CO2 emissions will increase by almost 50% by 2030 if “fast fashion” continues

The clothing industry emits 10% of pollutants globally, so it is important to promote the use of second-hand garments and encourage greater consumer participation, a representative of the sector warned this Saturday.

The production, transport, sale, consumption, use and disposal of clothing is responsible for at least 10% of global emissions of environmental pollutants and those percentages are increasing, it said in a statement. Ana Isabel Orvananos“country manager” of the firm gotrendieron the occasion of Earth Day.

the directive of gotrendiera second-hand fashion sale and purchase community in Mexico, indicated that one of the biggest causes of climate change is carbon dioxide (CO2) and stressed, in this sense, that the fashion industry in the country is one of the most polluting.

“We have heard about the record for the hottest day in Mexico, it is increasingly constant that contingency days are activated that seek to balance air quality and not to mention the reduction in the quality and quantity of water”, Orvañanos said.

In addition, CO2 emissions generate soil degradation and cause the destruction of the tropical forest due to the felling of thousands of trees to manufacture cellulose-based fabrics, which are low-price-quality clothing material.

According to conTreebute, a company specializing in sustainability, the average use of a new garment is just seven uses before taking it out of the closet.

This situation implies that if the so-called “fast fashion” continues, CO2 emissions will increase by almost 50% by 2030.

“The era of fast and excessive consumption has made us buy more than we need, a practice that is not sustainable, since what you decide to buy and what you have in your closet is related to the ecological disaster we are currently experiencing.“, he claimed.

Reverse the situation

Faced with this situation, Orvañanos mentioned that acquiring a used garment can avoid the 80% emission that a new one generates.

He explained that the business model of the “fast fashion” consists of offering buyers trendy products at very low prices, which causes the annual waste of millions of tons of clothing that end up burned or buried in landfills.

He maintains that, although thefast fashion” it is profitable for the textile industry, it is unsustainable and very dangerous for the environment.

In contrast, it has been proposedslow fashion”, a trend that implies thinking before buying and responds to the circular economy.

This model seeks to share, rent, reuse, repair, renew, resell and give a second life to the garments that someone else has already used.

“Consumers can generate a very relevant positive impact by using garments twice as long as we do now, with this, according to UN data, we would avoid 25% of the CO2 emissions that the fashion industry emits”, expressed Orvananos.

This year gotrendier generated an ECO challenge that seeks to increase the participation of second-hand fashion consumers.

But it also seeks, through points for publication, purchase and sale, to reach 3 million of them to raise funds and adopt 200 trees from the hands of ProNaturathe largest environmental conservation group in Mexico.

Source: EFE