The $450 billion global fashion industry is one of the most important sectors of the global economy, creating jobs and clothes for people all over the world. Unfortunately, as of 2007, only $3 billion or half of one percent of this $450 billion is fair trade or environmentally sustainable. The reality of the industry is that many individual producers in the developing world work long hours under strenuous conditions for pennies on the dollar, far less than a living wage. The products they make are often produced using unclean energy sources and environmentally damaging materials and processes. Lack of consumer awareness and insufficient industry know-how allow these problems to continue and worsen.
Environmental Issues
Fashion has an impact on the environment in many places, throughout the entire lifecycle of a product. This includes the production of raw materials (natural and man made fibers), dyeing, spinning, weaving, finishing, cutting, sewing, packaging, transport, sales, consumption, and disposal. At least 8,000 chemicals are used to turn raw materials into textiles, many of which are toxic, corrosive, or include biologically-modifying reagents.
A few statistics:
• Production of textiles per year is estimated at between 60-70 million metric tons (more than 120 billion pounds)
• Around 40% of textiles produced around the world are polyester. Polyesters, nylons, and acrylics are made from petroleum, a non-renewable resource.
• The dying and finishing stages of the textile production process usually require chemical use and high water use. The majority of compounds used for applying color are highly carcinogenic or otherwise toxic, often being discharged into waterways.
• According to the EPA, the 2.5 billion pounds of post-consumer textile waste in the US represents 10 pounds for every person in the United States.
• Two thirds of a garment’s carbon footprint will occur after it is purchased. Washing and disposal is a big issue.
• A glance at conventional cotton:
• Current consumption of cotton is higher than ever before – with annual demand over 25 million tons.
• Worldwide more than 10% of all chemical pesticides and 22% of all insecticides are sprayed on cotton. The World Health organization estimates 20,000 farmers die a year as a result of the use of agricultural pesticides in developing countries. Developing countries bear the brunt of pesticide use – using only 25% of the world’s pesticides they experience 99% of pesticide-related deaths.
• Cotton is responsible for the release of US$2 billion of chemical pesticides each year – within which at least US$819 million are considered toxic enough to be classified as hazardous by the World Health Organization.
• In India, home to over one third of the world’s cotton farmers, cotton accounts for 54% of all pesticides used annually – despite occupying just 5% of land under crops.
• It takes over 1,800 gallons of water to grow the cotton needed for the average pair of jeans and over 400 gallons of water for one t-shirt.
Social Issues
We know there are sweatshops. We know most of our clothes are made in the developing world. Yet we continue to look for the cheapest possible $10 pair of jeans and choose not to think about the people who made them.
The fashion industry has the potential to be used as a great tool to eliminate poverty and raise the standard of living around the world. Too many garment workers in the developing world make far below a living wage, suffer poor working conditions, work strenuous hours, and have no freedom of association in the workplace while working for companies that bring in huge profits. Many of the least developed and smaller developing countries have built a huge dependency on the apparel sector. For example, it constitutes 80% of Cambodia’s export earnings, 53% of Sri Lanka’s, and 75% for Bangladesh.
In Bangladesh, there are 3 million garment workers, 85% whom are women. The organization War on Want’s investigations found that garment workers toiled unacceptably long hours – up to 80 hours a week, up to 12 hours per day. A 48-hour work week is considered normal, with 60 hours as the legal maximum. It was found that workers were often paid less or nothing for overtime and that physical abuse was common, with workers reporting that factory bosses were quick to belittle or physically assault them if targets were not being met. Women workers in particular were vulnerable – 60% of those that interviewed were subjected to obscene and sexually suggestive language in the workplace. In terms of salary, workers earned less than half a living wage. Bangladeshi protesters in August 2010 shared labels they had been sewing into clothing, including H & M, Calvin Klein, and Tesco.
Over a quarter of the world’s production of clothing and textiles is in China, which has a fast growing internal market and the largest share of world trade. There is no Fair Trade Certification in China. The enforcement of labor legislation is weak and the Chinese government places restrictions on the rights of workers to set up and work together in unions or the right to Freedom of Association.
