In 2016, the United States generated over 15 million tons of textile waste while only 2.62 million tons of that was recycled which is a shockingly small number considering almost 100% of clothing and textile materials can be recycled.
This new phase of “fast fashion” is having detrimental impacts on our environment: a single person throws away 80 pounds of textiles a year. A few examples of the impact of this tend include
- Material waste is not biodegradable like organic matter is. This means it takes up space in landfills and causes pollution when not disposed of properly.
- Microfibers end up in our waterways (as many as 1.4 trillion).
- An increased demand for the already scarce amount of freshwater as “One T-Shirt consumes 700 gallons of water”.
- The number of unethical, and at times deadly, business practices (such as sweatshop labor in China, Vietnam and India) are increasing.
- Clothing is now produced cheaply and not made to last because it’s just going to be thrown away.
