Almost everyone loves a t-shirt. They’re cozy, soft, breathable, and can be styled to fit almost any occasion. But did you know that over two billion t-shirts are produced and sold each and every year? According to Fashion Revolution, it takes 2,720 liters of water to produce a single t-shirt, and that doesn’t even include laundering. This amounts to almost 5.5 trillion liters of water (2,200 Olympic sized swimming pools) being used every year in the production of t-shirts alone.
With global warming being a hot topic of debate, and constant multi-year droughts hitting various regions of the globe, water use and water shortages have become a major issue worldwide. When looking at statistics, the fashion industry is currently an unsustainable and thirsty industry. According to a 2017 report, the fashion industry is consuming 79 billion cubic meters of water annually. This already enormous figure is expected to increase by 50% by 2030.
Fear not, though. Over the past few years, the high level of water usage in the fashion industry has pushed leading professionals and researchers to search for alternative, sustainable fabrics that require less water in the growth and production stages. Some of these include bamboo fabric to substitute organic cotton, Piñatex instead of leather, and spider silk instead of silk, among others.
While it is fantastic news that the industry is investing in water-efficient materials, the motive can sometimes be lost. It is crucial to be aware of the whole picture in relation to these new fabrics and their environmental impact. Water usage isn’t everything; the chemicals that are used in the production of our garments matter too.
A Concrete Example: Bamboo Fabric vs Organic Cotton
A quick google search makes a strong case for bamboo as a sustainable source of fabric that can (and should) substitute organic cotton. According to Business Leader, Bamboo requires no pesticides, and very little water when compared to the thirsty plant that organic cotton is. Bamboo possesses a complex root structure that will maintain soil health and prevent erosion. Bamboo also has very high respiration rates, meaning that it will significantly absorb carbon dioxide and produce a ton of oxygen. On top of all of this, bamboo is also much more durable compared to organic cotton.
While all of this sounds great, bamboo can only be spun and woven into a fabric after it is produced into a fiber through chemicals (viscose process) or a mechanical application. Due to expensive costs as well as the intensity and time of the labor, bamboo fabric is more commonly produced chemically. According to Patagonia, the solvent that is used for the chemical process is carbon disulfide, which is known to be a toxic, human reproductive hazard. This harmful chemical can pollute the environment via wastewater and air emissions as well as endanger factory workers. In most viscose factories, only around 50% of the used Carbon Disulfide is recovered, while the other 50% deposits into the environment. Sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid are also used in the chemical processing of bamboo, showing a darker and less sustainable side to this alternative fabric.
In the era of technology, information is at our fingertips and should be used to make educated decisions when choosing a new fashion item. There are multiple factors that go into producing a sustainable product and it is important to look at all of them: What is it made of? How is it made? How much water does it take to make? What chemical processes are needed to make it? Is it reusable? Be critical to shop better!
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