Why is sustainable fashion important?

Awareness is one of the most important keywords when talking about environmentally friendly production and consumption. Do you feel that you know enough about this topic? Does your knowledge allow you to make the best purchasing decisions?

 The fashion industry is one of the largest and most polluting industries in the world (after oil). According to the documentary ‘True Cost’, we consume an average of 80 billion garments a month which is 400% more than two decades ago. These garments, unless organic or fair trade, contain harmful dyes, toxins and pesticides that sink into the soil when thrown away. In addition to chemicals, fashion industry also uses very large amounts of water. For example, up to 2,700 liters of water can be used to produce a single T-shirt. 

And then there’s the workers’ rights... It is clear that the faster production of collections and cheaper prices must come at someone’s expense. In many cases, cheap garments are produced by taking advantage of workers’ rights. A T-shirt that costs less than a coffee sould raise some questions?!

Sustainability in the fashion industry focuses on environmentally sustainable production, design and consumption. From environmentally friendly materials and innovation in technology to new attitudes related to consumption – sustainability in the fashion industry is absolutely crucial to move towards an industry that doesn’t jeopardize the needs of futuure generations. There’s still a long way to go, but at least we’re moving in the right direction.