Atacama Desert in Chile is regarded as the dirtiest and the driest place on earth. It receives less than 1mm of rainfall each year, and some of the places in Atacama didn’t receive rainfall in the last many centuries. But in the past few decades, Atacama turned into the graveyard for the discarded clothes from all over the world. Literally, a mountain of Christmas sweaters and ski boots are piling up to gather all the pollution from the fashion industry.
Experts keep highlighting the low wages and child labour issues in the fashion industry which are quite common. But nobody, talks about the pollution and the carbon emission is coming from the fashion industry. People are eager to see the fashion week collections from big brands but, they barely look at the statistics of the environment issues.
China and Bangladesh have been among the highest manufacturers in the clothing industry. So whatever outfits are the remaining ones, which were not being sold in the running financial year, generally gets dumped at Atacama Desert. Read the last post for more details: https://worshipveganism.com/index.php/2023/10/27/fast-fashion-addicted-to-fashion-costing-our-environment/
Why and how fast fashion is destroying Atacama?
Believe me when I say that the chances are very high, you may find your thrown away $100 H&M shirt at Atacama Desert any time soon. For the travellers, Atacama Desert is a beautiful amalgamation of golden sand dunes and the bright blue sky. People visit this place to witness the azure salt lake and the clear starry night sky. But the heaps of discarded outfits are not only the dirt in the desert but also increasing environmental hazards.
A UN report found that, fashion industry is responsible for almost 20% of water wastage around the globe between 2000 and 2014. You will easily find the discarded collections from Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, Marks & Spencer and so on out there. Trending fashion, cheap production cost and fast change in the customers’ requirements are the major root cause of this pollution.
How fast fashion is damaging the planet?
Zurich Insurance Group published a report in January 2023, where they mentioned that fast fashion reduced to 10% of the global greenhouse gas emission, but still we are standing at an alarming point. Almost 50 billion of new outfits were designed in 2000, and that has doubled upto 100 billion by 2020. On an average, nowadays people buy almost 60% of extra apparel than their actual requirement. They want to keep options open for themselves, hence harming the environment.
Tips for sustainable fashion
- With the help of cutting-edge technology in the fashion industry, some brands are incorporating sustainable and eco-friendly materials to upgrade fashion. Vegan leather, cotton and clothes made from bamboo are not only fashionable but quite skin-friendly too.
- Instead of buying quite often, you can buy clothes twice a year or so. You can buy clothes which you can style in various ways. For example, if a woman is buying a shirt, she can easily style it with trousers, jeans and skirts, probably under the blazers or jackets too.
- Don’t throw away a dress if its torn. You can stitch it up or can recycle it by reusing it at home. I stitch it up and reuse it. If stitching is out of the question, then I try to make cushion covers or make use of it in various other ways to decorate my home.
- If you are thinking to discard a pair of jeans, then stop. A pair of jeans consume almost 7500 litres of water to manufacture the material to the best quality. You can do some chic patch work or can rip it up to give a trendy look to it.
- You can also design some small wall hanging décor items with the help of discarded clothes. You can fold them up, stitch them up and can attach to create and add something new to your living room walls.
Conclusion
Fashion is good but not a mandatory thing for our existence. I still don’t understand that why are we chasing expensive clothes when you can style yourself with affordable outfits. You need to be creative to style yourself, not rich. Most of the big fashion brands throw away their collection after presenting them in the current fashion shows. And to make them affordable and available for people; some brands use cheap materials. Style yourself wisely, that’s all I can say.