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AI and the Environment: How Kids Can Use AI to Help the Planet

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AI and the Environment: How Kids Can Use AI to Help the Planet

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AI and the Environment: How Kids Can Use AI to Help the Planet

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Climate awareness is the need of the hour. Guide your next generation on how AI can help them to contribute to save the planet.

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Use the ISP username and password for World Book Online to access this article.

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What Is Sustainable Waste Management? - Waste Mission

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Discover the benefits of sustainable waste management. Learn actionable strategies for responsible waste choices. #SustainableWasteManagement

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Top Strategies for Effective Community Waste Management

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Top Strategies for Effective Community Waste Management

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Top Strategies for Effective Community Waste Management

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Explore effective community waste management strategies like recycling, composting, and innovative tech for a sustainable future.

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By Molly Flanagan

You're browsing your Instagram feed and come across a chic sweater that will be perfect for keeping cozy this winter. The sweater is linked directly on Instagram Shopping , so there's no need to switch to another app, and looks just like one from a designer brand that you've seen on numerous celebrities. The price seems impossibly low, making the purchase a no-brainer. In fact, you might just add a couple more items to your cart. And voila! You're able to wear it all the next day-but at what real cost?

Enter the phenomenon of fast fashion. Today, fashion brands can rapidly manufacture massive amounts of clothing at the lowest and most competitive prices, all while keeping up with the latest trends. Fast fashion has drawn for a number of reasons, not least its harmful effects on the environment. Globally, the industry generates more emissions than aviation and shipping combined, according to the U.N. Environmental Programme.

It's a growth industry - in terms of both sales and impact. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change estimates that emissions from textile manufacturing will increase by 60% before 2030. The low cost of fast fashion is taking a toll on environmental health and welfare, yet the alternative--sustainable or 'slow' fashion--often carries a hefty price tag and can be less size-inclusive .

How do these trade-offs come together to advance climate change, and who are most vulnerable to these impacts? We asked two Penn experts, Jacqui Sadashige, a lecturer at the College of Liberal and Professional Studies (LPS), and Sarah Beth Gleeson, Co-Founder and COO of , a start-up company that developed a device to trap microplastics in laundry and a winner of the 2022 Penn President's Sustainability Prize , to illuminate the links between fast fashion, environmental degradation, and climate change.

What is fast fashion, and where did it come from?

To a large extent, fast fashion is a business model. Let's go back through some history. There is a line in the description of the I teach that says "in 1901, the average American family spent 14% of their annual income on clothing, and by 1929, the average middle class American woman owned a total of nine outfits." A couple years ago, a company called ClosetMaid found that the average American woman owned about 103 pieces of clothing, so something has changed between the 1920s and now, and part of that has to do with this notion of fast fashion.

In the 1990s moving into the 2000s, low-cost fashion reached a peak. Moving from handmade clothing into industrialization and the development of lower cost fabrics like polyester coincided with an increase in disposable income among the middle class. People had more money to spend on clothing at the same time as clothing prices began dropping, making it possible and desirable for a larger fraction of the public to own more clothing.

If you look at the history of high fashion, like in Paris fashion houses (i.e. Chanel, Louis Vuitton), it used to be that there were only two seasons per year: Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer. If you look at companies like H&M, Zara, Forever 21, etc. they don't have two seasons. Instead, they may have 52 "micro-seasons."

The business model that fast fashion is built on is to constantly flood stores or websites with new merchandise. This merchandise is created very quickly and will come in multiple colors, which encourages the buyer to buy various iterations of the same item if they like it, because it's so easy. If you like one t-shirt, why not buy it in five different colors?

Importantly, it is nearly impossible to copyright fashion. And it is possible, based on companies' models of production, to see something available for purchase online that was just on the runway at Fashion Week. There is a feedback component utilized by the most efficient companies who know exactly what their customers are buying--how much, and in which locations - so that they can adjust their production process based on consumer demand. Further, with the rise of social media and influencers marketing for brands, there has been a rise in promoting the constant consumption of fashion.

How has the way we value clothing changed over time? How is this reflected in the quality of materials?

: I came across this statistic from that says since 2000, clothing sales have doubled annually, while the average number of times an item has been worn decreased by more than 30%. The consumption is going up, the wearing is decreasing, and disposal is increasing.

: With the advent of social media, there is this aspect of wearing clothing once and then maybe disposing or getting rid of it. Clothing has just become so readily available that it's become less about cherishing your clothing and passing it down to, say, your kids, and more about being at the front of the trends. People fix their clothing a lot less often, too, especially when the quality is so low, it's not even worth it to fix or repair.

To make clothing more accessible and cheaper, the quality of the materials has gone down. Part of that is due to the plastic elements incorporated into clothing, which are relatively cheap; think: synthetic fibers like polyester, nylon, rayon, acrylic and spandex. Around two-thirds of all textiles today are made of plastic or have some plastic component. Plastic fibers shed microplastics, and the lower quality they are, the more they will shed.

How is fast fashion an environmental issue?

that the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of total global CO2 emissions, which is as much as the entire European Union (EU) emits.

The fashion industry also uses tremendous amounts of water. If you look at cotton, there was a huge scandal a couple years ago where a bunch of companies thought they were sourcing organic cotton, and that turned out not to be the case. Cotton we think of as being natural, so we imagine it must be a better option, but cotton is actually an incredibly environmentally intensive crop to grow. It uses a massive amount of water, it tends to degrade the land, and requires-if you're not growing it organically-pesticides and fertilizers. The alternative-synthetic materials-causes microplastic shedding.

Regardless of whether you're using something that's organic or a fossil fuel derivative, clothing production requires dyes and other chemical treatments, to stop shrinking, to have garments hold color, or to resist the elements. As you might imagine, if and when these chemicals are released into water systems, they are very toxic to aquatic ecosystems and life.

Recycling textiles is very energy intensive and is not currently done at scale. It's more expensive to make something out of recycled material, and plastic degrades every time you recycle it. Recycled material also sheds more microplastics, because the fibers themselves are broken down and become shorter and weaker. This is also why recycled polyester almost never produces a garment made of 100% recycled polyester - the fibers are too short after being recycled which results in a drop in quality, necessitating the component of virgin polyester.

Textile waste is frequently sent overseas, often to countries in East Africa and Southeast Asia, sometimes in the name of donations , to rot in landfills hundreds of thousands of miles away rather than be dealt with at 'home.'

