Did you know that the fashion industry emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined?

This is according to Business Insider. 

They report that as consumers worldwide buy more clothes, the growing market for cheap items and new styles is taking a toll on the environment. According to Business Insider, on average, people bought 60% more garments in 2014 than they did in 2000.

Fashion production makes up 10% of humanity’s carbon emissions, dries up water sources and pollutes rivers and streams. 

Fast fashion is one of the biggest contributors to the fashion industries detrimental impact on the earth. 

Fast fashion is a modern day term used by fashion retailers for designs that flow from the catwalk quickly to capture current fashion trends. These collections are based on the most recent fashion trends presented at Fashion Week in both the spring and fall each year. 

Some fast fashion places that you might shop at include H&M or Zara. Zara puts out 24 collections per year while H&M offers between 12 and 16 a year. 

And most of this clothing ends up in the dump. Here’s a shocking statistic: the equivalent of one garbage truck full of clothes is burned or dumped in a landfill every second. 

But the landfills aren’t the only things being impacted by the overwhelming volume of clothing in our society. The oceans are greatly impacted by the clothing industry as well.

Washing clothes releases about 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean each year. That is equal to 50 billion plastic bottles. These microplastics have been estimated to make up about 31% of plastic pollution in the ocean. 

This isn’t a good look for the fashion industry and it only gets worse. 

This is what really got me…honestly my jaw dropped when I read this: if the fashion industry continues what they are doing, they could be responsible for 26% of the world’s carbon budget. 

They are also the second largest consumer of water in the entire world. According to Business Insider, it takes about 700 gallons of water enough for one person to drink at least eight cups per day for three and a half years) to produce one cotton shirt. 

So next time you think about heading to H&M, ask yourself if that shirt is worth three and a half years of water supply.