1. It takes about 2,700L of water to make one cotton t-shirt (enough water for you to drink for 2 and a half years). Cotton also uses an enormous amount of insecticides and pesticides so is horrible for the land and farmers.
2. We now buy 60% more clothing than pre the year 2000 and only keep it for half as long. This equals a whole lot of waste.
3. Americans now dump 16 million tons of clothing into the trash each year. Australians throw 6,000kg into landfill every ten minutes.
4. The International Labour Organization estimates 170 million children are working in child labor, with most making clothes to satisfy the demand of US, Europe, UK, Australia and beyond. Fast fashion is a race to the bottom for the cheapest goods and children are the cheapest labor.
5. It costs enormous amounts of money to even get the clothes to landfill. NYC spends 20.6 million dollars a year to ship waste textiles to landfills and incinerators. That’s just one city and one tiny piece of the cost equation of clothes.
6. Women are wearing something on average seven times before getting rid of it and women on average wear only 40% of what’s in the wardrobe.
For now, focus on quality pieces made ethically and transparently from sustainable material. Downsize your wardrobe and wear clothes you love for years and can mix and match with everything.