Microplastics are another big issue. They're dispersed everywhere from our bloodstreams to the Arctic Ocean. From the very inception of a garment's development to the time we throw a piece of clothing into the wash, it releases microplastics. A single load of laundry releases about 700,000 plastic microfibers, and these fibers are transported into our homes, into wastewater, and into ecosystems. At the ecosystem level, microplastics dispersed in our water enter food chains and are found in the products we eat and the water we drink. Around 94% of U.S. tap water contains some form of microplastics, which contributes to or can cause digestive issues, reproductive health problems , respiratory harm , and other adverse health impacts.

Sarah Beth, your company Baleena aims to trap microplastics during laundering. Can you explain how this technology works and how it might lessen the impact of microplastics in the fashion industry?

At Baleena, we focus primarily on where textiles meet water - this is when microplastics are released from our clothing, and as I mentioned before, it happens a lot throughout an item's journey, both by consumers when they do a load of laundry, and at the pre-consumer level during textile manufacturing processes like dyeing. After a garment is made, it is run through the laundry a couple times to ensure its performance in the consumer's washing machine. It turns out that a lot of the microplastics released by clothing are concentrated in the first few washes.

To try and tackle microplastics pollution in the fashion supply chain, Baleena is building next-generation washing machine filtration devices to capture and trap microplastics before they are released into waterways. We are starting at the individual consumer level, but ultimately hoping to move more business-to-business, like textile manufacturers, clothing rental services, laundromats, etc. We're still at an early stage so we evolve month-to-month.

Who is most vulnerable, or at risk, to the impacts of fast fashion? Why?

As you see with so many global issues, those who are already most vulnerable are going to be those that are at the highest risk. It's interesting to note that globally, around 60-80% of garment workers are women. If you look at where fast fashion is produced and where these factories are located, they're in the Global South, by and large. You're looking at countries like Bangladesh, who suffered the notorious collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in 2013, where 1,100 perished, mostly women, employed by Western brands like Zara and Walmart . You're looking at Indonesia, where there is a high economic dependency on the fashion industry. The workers there are not being paid fair wages and the factories lack oversight.

There is a privilege associated with being able to pay more for a sustainable product. How do we make sustainable clothing more accessible to consumers?

That's a really challenging question. One of the obvious answers is that corporations must content themselves with making less of a profit, and maybe seeing the profit in lessening their environmental impact.

It's also the case that all of us have gotten too used to the concept that clothing is disposable. If we got out of that mindset of constantly needing something new - and whether it is that we're renting or purchasing - then the people who cannot afford to be constantly purchasing new things are not going to feel like there's this gap.

It sounds like 'fast fashion' as a business model cannot become sustainable, but fashion itself can be. What are the barriers in place, and how might we overcome them?

There's so much happening in that space that is really, really exciting. If we can somehow disentangle this idea that self-expression has to come with some sort of assertion of class, that will help. We shouldn't be buying into the kind of visibility that says we need to dress a certain way to belong to a certain class or have a certain occupation.

There is also the idea that the burdens of the exploitative fast fashion and fashion industry at large should not be on the consumer. This is where take-back schemes, extended producer responsibility (EPR) , and garment repair programs come into play - these programs assign the management of a product's disposal to the producer. Even a company as large as has a system to take back, configure, and make these unique upcycled bags. Another example is Patagonia, who has established , an online secondhand buying and trading platform for used clothing and gear to extend their lifecycles.

At the same time, consumers do have a lot of power. Rather than viewing this as a consumer problem to solve, consider the tremendous power in collective action.

There are organizations, as well as fabric technology companies, that are doing absolutely fascinating stuff out there. Just like you can grow protein in a lab, you can take that concept to create fibers. I've heard about bioengineering a silk that is similar to a spider's silk but made in a lab. The same chemistry that makes kombucha can also be used to make an alternative to leather. There are also fantastic companies using things like food waste to make new materials and plant-based polymers, or bonding agents, which are biodegradable.

Do you know of any local initiatives helping to combat the rise of fast fashion, or mitigate its impacts on the environment?

There are all sorts of awesome initiatives going on locally. The first is , a pre-consumer textile recycling service organization that partners with fashion, upholstery, and interior design brands to recycle their textile waste. You can there most days and take home five free pounds of fabric for your service. Baleena is part of Circular Philadelphia , which has a textile working group. All Together Now PA also has had a textile-related working group, though they are refocusing more on the , which is also a really cool initiative to look into.

There are several designers creating fashion from deadstock fabrics in Philly. One is called and their flagship is right on campus, at 34th and Walnut. Another is called . There is also The Clothing Closet located in the LGBT Center's lounge area where students, faculty, staff, and community members may drop off their used, clean clothing or find something to give new life to sustainably.

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Cheap and trendy clothing is more accessible than ever, but this convenience comes at a cost to the environment. Two Penn experts, lecturer and alum Jacqui Sadashige of the School of Arts & Sciences and recent grad Sarah Beth Gleeson, co-founder of Baleena, weigh in on the true costs of fast fashion.

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"Fast Fashion and Its Environmental Impact" from Earth.Org

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"Fast Fashion and Its Environmental Impact" from Earth.Org

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Clothing retailers like Zara, Forever 21, and H&M make cheap and fashionable clothing to satisfy the needs of young consumers. Yet, fast fashion has a significant environmental impact. According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the industry is the second-biggest consumer of water and is responsible for about 10% of global carbon emissions - more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. Unfortunately, fast fashion problems are often overlooked by consumers.
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What Is Fast Fashion?

The term ' fast fashion ' has become more prominent in conversations surrounding fashion, sustainability, and environmental consciousness. The term refers to 'cheaply produced and priced garments that copy the latest catwalk styles and get pumped quickly through stores in order to maximise on current trends'.

The fast fashion model is so-called because it involves the rapid design, production, distribution, and marketing of clothing, which means that retailers are able to pull large quantities of greater product variety and allow consumers to get more fashion and product differentiation at a low price.

The term was first used at the beginning of the 1990s, when when Zara landed in New York. "Fast fashion" was coined by the New York Times to describe Zara's mission to take only 15 days for a garment to go from the design stage to being sold in stores. The biggest players in the fast fashion world include Zara, UNIQLO, Forever 21 and H&M.

The Dark Side of Fast Fashion

According to an analysis by Business Insider, fashion production comprises 10% of total global carbon emissions, as much as the European Union. It dries up water sources and pollutes rivers and streams, while 85% of all textiles go to dumps each year. Even washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibres into the ocean each year, the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles.

