaller area, with higher crop yields making it seem a much more viable alternative for the future. Hemp doesn’t seem to be solely a pipe dream used by a tiny percentage of small manufacturers either. Recently Levi’s, one of the most iconic denim producers (and therefore cotton consumers) came forward and spoke about the possibility of hemp being used in many of their future products. Though not easy to work with initially, Levi’s are developing the technology to turn the tough hemp stalk into a soft, cotton like fibre. Their head of product innovation, Paul Dillinger said that “the need for cotton alternatives became apparent when looking at the growth trajectory of cotton demand compared to access to fresh water required for its cultivation and processing.”

In conclusion, despite there being steps taken in order to push industry towards a more sustainable future, at this rate, the outlook seems bleak. For example, if one company changes to using hemp, there will be ten others still producing with no compunction. Also, considering the rate of growth of the middle class in countries which previously had much of the population in absolute poverty, increased global consumption seems inevitable. The future may seem distressing, but we are lucky enough to have knowledge of what might come, and the ability to change it.