Fashion Causes Pollution And Ruins Environment

The textile and fashion industry is taking a hard beating in the British Parliament. Members claim that the fashion industry is exploitative and unsustainable. "The current exploitative and environmentally damaging model for fashion must change," they said in a report. They have asked leading brands to protect workers and cut waste.

A survey in Britain has revealed that people in Britain buy more clothes per person than any other country in Europe. This has been identified as the main cause for the boom in "fast fashion" - cheap clothing produced rapidly in response to the latest trends. There is a growing concern in the country that the fashion industry encourages over-consumption, generates excessive waste and underpays workers.

British Parliament's Environmental Audit Committee questioned several large retailers on issues relating to worker protections, the use of organic or sustainable cotton, limiting the discharge of hazardous chemicals, and the re-use or recycling of unsold stock. The Survey revealed that only a third of those surveyed had signed the global initiative to ensure a living wage for garment workers. Among the offenders were JD Sports, Sports Direct, TK Maxx, Amazon UK and online retailers Boohoo and Missguided were deemed "least engaged" in improving sustainability, while luxury brand Kurt Geiger did not take the survey.

The Members also expressed concern that many of the well-known fashion brands were dumping unsold stock in landfills or burning them.  It was revealed that last year on of the leading brands had destroyed almost $40 million worth of unsold goods. to protect its brand and prevent the excess stock from being sold at knockdown prices Greenpeace revealed that 73 percent of textile fibres used to produce more than 100 billion garments each year end up in landfill or incinerators after they have been used.

Mary Creagh, the Labour chair of the committee, said: “It’s shocking to see that a group of

British Parliament. Members claim that the fashion industry is exploitative and unsustainable. "The current exploitative and environmentally damaging model for fashion must change," they said in a report. They have asked leading brands to protect workers and cut waste.

A survey in Britain has revealed that people in Britain buy more clothes per person than any other country in Europe. This has been identified as the main cause for the boom in "fast fashion" - cheap clothing produced rapidly in response to the latest trends. There is a growing concern in the country that the fashion industry encourages over-consumption, generates excessive waste and underpays workers.

British Parliament's Environmental Audit Committee questioned several large retailers on issues relating to worker protections, the use of organic or sustainable cotton, limiting the discharge of hazardous chemicals, and the re-use or recycling of unsold stock. The Survey revealed that only a third of those surveyed had signed the global initiative to ensure a living wage for garment workers. Among the offenders were JD Sports, Sports Direct, TK Maxx, Amazon UK and online retailers Boohoo and Missguided were deemed "least engaged" in improving sustainability, while luxury brand Kurt Geiger did not take the survey.

The Members also expressed concern that many of the well-known fashion brands were dumping unsold stock in landfills or burning them.  It was revealed that last year on of the leading brands had destroyed almost $40 million worth of unsold goods. to protect its brand and prevent the excess stock from being sold at knockdown prices Greenpeace revealed that 73 percent of textile fibres used to produce more than 100 billion garments each year end up in landfill or incinerators after they have been used.

Mary Creagh, the Labour chair of the committee, said: “It’s shocking to see that a group of

Discarded unsold Fashion Garments for Landfills

major retailers are failing to take action to promote environmental sustainability and protect their workers. “It’s disappointing that only a third of the retailers we wrote to are signed up to Act, an important global initiative working towards getting a living wage for all garment workers.”

To bring about a change in the law to “end the era of throwaway fashion” MPs have proposed a 1p levy for every piece of clothing in order to raise £35 million to invest in better recycling.

A parliamentary inquiry said the government must make retailers take responsibility for fashion waste, operate sustainability, and prosecute those who do not recycle.  “Voluntary corporate social responsibility initiatives have failed significantly to improve pay and working conditions or reduce waste.

So how does this concern India?  Most fashion garments people in the west wear are produced in developing countries like India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Pakistan, and shipped to mass consumption countries like Britain and the USA. India, as also Bangla Desh and Pakistan, pay a high cost since they are used as centres for cheap labour as well as dumping grounds for waste.

With a spurt in the exports of readymade garments to top brands across the world, the demand is increasing substantially putting severe pressure on the country’s natural resources, especially water. In Tamil Nadu’s Tiruppur District the  textile industry has been identified as a high source of pollution which had resulted in destroying agriculture in the region. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe(UNECE) claims that the Fashion Industry worldwide is the largest user of water globally producing 20 percent global wastewater.

At an event on March 1, 2018 in Geneva on “Fashion and Sustainable Development Goals: What Role for the UN?” UNECE drew attention to the fact that the industry was producing large volumes of cheap, disposable clothing. It said this was creating an ‘Environment and social emergency.” The UN organization accused the larger Brands of inefficient production practices and blatant exploitation of informal and subcontracted workers in developing countries, including India.

According to Soumya Bhowmick, who focuses in Indian Economics, Governance and Sustainability related policy research, pollution is no longer limited to traditional polluters like mining, manufacturing and power it is to be found at shopping centers and on one’s own person. Writing in Quatz, Soumya Bhowmick, says “the impact of the fashion and clothing industry is extremely grim, making it the second dirtiest industry in the world, next to oil.

“The business of fashion involves long supply chains of production, raw materials, textile manufacturing, shipping, sale and finally disposal. At each stage of this process, there is immense wastage of water as well as the use of hazardous toxic chemicals. Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of clean water globally, after agriculture. Polyester, the most popular and cost-effective fabric used in this industry, shed microfibers that increase levels of plastic in our oceans when washed, thereby endangering aquatic life.

The average shopper, says Bhowmick,is buying much more clothes than before and are discarding them much faster. This trend developed in the west has spread worldwide especially in developing countries with large markets, like India. One consequence of fast fashion has been an explosion in consumption accompanied by increased waste.

Increasing disposable income levels means there is less need to “make do and mend”it ’s cheaper and more convenient to buy new than have an item repaired. Busy lifestyles make many people more time-poor than previous generations, and with the loss of sewing and mending skills over time, there is less impetus to repair our garments. The rise of supermarket fashion and the frequent seasonal sales make clothing seem “disposable” in a way it didn’t use to be.

India, one of the largest producers of textiles and apparel, employs 35 million workers, second

only to agriculture While the Textile and Garment Industry accounts for14 percent of the country’s industrial production and 4.5 percent of GDP.  

The growth of mass production, and particularly fast fashion with its short product life cycles has exacerbated environmental and social impacts. Fashion leaves a terrible environmental footprint along its entire supply chain. Textile and garment production facilities are large consumers of water and energy.

It is also the most exploitative industries not merely in India but worldwide.  A recent study by Siddharth Kara has revealed that the Indian textile and  the fashion industry is exploitative and unsustainable.  for long hours, earning below par salaries which are often not paid in time A 2009 global survey by the International Trade Union Confederation found that apparel and textile manufacturing are among the worst violators of labour rights and fair trade practices. Abuses identified by the researchers include killings, threats, forced overtime work, physical abuse, low wages, poor working conditions and lack of sick leaves.