The Quantis International 2018 report found that the three main drivers of the industry's global pollution impacts are dyeing and finishing (36%), yarn preparation (28%) and fibre production (15%). The report also established that fibre production has the largest impact on freshwater withdrawal (water diverted or withdrawn from a surface water or groundwater source) and ecosystem quality due to cotton cultivation, while the dyeing and finishing, yarn preparation and fibre production stages have the highest impacts on resource depletion, due to the energy-intensive processes based on fossil fuel energy.

According to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, emissions from textile manufacturing alone are projected to skyrocket by 60% by 2030.

The time it takes for a product to go through the supply chain, from design to purchase, is called a ' lead time '. In 2012, Zara was able to design, produce and deliver a new garment in two weeks; Forever 21 in six weeks and H&M in eight weeks. This results in the fashion industry producing obscene amounts of waste.

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You Might Also Like: The 9 Essential Fast Fashion Statistics
Fast Fashion and Its Environmental Impact

1. Water

The environmental impact of fast fashion comprises the depletion of non-renewable sources, emission of greenhouse gases and the use of massive amounts of water and energy. The fashion industry is the second largest consumer industry of water, requiring about 700 gallons to produce one cotton shirt and 2 000 gallons of water to produce a pair of jeans. Business Insider also cautions that textile dyeing is the world's second-largest polluter of water, since the water leftover from the dyeing process is often dumped into ditches, streams or rivers.

2. Microplastics

Furthermore, brands use synthetic fibres like polyester, nylon and acrylic which take hundreds of years to biodegrade. A 2017 report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimated that 35% of all microplastics - tiny pieces of non-biodegradable plastic - in the ocean come from the laundering of synthetic textiles like polyester.

According to the documentary released in 2015, The True Cost, the world consumes around 80 billion new pieces of clothing every year, 400% more than the consumption twenty years ago. The average American now generates 82 pounds of textile waste each year. The production of leather requires large amounts of feed, land, water and fossil fuels to raise livestock, while the tanning process is among the most toxic in all of the fashion supply chain because the chemicals used to tan leather- including mineral salts, formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives and various oils and dyes- is not biodegradable and contaminates water sources.

3. Energy

The production of making plastic fibres into textiles is an energy-intensive process that requires large amounts of petroleum and releases volatile particulate matter and acids like hydrogen chloride. Additionally, cotton, which is in a large amount of fast fashion products, is also not environmentally friendly to manufacture. Pesticides deemed necessary for the growth of cotton presents health risks to farmers.

To counter this waste caused by fast fashion, more sustainable fabrics that can be used in clothing include wild silk, organic cotton, linen, hemp and lyocell.
You might Also Like: How to Recognise Fast Fashion Brands and Which Ones to Avoid
The Social Impacts of Fast Fashion

Fast fashion does not only have a huge environmental impact. In fact, the industry also poses societal problems, especially in developing economies. According to non-profit Remake, 80% of apparel is made by young women between the ages of 18 and 24. A 2018 US Department of Labor report found evidence of forced and child labour in the fashion industry in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Turkey, Vietnam and others. Rapid production means that sales and profits supersede human welfare.

In 2013, an eight-floor factory building that housed several garment factories collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 1,134 workers and injuring more than 2,500. In her project An Analysis of the Fast Fashion Industry, Annie Radner Linden suggests that 'the garment industry has always been a low-capital and labour intensive industry'.

In her book No Logo, Naomi Klein argues that developing nations are viable for garment industries due to 'cheap labour, vast tax breaks, and lenient laws and regulations'. According to The True Cost, one in six people work in some part of the global fashion industry, making it the most labour-dependent industry. These developing nations also rarely follow environmental regulations; China, for example, is a major producer of fast fashion but is notorious for land degradation and air and water pollution.
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Is Slow Fashion the Solution?

Slow fashion is the widespread reaction to fast fashion and its environmental impact, the argument for hitting the brakes on excessive production, overcomplicated supply chains, and mindless consumption. It advocates for manufacturing that respects people, the environment and animals.

The World Resources Institute suggests that companies need to design, test and invest in business models that reuse clothes and maximise their useful life. The UN has launched the Alliance for Sustainable Fashion to address the damages caused by fast fashion. It is seeking to 'halt the environmentally and socially destructive practices of fashion'.
You might also like: What Is Slow Fashion and How Can You Join the Movement?
One way that shoppers are reducing their consumption of fast fashion is by buying from secondhand sellers like ThredUp Inc. and Poshmark, both based in California, USA; shoppers send their unwanted clothes to these websites and people buy those clothes at a lower price than the original. Another solution is renting clothes, like the US-based Rent the Runway and Gwynnie Bee, the UK based Girl Meets Dress, and the Dutch firm Mud Jeans that leases organic jeans which can be kept, swapped or returned.

Other retailers like Adidas are experimenting with personalised gear to cut down on returns, increase customer satisfaction and reduce inventory. Ralph Lauren has announced that it will use 100% sustainably-sourced key materials by 2025.

Governments need to be more actively involved in the fashion industry's damaging effects. UK ministers rejected a report by members of parliament to address the environmental effects of fast fashion. On the other hand, French president, Emmanuel Macron has made a pact with 150 brands to make the fashion industry more sustainable.
Featured image by EO Photographer Chin Leong Teo
The best advice on reducing the environmental impact of fast fashion comes from Patsy Perry, senior lecturer in fashion marketing at the University of Manchester, who says, "Less is always more."

This story is funded by readers like you

Our non-profit newsroom provides climate coverage free of charge and advertising. Your one-off or monthly donations play a crucial role in supporting our operations, expanding our reach, and maintaining our editorial independence.

About EO | Mission Statement | Impact & Reach | Write for us

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Fast fashion has a massive environmental impact, it is the second-biggest consumer of water and is responsible for nearly 10% of global carbon emissions.

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The Fast Fashion Problem - Behind the News

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Everything You Need to Know About Fast Fashion

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Fast fashion is 'fast' in a number of senses: the changes in fashion are fast, the rate of production is fast; the customer's decision to purchase is fast; delivery is fast; and garments are worn fast - usually only a few times before being discarded.

The rise of fast fashion has had devastating consequences, from its reliance on plastic fabrics and its enormous carbon footprint to its erosion of workers' rights.

