Hello everyone! It’s very hot today. I just started searching about reasons of this increasing temperature of earth. It is 41°C at my place. The scorching heat of sun is burning the skin. As we all know this is due to global warming. And global warming is increasing due to so many reasons. And I was amazed to know that global warming is also increasing due to fashion industry. Do you believe it?
The decrease in prices of garments since last 20 years permitted us to buy many clothes for ourselves. We are having more clothes than our grandparents. We are amazed at what is behind this entire trend. This addition of clothes only became possible due to continuous decrease in production cost. The second largest polluter just after oil industry is fashion industry. As the fashion industry growing, damage to environment is also increasing. Awareness should be given to people about this damage.
Waste water from textile industry is dumped into rivers without treatment. This waste water contains heavy metals such as arsenic, lead and mercury. These toxic metals are very dangerous for aquatic life and for the health of millions of people living along the banks of rivers. Use of fertilizers for growing cotton crop is also a major factor contributing in water contamination. A large amount of water is consumed by textile industry. For dyeing and finishing processes a lot of water is consumed. One ton of fabric is dyed by utilizing 200 tons of freshwater. The cotton crop also demands a great supply of water as it is cultivated in dry and warm regions. According to an estimate 1 kg cotton crop yield requires 20,000 liters of water.
Now a days garments made up of synthetic fibers are common. If we wash a garment made up of synthetic fiber, then 700 microfibers are released into water. This water becomes the part of our oceans where aquatic animals ingest them. These small aquatic organisms become food of small fishes which are in turn eaten by bigger ones. In this way plastic enters into our food chain. Plastic microfibers are also released into the air. According to a study 300 million polyester microfibers could be released by a single person into the environment per year. Clothes can be disposed off. So we are making much more textile waste. A western family generates an average 30 kg of clothes every year. 15% of it is recycles while the remaining is dumped or incinerated. Synthetic fibers are actually plastic in nature and plastic is non-biodegradable it can be decomposed in 200 years.
So many chemicals are used in cleaning, dyeing and washing. These chemicals are very harmful for us.
Soil is the main factor of our ecosystem. Healthy soil is needed for food production. But soil is degraded day by day. It causes great threat to our system and also causes global warming. Fashion industry is playing major role in degradation of soil. Soil is degraded by overgrazing of meadows and pasture lands through sheep and goats which are raised for their wool. Soil is also damaged due to excessive use of chemicals which are used for cultivating cotton.
we should think about this. where we are going?
we should use natural fiber for making clothes.