What is the environmental impact of fashion?

Our Fashion Choices are Important

Every product we purchase sends a valuable signal to producers and retailers. Consumers play a vital role in defining what is acceptable. There are many ways to determine whether a product has been produced sustainably by looking at the materials used in production.

The Impact on the Environment

In our research we came across a from WRAP (Waste and Resource Action Programme), which presents some stark findings – the footprint for an average family’s newly bought clothing, including washing and cleaning is estimated at: –

• water needed to fill over 1,000 bathtubs
• weight of over 100 pairs of jeans
• carbon emissions from driving an average car for 6,000 miles

The report covers in some detail how you can help by:

• buy clothes with lower impact fibres
• extend the useful life of clothes
• increase your use of pre-owned, re-usable clothing
• reduce laundry impacts
• keep clothes out of landfill

Please find the report here