In this article we explain what we mean when we say 'fast fashion' and why it is so bad for people and the planet.

What is fast fashion?

In the last few decades, we have seen fashion trends changing more and more quickly. Pressures on workers to produce more and at lower prices have grown alongside pressures on consumers to turn to the newest trends.

Fast changing trends

At its heart, the fast fashion business model relies on consumers endlessly buying more clothes. Brands tempt consumers by offering ultra-cheap garments (for example, Missguided's £1 bikini) and ever-changing new ranges. At the time of writing, fast fashion brand Shein featured 21,139 clothes under the 'New in' section of its website.

Fashion brands have long used new styles and lower prices to attract customers, but previously brands would plan new ranges many months, even years, in advance. The pace of change was relatively slow and there were fewer products on offer. In comparison, fast fashion is focused on responding to ever-changing consumer tastes as quickly as possible.

For example, in the BBC's 'Breaking Fashion' show we see Manchester-based fast fashion company, In the Style, reproducing a bodysuit worn by Kylie Jenner. The company manages to have the piece designed, manufactured and on sale within 10 days of the piece first being worn publicly by the celebrity.

The rise of fast fashion is intertwined with social media and celebrity/influencer culture. A celebrity posts a photo wearing a new outfit, and their followers want it, so fast fashion brands rush to be the first to provide it. Fast fashion brands often target young people - so called Gen Zs -, who have been brought up amongst social media and influencer culture. In fact, a recent survey found that almost 75% of 18-24 year olds believe influencers can be held somewhat accountable for the rise in disposable fashion.

Of course, the flow of causality is not that simple: fast fashion brands are not simply reacting to consumer demand, they are also creating it. But the essential point is that these brands operate on the basis of constantly producing new lines of clothes to meet the insatiable and ever-changing consumer demand for all things new.

Fast production

Faster changing trends means that producers are under pressure to manufacture clothes more and more rapidly. Factories are expected to produce new lines with only a couple of month's notice, meaning that their workload - and therefore the amount of employment they can offer to workers - is unpredictable and insecure.

The drive to produce garments rapidly has led many UK fast fashion companies to reshore clothing production to the UK, where previously almost all clothing brands sourced from less-economically developed countries such as Bangladesh or Vietnam.

Leicester has become a central hub for clothing production and many of the scandals associated with workers' rights in the UK have been found in factories in the city.

The exploitation of workers in fast fashion supply chains is partly the result of brands pressuring suppliers to produce clothes as cheaply and quickly as possible. We talk about this more below.

Fast sale and delivery

The low-cost of fast fashion items encourages fast sale. The average person in the UK buys 60% more clothing today than in 2000. We buy more clothes per person in the UK than in any other country in Europe, and our addiction has grown - with online searches for 'cheap clothes' increasing 46.3% during the first coronavirus lockdown.

Even if you are out-of-pocket you can buy items using Klarna and other easy credit services. Its post-purchase payment options allow you to defer paying for your garment for 14 to 30 days, much like a payday loan.

Most companies also offer cheap deals for quick delivery. At the time of writing, Boohoo offered unlimited next-day delivery for one year for just £7.99.

Fast use

It's estimated that the average item of clothing is worn just 14 times, and in 2019 The Guardian reported that one in three young women considered an item worn just once or twice to be old.

Much modern clothing is not made to last. Due to super-fast production, designs are generally not well stress-tested before sale, and cheap synthetic fabrics are used in order to keep costs low. Much of it will end up in landfill after only being worn a handful of times.

Five things you need to know about fast fashion

The problems with fast fashion

What are the environmental problems with fast fashion?

The endless creation of new clothes comes with a heavy environmental price. Every year the sector requires 93 billion cubic meters of water, which is enough to meet the consumption needs of five million people, and is responsible for around 20% of industrial water pollution as a result of textile treatment and dyeing.

There are also numerous problems with the materials and processes used. For example, cotton production uses 6% of the world's pesticides and 16% of insecticides.

The industry also has a heavy carbon footprint, which is responsible for up to 10% of total global carbon emissions, and estimated to increase by 50% by 2030.

The above problems affect the clothing sector more broadly, but one issue is particularly endemic to fast fashion: plastic.

How much plastic do clothes contain?

The rise of fast fashion has been heavily dependent on synthetic fibres such as polyester, nylon, acrylic and elastane, which are made from heavily processed petrochemicals (fossil fuels). These materials are cheap to produce - polyester, for example, costs half as much per kilo as cotton - and therefore allow brands to keep prices low, though with a high environmental price-tag.

Polyester is the most widely used of these synthetic fibres and is now found in over half of all textiles produced. It is generally produced from polyethylene terephthalate, better known as PET, a type of plastic derived from crude oil and natural gas - also used to make items such as plastic bottles.

The ubiquitousness of plastic in clothing means that the textile sector accounts for 15% of total plastic use; the only sectors that use more are construction and packaging. Many brands are making a song and dance about using recycled plastics for their clothes, but a recent report by the RSA found that the actual level of recycled content was pitifully low. Across four major online fast fashion brands, the use of recycled fabrics was a mere 4%.

Our analysis of Shein's website found its recycled content was even lower, at only 0.5%, despite the brand claiming, " When selecting materials, we do our best to source recycled fabric, such as recycled polyester."

Recycling plastics where possible has some benefits, but it does nothing to address the problem of microfibres - the miniscule bits of fabric that are released when clothes are worn, washed, or disposed of, that find their way into our bodies and the natural world.

According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, clothes release half a million tonnes of microfibres into the ocean every year, equivalent to more than 50 billion plastic bottles.

These fibres have been found almost everywhere: from the summit of Mount Everest to the placentas of unborn babies. We still do not know the effects they may have.

How much waste does the clothing industry cause?

The industry is also responsible for enormous amounts of textile waste. The amount of textiles being produced globally per person has more than doubled from 5.9kg to 13kg over the period 1975-2018.

Many of the clothes bought are thrown away after being worn just a handful of times: the industry produces an estimated 92 million tonnes of textiles waste annually, much of which is burnt or finds its way to landfill, while less than 1% of used clothing is recycled into new garments.

Some of this waste consists of items that never even reached the consumer - clothing lines that have become outdated and so are destroyed instead of sold.

