How Designer Vintage Clothing Helps the Environment

It’s no secret that purchasing designer vintage clothing is beneficial for your bank balance, the economy and your style; but really, one massive advantage of the recycling of preloved clothing is how it helps the environment. 

The fashion industry is one of the biggest markets in the world. It infiltrates every corner of the planet, particularly third world countries. This global market that is loved, worshipped and adored by so many of us unfortunately has a dark side that is rarely talked about; from carbon emission to poverty.

Consumerism is at all time high, meaning that consequently, globalism is too. Pre 1920s, most clothing was repaired, tailored to fit other family members or recycled in the home as blankets, duvets or rags. Conservation of clothing was fashionable, however due to the growth of industrialisation the increase in consumerism was inevitable. The ability for any person in any part of the world to end up with the same t-shirt as someone tens of thousands of miles away is the epitome of ‘fast fashion’: lower prices with lower retention. This desire to have loads of cheap clothes as opposed to less, more durable garments is leaving a big pollution footprint. With each step of the clothing lifecycle, more environmental and occupational hazards are created.

Production of Materials

The mass production of the materials used to create our clothing is a big contribution to environmental damage. Polyester, which is the most widely use manufactured fibre, is made from petroleum. The demand for polyester has doubles in the last 15 years and due to its energy-intensive production which needs huge amounts of crude oil and releases emissions such as volatile organic compounds and acid gases such as hydrogen chloride, it’s becoming a very big problem. Other by-products of polyester production including volatile monomers and solvents, are emitted in the wastewater and are considered by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to be highly hazardous. 

To add to this, unfortunately the growth of natural fibres are often agriculturally damaging. In fact, more chemical pesticides are used for the growth of cotton than any other crop. 

Water Pollution

Cotton is a key input to the apparel industry and is responsible for 2.6 per cent of the global water use. However, a gap already exists between water supply and demand. If we do nothing to correct this imbalance, it's been predicted that by 2030, this demand will for water will go up by nearly 50%.

Water waste is also becoming a huge problem within the clothing industry because of the the annual waste of water. In each UK home, over 1000 bathtubs of water as well as the emissions from driving a car for 6000 miles is used on clothing. 

Similarly, around 17 to 20% of industrial water pollution comes from textile dying and treatment. 

Carbon Emissions

Climate change is the leading example of carbon emission issues. Manmade carbon emissions are damaging the planet’s ability to maintain a stable climate, resulting in global warming, rising sea levels and extreme weather. The fashion industry produces huge amounts of carbon emissions and is one of the leading contributors to this problem.

People

Unfortunately, the fashion industry also has an effect on the people working within its production. A prime example of this is when the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh collapsed: over 1000 garment workers were killed, 2000 people were injured and 800 children were orphaned.

We often forget that the clothes in the high street shops were made by real people; often in third world countries whose conditions are poor and their wages even more so. The sacrifices in both their health and social lives to work in the fast fashion industry is pretty devastating and something we should be considering when purchasing any new items of clothing.

The stats are pretty shocking, which is why we're doing all that we can to reduce the damage the fast fashion industry is doing the environment. Of course, you can help too by purchasing pre-loved clothing and recycling fashions. We hope this has given you a little food for thought.