The Devastating Effects That the Apparel Industry has on our Environment

The Fashion Industry:

• Accounts for approximately 10% of global carbon emissions.

• Is the second-largest consumer of the world's water supply.

• Pollutes the oceans with microplastics.

• Sends 85% of all textiles to landfills each year.

• Burns or throws away one garbage truck full of clothes per second.

• Releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean each year from consumers washing clothes (the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles).

• Takes ~700 gallons of water to produce a single cotton shirt (enough water for one person to drink at least eight cups per day for three-and-a-half years).

• Takes ~2,000 gallons of water to produce a pair of jeans (enough for one person to drink eight cups per day for 10 years).

• Uses enough water with the dyeing process alone to fill 2 million Olympic-sized swimming pools each year.

• Is responsible for 20% of all industrial water pollution worldwide.

The fashion industry desperately needs to change.

Our goal at 4 Our Planet is to bring about change by educating both students and adults about unsustainable vs. sustainable practices in various industries -- we are currently starting by investigating the fashion/apparel industry because of the alarming impact it has on our environment.