Atacama clothing mountain highlights over-consumption

The shocking reality of fast fashion's waste problem hit the headlines in November 2021 with an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report on the mountains of discarded clothing ending up in Chile's Atacama Desert. A total of 59,000 tons of second-hand clothing is said to arrive in Chile for resale each year from Europe, the US and Asia. However, an estimated 39,000 tons is unable to be sold and ends up dumped in the desert.

The situation highlights the myriad of problems in the fashion industry. The over-consumption of new clothing means that even an increasingly thriving second-hand clothing market cannot keep up, and this is exacerbated by the amount of poor-quality clothing not suitable for resale.

While second-hand markets certainly play a huge role in reducing the carbon impact of clothing when replacing the purchase of new items, a system where clothing gets shipped around the world multiple times, only to be wasted anyway is clearly not sustainable.

Clothing made of plastics

The piles mounting up in the Atacama, and in landfills across the world, are not biodegradable. Much of our clothing is made from synthetic plastics and also contains chemicals harmful to the environment.

Many fashion brands are pledging to address the issue of the use of virgin plastics in clothing manufacture, a material derived from the fossil fuel industry. However, this is often by replacing it with recycled synthetics.

And this may well be from recycled plastic bottles but, as a recent Guardian article points out: "PET bottles are also part of a well-established, closed-loop recycling system, where they can be efficiently recycled at least 10 times. The apparel industry is 'taking from this closed-loop, and moving it into this linear system because most of those clothes won't be recycled', said Maxine Bédat, Executive Director of New Standard Institute. "Converting plastic from bottles into clothes may actually accelerate its path to the landfill, especially for low-quality, fast-fashion garments which are often discarded after only a few uses."

The fashion industry, governments and consumers need to act to slow down consumption and ensure that garments are sustainable at every stage of their life cycle, from fibre production, to manufacture, to end-of-life.

Why is it bad for workers?

In order to offer clothes at ultra low prices, fast fashion brands need their costs to be low. One of the main ways of doing this is to drive down the wages of garment workers in the supply chain.

For years, brands have 'chased the cheap needle' around the world, seeking countries with the lowest labour standards so that garment workers can be easily exploited. In recent years, many UK fast fashion brands have found the cheap needle closer to home, often in quasi-legal factories in cities such as Leicester.

In the UK, Boohoo has become somewhat the symbol of fast fashion's worker exploitation problem. Numerous exposés have shown that while the pockets of Boohoo's directors are bursting at the seams, the people who actually stitch the seams of its clothing are paid a pittance, with some found to have been paid under half the minimum wage.

The Levitt report, which looked in depth at Boohoo's Leicester supply chain, found that "The allegations of unacceptable working conditions and underpayment of workers are not only well-founded but are substantially true." Levitt also claimed that these problems were endemic to the system and likely found across Boohoo's supply chain.

Worker exploitation is an essential part of the fast fashion model. If an item is very cheap, chances are that the person who produced it was paid little.

A 2022 report Unbearable Harassment: The Fashion Industry and Widespread Abuse of Female Garment Workers in Indian Factories, found that every single woman spoken to for the report (90), had either experienced or witnessed gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) carried out by male supervisors and managers at the factories they worked at.

"Verbal, physical, and sexual harassment exists in every garment factory - not just this one. It existed before COVID, it exists during COVID, and it will exist after COVID..." Smita, Tamal Nadu.

The report goes on to state that:

"Violence on the factory floor cannot be dismissed as just a factory-level problem; rather, it must be understood as an industry-wide culture of violence driven by the business model of global fashion brands".

Which are the leading fast fashion brands?

It is important to note that most of the fashion sector has become 'faster' in recent years. As such, even the more mainstream, established brands will be 'fast' to some extent. However, there are some brands that stand out as much faster than the rest:

Boohoo, which also owns the following brands: Burton, Coast, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Karen Millen, MissPap, Nasty Gal, Oasis, Pretty Little Thing, Wallis, Warehouse

In the Style

I Saw it First

Missguided

If a brand is offering vast numbers of 'new in' clothes (usually thousands of new items every day) and its products are super cheap, then it is a fast fashion brand.
UPDATE
Missguided collapsed at the end of May 2022, leaving suppliers and workers out of pocket for months of completed orders.

The Frasers Group, controlled by the Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley, has reportedly bought the company out of administration for £20m. This process will take around two months to complete.

We will review the impact of the collapse and new owner in due course.

Meanwhile, Labour Behind the Label have campaigned to demand workers and suppliers are paid, amidst reports that many are owed thousands of pounds.

Update from COP26 on fashion

Considering its comparative carbon impact, maybe the fashion industry deserved more focus at the recent COP26 summit in Glasgow, but it was not totally without attention.

In the second week, an update to the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action was announced, with more ambitious targets for carbon reduction to align with the Paris Agreement's 1.5-degree aim. The charter currently has 130 signatories including brands such as H&M, Primark, Levi's, Chanel and Adidas.

A request for government-backed incentives for using sustainable materials was also submitted by global non-profit Textile Exchange, with its COO, Claire Bergkamp, stating: "We need both regulations to stop bad action and incentives for sustainable materials to help reduce the price burden that currently exists for sourcing more responsibly. Our hope is through trade incentives and tariff reductions, we can level the playing field, without placing the burden on suppliers across the value chain".

The call was supported by 50 of the world's largest fashion and textile companies. It is an interesting turn of events considering the UK Government's complete reluctance to regulate the UK fashion industry as recommended by the 2019 Fixing Fashion report. The call could also be viewed as a profit-driven industry with a history of wreaking havoc on the environment, now demanding it be subsidised for doing the right thing. However, it is true that with such a harmful and complex industry strong legislation is badly needed to start curtailing fashion's destructive path.

Awful conditions at a Shein factory exposed

A Channel 4 documentary broadcast autumn 2022 went undercover at a Shein factory to expose predictably awful conditions and exhausted, exploited workers.

The brand is also shown to copy designs from independent designers, rely on unpaid influencers for its marketing, and use manipulative sales techniques such as countdown timers and multi-buys to encourage overconsumption.

Yet the company is hugely popular and massively outsells its fast fashion rivals. Despite many similar documentaries and decades of campaigning on garment worker rights, it seems that cheap clothes are an addiction we just can't break.

Check out our clothing guides to find some much more ethical options for new clothes, or choose second hand.

What progress has been made in the decade since the Rana Plaza disaster?

The Rana Plaza disaster and the Accord

April 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh which killed more than 1,100 garment workers, an event that exposed the appalling human cost of fast fashion. Simon Birch asks what progress, if any, has been made over the past decade in the fight against fast fashion.

