In your closet

Sophie, Sophia, Lea

Yes, your wardrobe is also a place for suspicion. Going completely Zero Waste in clothing terms was probably only possible for Adam and Eve, but we too can make certain adjustments if we want to take greater care of our environment as well as other humans when it comes to our clothes.

The fashion industry produces a good deal of waste, and contributes to water shortages, environmental pollution, resource scarity, climate change, modern slavery and other human rights violations. It is the second largest polluter in the world (after the oil industry – which is also a contributor in some very common fashion fabrics). From producing the materials to processing the fabric to sewing it together to ending up in a shop and ultimately with the consumer, a piece of clothing travels the whole world and leaves a trail of harmful and exploitative practices.

Did you know?

• 0.6% of the price of an ordinary t-shirt actually ends up with the person who sews it.

• 1% of clothes can be recycled into new clothes; the other 99% ends up in incinerators or landfills.

• 4: the number of times a piece of clothing is worn, on average, before being thrown out. • 24 collections are launched by the brand Zara in 1 year (reminder: 1 year = 12 months).

• 7 000 l of water are needed to produce just one pair of jeans (and another 20 000 l to grow the cotton). • 20 000 different chemicals are used in the textile industry – 30% of worldwide chemical use.

• 11 million tons of textile waste: the amount that the USA alone creates each year. • 27 million workers (estimated number) suffer from work-related diseases due to poor working conditions in the textile sector each year.