Fast Fashion Facts
Fast Fashion
We consume 400% more clothes than just a decade ago
We create 11 Million tons of textile waste a year in the U.S. alone
Cotton
Cotton represents 50% of the fibers we use, 90% of which is genetically modified
Cotton uses 25% of the worlds insecticides
Leather
Leather workers have a 20-50% higher chance of getting cancer
Chromium 6, a carcinogen used to tan leather is known to cause lung cancer, liver failure, kidney failure, and dementia
Most leather tanneries have been moved overseas because of the undesirable health risks
Ethics
One in Six people on the planet work in the garment industry
Living Wage is defined as a worker's ability to support themselves and either one adult or two children
Most developing countries pay garment workers less than the legal minimum wage
85% of textile workers are women
Many textile factories employ workers for yearly contracts that include room and board in their payment, just like 17th century indentured servitude
Pollutants
The textile industry is the second largest polluting industry in the world, second to the oil industry
Textile industry is the 2nd largest polluter of clean water in the world, second to agriculture
1850 gallons of water are used to make a pair of jeans