Following the Rana Plaza disaster the Bangladesh Accord was established. This was the first and only legally binding agreement that holds brands to account for health and safety in the garment industry, and is designed to prevent another Rana Plaza tragedy from ever happening again.

"The Accord represents a significant victory for textile workers," says Anna Bryher from Labour Behind the Label, one of the UK's leading campaign groups against fast fashion. "There's been a massive improvement in the safety of clothing factories in Bangladesh," acknowledges Bryher.

Whilst this is welcome good news, the bad news is that the Accord hasn't done anything to address the pitifully low wages that Bangladeshi garment workers still receive.

But whilst the global fast fashion business model is still based on exploitative low wages, the brands themselves are now coming under increasing pressure.

Profits at fast fashion pioneers ASOS and Boohoo are tumbling whilst last year Missguided, one of the UK's flagship fast fashion companies went bust, all largely as a result of the cost-of-living crisis that's seen soaring costs of everything from cotton to shipping.

Environmental claims from fast fashion companies under the spotlight

Last year, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority launched an investigation into whether eco-friendly and sustainability claims made by the fast fashion chains Asos, Boohoo and George at Asda constitute greenwashing.

Meanwhile over in Europe, the EU is stepping up its fight against throwaway culture by aiming to end fast fashion by 2030.

In an ambitious initiative launched last year, the EU announced its intention to vastly expand its clothing design rules on recycling and sustainability. In just seven years' time, all textiles sold within the EU must be recyclable, free of hazardous substances and contain a high percentage of recycled fibres.

All these actions are clearly good news for the environment but the bottom line is that fast fashion still demands the exploitation of garment workers.

However, it's important to remember that the problem is with the clothing companies, not with the clothing industry.

"We all need clothes and the clothing industry provides millions of jobs around the world from farmers who provide the cotton and fabrics to workers in garment factories," says Heather Webb, a former researcher at Ethical Consumer who has since worked within the fast fashion industry as an ethical trade analyst.

"Big fashion brands are consistently treating the factories they buy from poorly and it's the workers and environment who suffer," says Fiona Gooch from Transform Trade that campaigns for a more ethical global trading system.

"We need a fashion watchdog to regulate UK garment retailers along the same lines as the existing supermarket watchdog that's successfully reduced the unfair buying practices of the UK's largest food retailers," explains Gooch. "A fashion watchdog would reduce abusive and unfair purchasing practices of the garment retailers which would ultimately benefit garment workers."

Whilst acknowledging that a fashion watchdog would be a good thing, Anna Bryher believes that it wouldn't fix the problem of low wages within the clothing industry. What's needed says Bryher is new legislation to enable clothing brands to be held to account for their unfair purchasing practices.

Heather Webb agrees. "We need government intervention in the market," says Webb. "One of the key things that could improve both the pay and working conditions of garment workers is a law outlawing the unethical buying practices of clothing brands."

Progress by brands is extremely slow

The Ethical Fashion Report published in 2023, 10 years after the first edition, found that although there has been some progress for garment workers, overall change is still too slow. Their research found that at the current rate of progress, it would be 75 years before all companies are paying a living wage at even a minimum of one factory per company. The vast majority of clothing companies (84%) were not sourcing from any factories which paid a living wage.

Find out more in the report and also use the charity's 'Speak Out' tool to see how individual brands are doing and let them know what you think.

People's clothing habits are changing

Despite the pervasiveness of fast fashion, things are beginning to improve.

New research from WRAP has found that compared with similar research carried out in 2013, we are wearing our clothes for slightly longer. Jeans, for example, now have a longevity of just over four years, compared to just over three in 2013. The research also found that more than half of us are happy to buy second hand clothes; nearly 60% of us put a lot of effort into maintaining our clothes; and that a similar proportion look for ways to repair clothes when they're damaged.

The WRAP research also estimates that the UK's wardrobes hold 1.6 billion items of unworn clothes, an average of 31 items for each adult. And yet we're still spending more than £4 billion on shopping for clothes each month. WRAP makes the point that as textiles and fashion are responsible for between 4% and 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, we need a revolution in our clothing habits to make our wardrobes sustainable.

Circular clothing industry

The purpose of the WRAP research was to understand the population's receptiveness to circular business models for clothing. These included second hand, upcycling, subscription, rental (pay-per-wear) and repair (where a brand repairs an item of clothing a customer has purchased from it for a fee).

WRAP found that 40% of people are likely to use a subscription service and that 58% are open to using a repair service. Among those who have already used a circular business model, the majority said they would do so again.

WRAP argues that this shows there is a clear case for clothing brands and retailers to adopt circular business models.

Read the full WRAP report into clothing longevity on their website and read tips on repairing and buying second hand in our article on upcycling and buying second hand clothing.

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What is fast fashion and why is it a problem? | Ethical Consumer

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Alex Crumbie explores the growing concern about the social and environmental impacts of the fast fashion clothing industry and sets out what's wrong with fast fashion.

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Five things you need to know about fast fashion (and why we’re boycotting it)

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Purple Mash is an award-winning website for nursery and primary school children. It enables children to explore and enhance their knowledge in a fun and creative way.

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Clothing retailers like Zara, Forever 21, and H&M make cheap and fashionable clothing to satisfy the needs of young consumers. Yet, fast fashion has a significant environmental impact. According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the industry is the second-biggest consumer of water and is responsible for about 10% of global carbon emissions - more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. Unfortunately, fast fashion problems are often overlooked by consumers.
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What Is Fast Fashion?

The term ' fast fashion ' has become more prominent in conversations surrounding fashion, sustainability, and environmental consciousness. The term refers to 'cheaply produced and priced garments that copy the latest catwalk styles and get pumped quickly through stores in order to maximise on current trends'.

The fast fashion model is so-called because it involves the rapid design, production, distribution, and marketing of clothing, which means that retailers are able to pull large quantities of greater product variety and allow consumers to get more fashion and product differentiation at a low price.

The term was first used at the beginning of the 1990s, when when Zara landed in New York. "Fast fashion" was coined by the New York Times to describe Zara's mission to take only 15 days for a garment to go from the design stage to being sold in stores. The biggest players in the fast fashion world include Zara, UNIQLO, Forever 21 and H&M.

