With the spread of eco-consciousness, we have now begun to save water, use electricity sparingly, and buy food only that which we can eat. For the majority of the population, all these actions have been spurred by their economic interests, as doing all this saves a lot of money. In spite of that, one aspect of consumption has always been ignored and dismissed as trivial: the consumption of fashion.
The number of online shopping platforms has truly become uncountable, with new brands popping up on the internet almost every day. The ease of buying textiles has never been easier than sitting in the comfort of your house, viewing thousands of choices that are always vying for your attention. This trend of “fast fashion” has not only been deteriorating for mental peace but more so for the planet. Fast fashion centres its roots on the production of a huge volume of low-quality clothing that is thrown away in a very short period of time.
In the old days of India, citizens tended to buy clothing only on special occasions & festivities like Diwali or one's own wedding, but otherwise, people wore the same clothes all year round. New clothing was viewed as a luxury, but now it is believed to be a necessity. Be it peer pressure, the threat of status or therapy for self-esteem, fast fashion has made a nest deep within the human race's heart. There are billions of textiles going to waste, either unsold in warehouses or stores, left unused in wardrobes or discarded while still in good condition. If the average number of times a garment is worn were doubled, greenhouse gas emissions from textiles would be 44% lower.
Most people are ignorant of how the clothes they wear are made, they hardly even know the materials required to make them; only the colour and the fit are given attention. More than the droplets of water we save at home, gallons of water are used to make just one t-shirt. The electricity used to power the factories and the machinery does not come for free as well. The use of harmful chemical dyes increases too if we choose to buy a black t-shirt instead of a white one. Not to mention, the societal aspects are disheartening: the lacking wages, horrible work conditions, unfair working hours, etc. Even after buying a t-shirt, it is hardly used for a month or two, slowly transitioning into household ware and then at last ending up in a landfill. The belief that clothing is “disposable” needs to be corrected lest every area on earth becomes a dump for non-biodegradable textiles.
A transition to a circular economy can not only deliver us environmental and social benefits but also unlock significant economic opportunity in the fashion industry, by better capturing the value of under-utilized and landfilled or incinerated clothes. In a circular economy for textiles: material inputs used to make textiles are safe, renewable or recycled, clothing is used for a longer period of use-phase, and textiles are always collected and upcycled/recycled at their end-of-life phase.
As we can well see, the intricacies of manufacturing a piece of clothing are much more. It requires an urgent effort by the government to incentivize organizations that produce or contribute to “slow fashion”. Stricter laws and taxes on resource usage will force the textile industries to resort to better alternatives. Lastly and most importantly, it becomes the responsibility of the consumer to think twice before buying a dress they liked just a minute ago, on impulse. Hence, if all the actors in the supply chain of textiles (right from the producer to the consumer) take decisions keeping sustainability in mind, then a worldwide circular economy of fashion will be here to stay.
- Divya Gujar Student Intern