The clothing industry has a large environmental impact due to fast fashion trends. It is the second largest polluter globally, with cotton production requiring large amounts of water and chemicals. Dyes used in clothing are often dumped untreated into rivers, polluting water sources. Most clothing is produced in developing countries and shipped worldwide, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. However, some companies are working to reduce these impacts through using more sustainable materials like organic cotton and reducing water and chemical usage in dyeing processes.

1. Climate Change and
Fast Fashion
Leah Snider

3. Article Overview
● “Fast Fashion is the second dirtiest industry in the world, next to big oil”
● The clothing industry is the second largest polluter in the world
● Cotton clothing takes over 5,000 pounds of water to produce
● Dyes for clothes are being dumped into rivers
● 90% of clothing is being shipped in cargo to other countries

4. Climate Change
Climate change: an issue that can no longer be denied. Upward shifts in overall
global temperature, rising sea levels, extreme weather events
Global warming can be linked to activities of individuals and organizations
Sea levels rising, glaciers shrinking, permafrost melting
Changes in plant and animal life

5. Climate Change and Fast Fashion-
CottonCotton makes up 40% of our clothing
It is the most chemically dependant crops in the world
Can take over 5,000 pounds of water to produce a shirt and jeans
Organic cotton is a more sustainable choice but is more expensive to grow and
need more water to produce
Growing cotton in Uzbekistan has dried up the sea and led to major health
concerns in

6. Cotton can take over
5,000 pounds of water
to produce a shirt and
jeans

7. Climate Change and Fast Fashion-Dyes
Chemical dyes are put on clothing to give it color
The dyes are being polluted in the Citarum River in Indonesia
The river is “nothing more than an open sewer containing with lead, mercury,
arsenic and a host of other toxins” (Sweeny)
Half a trillion gallons of fresh water are being used each year to dye the textiles

8. 60%
Of clothing is produced in developing countries

9. Climate Change and Fast Fashion-
Shipping
60% of clothing is produced in developing countries
32% from Asia
13% from China
Clothing is put in shipping containers, rails, trucks and sent around the world
There is no way to gauge how much fuel is used to ship clothing
These pollutants are damaging the air and contributing to the greenhouse effect

10. One single ship can
produce as much asthma
and cancer pollutants as
50 million cars in a year

11. Hope for Fashion
Clothing designer Eileen Fisher is using 84% organic cotton, 68% organic linen
and reducing water and carbon emissions
Nike is another company working on reducing their impact on the earth
Nike ColorDry
Eliminate use of water and processed chemicals
H&M is working on being more sustainable
“Looking good should do good too” (H&M Conscious)
“Make a better future for fashion” (H&M Concious)

12. Questions
1. What do you think will happen to the retail industry as technology increases?
Do you think that increased technology will have changes on the way operates
or thinks about the environment?
2. Water from dyed clothing is being dumped into rivers and its polluting the
earth. What is a more efficient way of disposing this water or reusing it?
3. 60% of our clothing is being made in developing countries. Even though the
labor cost are cheap and make the clothes very affordable, do you think that
labor should be move to the United States?

13. Work Cited
Sweeny, G. (2015). Fast Fashion Is the Second Dirtiest Industry in the World, Next to Big Oil. Retrieved January 18, 2016,
from http://ecowatch.com/2015/08/17/fast-fashion-second-dirtiest-industry/
Persson, K. (2014). H&M Conscious. Retrieved January 19, 2016, from http://about.hm.com/en/About/sustainability/hm-
conscious/conscious.html
Sustainable Business Report. (2014). Retrieved January 19, 2016, from http://www.nikeresponsibility.com/innovations/nike-
colordry