The Dark Side of Fast Fashion

According to an analysis by Business Insider, fashion production comprises 10% of total global carbon emissions, as much as the European Union. It dries up water sources and pollutes rivers and streams, while 85% of all textiles go to dumps each year. Even washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibres into the ocean each year, the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles.

The Quantis International 2018 report found that the three main drivers of the industry's global pollution impacts are dyeing and finishing (36%), yarn preparation (28%) and fibre production (15%). The report also established that fibre production has the largest impact on freshwater withdrawal (water diverted or withdrawn from a surface water or groundwater source) and ecosystem quality due to cotton cultivation, while the dyeing and finishing, yarn preparation and fibre production stages have the highest impacts on resource depletion, due to the energy-intensive processes based on fossil fuel energy.

According to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, emissions from textile manufacturing alone are projected to skyrocket by 60% by 2030.

The time it takes for a product to go through the supply chain, from design to purchase, is called a ' lead time '. In 2012, Zara was able to design, produce and deliver a new garment in two weeks; Forever 21 in six weeks and H&M in eight weeks. This results in the fashion industry producing obscene amounts of waste.

This story is funded by readers like you

Our non-profit newsroom provides climate coverage free of charge and advertising. Your one-off or monthly donations play a crucial role in supporting our operations, expanding our reach, and maintaining our editorial independence.

About EO | Mission Statement | Impact & Reach | Write for us

You Might Also Like: The 9 Essential Fast Fashion Statistics
Fast Fashion and Its Environmental Impact

1. Water

The environmental impact of fast fashion comprises the depletion of non-renewable sources, emission of greenhouse gases and the use of massive amounts of water and energy. The fashion industry is the second largest consumer industry of water, requiring about 700 gallons to produce one cotton shirt and 2 000 gallons of water to produce a pair of jeans. Business Insider also cautions that textile dyeing is the world's second-largest polluter of water, since the water leftover from the dyeing process is often dumped into ditches, streams or rivers.

2. Microplastics

Furthermore, brands use synthetic fibres like polyester, nylon and acrylic which take hundreds of years to biodegrade. A 2017 report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimated that 35% of all microplastics - tiny pieces of non-biodegradable plastic - in the ocean come from the laundering of synthetic textiles like polyester.

According to the documentary released in 2015, The True Cost, the world consumes around 80 billion new pieces of clothing every year, 400% more than the consumption twenty years ago. The average American now generates 82 pounds of textile waste each year. The production of leather requires large amounts of feed, land, water and fossil fuels to raise livestock, while the tanning process is among the most toxic in all of the fashion supply chain because the chemicals used to tan leather- including mineral salts, formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives and various oils and dyes- is not biodegradable and contaminates water sources.

3. Energy

The production of making plastic fibres into textiles is an energy-intensive process that requires large amounts of petroleum and releases volatile particulate matter and acids like hydrogen chloride. Additionally, cotton, which is in a large amount of fast fashion products, is also not environmentally friendly to manufacture. Pesticides deemed necessary for the growth of cotton presents health risks to farmers.

To counter this waste caused by fast fashion, more sustainable fabrics that can be used in clothing include wild silk, organic cotton, linen, hemp and lyocell.
You might Also Like: How to Recognise Fast Fashion Brands and Which Ones to Avoid
The Social Impacts of Fast Fashion

Fast fashion does not only have a huge environmental impact. In fact, the industry also poses societal problems, especially in developing economies. According to non-profit Remake, 80% of apparel is made by young women between the ages of 18 and 24. A 2018 US Department of Labor report found evidence of forced and child labour in the fashion industry in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Turkey, Vietnam and others. Rapid production means that sales and profits supersede human welfare.

In 2013, an eight-floor factory building that housed several garment factories collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 1,134 workers and injuring more than 2,500. In her project An Analysis of the Fast Fashion Industry, Annie Radner Linden suggests that 'the garment industry has always been a low-capital and labour intensive industry'.

In her book No Logo, Naomi Klein argues that developing nations are viable for garment industries due to 'cheap labour, vast tax breaks, and lenient laws and regulations'. According to The True Cost, one in six people work in some part of the global fashion industry, making it the most labour-dependent industry. These developing nations also rarely follow environmental regulations; China, for example, is a major producer of fast fashion but is notorious for land degradation and air and water pollution.
You might also like: The Danger of Sweatshops
Is Slow Fashion the Solution?

Slow fashion is the widespread reaction to fast fashion and its environmental impact, the argument for hitting the brakes on excessive production, overcomplicated supply chains, and mindless consumption. It advocates for manufacturing that respects people, the environment and animals.

The World Resources Institute suggests that companies need to design, test and invest in business models that reuse clothes and maximise their useful life. The UN has launched the Alliance for Sustainable Fashion to address the damages caused by fast fashion. It is seeking to 'halt the environmentally and socially destructive practices of fashion'.
You might also like: What Is Slow Fashion and How Can You Join the Movement?
One way that shoppers are reducing their consumption of fast fashion is by buying from secondhand sellers like ThredUp Inc. and Poshmark, both based in California, USA; shoppers send their unwanted clothes to these websites and people buy those clothes at a lower price than the original. Another solution is renting clothes, like the US-based Rent the Runway and Gwynnie Bee, the UK based Girl Meets Dress, and the Dutch firm Mud Jeans that leases organic jeans which can be kept, swapped or returned.

Other retailers like Adidas are experimenting with personalised gear to cut down on returns, increase customer satisfaction and reduce inventory. Ralph Lauren has announced that it will use 100% sustainably-sourced key materials by 2025.

Governments need to be more actively involved in the fashion industry's damaging effects. UK ministers rejected a report by members of parliament to address the environmental effects of fast fashion. On the other hand, French president, Emmanuel Macron has made a pact with 150 brands to make the fashion industry more sustainable.
Featured image by EO Photographer Chin Leong Teo
The best advice on reducing the environmental impact of fast fashion comes from Patsy Perry, senior lecturer in fashion marketing at the University of Manchester, who says, "Less is always more."

This story is funded by readers like you

Our non-profit newsroom provides climate coverage free of charge and advertising. Your one-off or monthly donations play a crucial role in supporting our operations, expanding our reach, and maintaining our editorial independence.

About EO | Mission Statement | Impact & Reach | Write for us

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Fast Fashion: Its Detrimental Effect on the Environment

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Fast fashion has a massive environmental impact, it is the second-biggest consumer of water and is responsible for nearly 10% of global carbon emissions.

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BrainPOP - Animated Educational Site for Kids - Science, Social Studies, English, Math, Arts & Music, Health, and Technology

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13 ways to save the Earth from Climate Change

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13 ways to save the Earth from Climate Change

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13 ways to save the Earth from climate change

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What is Climate Change?: Crash Course Climate & Energy #1

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How does the greenhouse effect work?

As you might expect from the name, the greenhouse effect works ... like a greenhouse! A greenhouse is a building with glass walls and a glass roof. Greenhouses are used to grow plants, such as tomatoes and tropical flowers.

A greenhouse stays warm inside, even during the winter. In the daytime, sunlight shines into the greenhouse and warms the plants and air inside. At nighttime, it's colder outside, but the greenhouse stays pretty warm inside. That's because the glass walls of the greenhouse trap the Sun's heat.

The greenhouse effect works much the same way on Earth. Gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide, trap heat similar to the glass roof of a greenhouse. These heat-trapping gases are called greenhouse gases.

During the day, the Sun shines through the atmosphere. Earth's surface warms up in the sunlight. At night, Earth's surface cools, releasing heat back into the air. But some of the heat is trapped by the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. That's what keeps our Earth a warm and cozy 58 degrees Fahrenheit (14 degrees Celsius), on average.

How are humans impacting the greenhouse effect?

Human activities are changing Earth's natural greenhouse effect. Burning fossil fuels like coal and oil puts more carbon dioxide into our atmosphere.

NASA has observed increases in the amount of carbon dioxide and some other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Too much of these greenhouse gases can cause Earth's atmosphere to trap more and more heat. This causes Earth to warm up.

What reduces the greenhouse effect on Earth?

Just like a glass greenhouse, Earth's greenhouse is also full of plants! Plants can help to balance the greenhouse effect on Earth. All plants - from giant trees to tiny phytoplankton in the ocean - take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen.

The ocean also absorbs a lot of excess carbon dioxide in the air. Unfortunately, the increased carbon dioxide in the ocean changes the water, making it more acidic. This is called ocean acidification.

More acidic water can be harmful to many ocean creatures, such as certain shellfish and coral. Warming oceans - from too many greenhouse gases in the atmosphere - can also be harmful to these organisms. Warmer waters are a main cause of coral bleaching.

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Learn more about this process that occurs when gases in Earth's atmosphere trap the Sun's heat.

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Causes and Effects of Climate Change | National Geographic

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The Tipping Points of Climate Change — and Where We Stand | Johan Rockström | TED

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His Epic Message Will Make You Want to Save the World | Short Film Showcase

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The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Climate Change

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AI plays a crucial role in optimizing renewable energy systems. Artificial intelligence holds tremendous potential in the fight against climate change, offering

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AI’s Thirst for Power: The Environmental Cost of Artificial Intelligence

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Explore the environmental impact of artificial intelligence, from its vast water and energy consumption to the urgent need for sustainable solutions.

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Climate Change 101 with Bill Nye | National Geographic

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Learn how meat consumption contributes to your carbon footprint.

The environmental impact of meat production is a pressing issue that deserves more attention. Raising livestock for meat takes a toll on the environment in a number of ways. For one, cows and other livestock produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas. In addition, meat production requires vast amounts of land and water, and contributes to deforestation and soil erosion. All of these factors together make meat production one of the leading sources of climate change emissions.
The meat and dairy industry makes up a whopping 14% of all global carbon emissions!

How does eating meat impact climate change?

Does all meat have the same carbon footprint? No! Beef production has the largest carbon footprint, followed by lamb. Comparatively, pork and poultry production emit less than half the greenhouse gases of beef and lamb. Interestingly, lower emission meat in poultry and pork together account for 76% of meat consumption globally.

A common perception is that buying locally will reduce the climate impact of meat. There are many reasons to buy local, but the impact on carbon footprint is negligible, at least for beef.

Transportation accounts for just 0.3% of beef's carbon emissions. The most significant emission source for beef is by far cattle methane emissions, followed by manure. Yes it's true, cows farting (and burping) contribute massively to carbon emissions. The other significant emission source for beef is livestock feed.

It's not all bad news though. Emissions from beef production in the US has decreased over the last 50 years. 15% fewer cattle is being used to produce 20% more meat.

If you're not ready to become vegetarian yet, consider choosing meat a with lower carbon footprint rather than beef. If you're wondering how meat production compares to plant based foods, the carbon footprint of bread is less than half that of chicken and less than five per cent of the carbon footprint of beef.

And a vegetarian diet creates 59% less greenhouse gas emissions than a non-vegetarian one!

Watch this 2min video to see the environmental impact of meat production if you're more of an audio visual learner.

What are the other environmental impacts of meat consumption?

Meat production requires vast amounts of land for livestock to graze and to grow feed for livestock. Land clearing to create space impacts on carbon emissions by felling trees but is also having a huge impact on biodiversity. Biodiversity hot spots like the Amazon and land bordering the Great Barrier Reef are some of the areas being encroached upon.

Researchers have projected that by 2050, over one thousand species will lose at least 25% of their habitats if no changes are made. As a result, some species face extinction.

Water required for meat production is also much higher than for plant based foods. To compare, producing 1kg of meat requires 5000 - 20,000 litres of water but 1kg of wheat requires only 500 - 4000 litres of water.

Huge amounts of wastewater are also generated from slaughterhouses. Effluents contain a complex mix of proteins, fats, organic components, pathogens and anti-biotics that are harmful to the water bodies they are discharged into.

Are you convinced to reduce your meat consumption?

Have you reduced your meat consumption or cut it out completely? What was the main reason? Let me know in the comments.

More ways you can help the environment

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The Environmental Impact of Meat Production (It's big!)

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The environmental impact of meat production is enormous. The meat and dairy industry makes up 14% of global carbon emissions.

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מכון דוידסון - סרטוני מדע

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הפקת חשמל מדלקים מאובנים - כיצד זה עובד

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דלק - איך מגלים מאגר גז או נפט?

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Why beef is the worst food for the climate

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How can livestock be a part of the climate solution? The natural carbon cycle explained.

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Deforestation | Causes, Effects & Solutions | Video for Kids

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The Deforestation of the Amazon (A Time Lapse)

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What is Deforestation? | Eco Facts | One Tree Planted

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Climate 101: Deforestation | National Geographic

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Fossil Fuels and CO2 | Our Climate Our Future, Chapter 3

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