Although people working in the industry and consumers have never thought about it, the apparel and fashion industry is one of the most earth-polluting industries. Only recently, attention has shifted to an effort to shift consumers’ attention from overconsumption to sustainable purchases. Despite the fact, the sector is criticized for vanity and particular attention to financial results, there is now taking place a conscious effort from the industry to move on adopting green practices.

1. How the apparel industry pollutes the environment
Making clothing garments is a rather complex procedure and begins with the sourcing of raw materials destined to become textiles. There are two major categories of yarns produced for textiles:

• Natural fibers such as cotton and wool.
• Synthetic fibers such as nylon and polyester

Natural fabrics

Natural fabrics or fabrics that derive from natural fibers are correctly considered as more green or sustainable. However, their production demands the cultivation of fields and animal flocks. Cotton cultivation is perhaps the most important of all-natural fibers and similar practices include flex which produces linen yarns and hemp. Wool on the other hand is the most popular yarn for making high-end clothing and entire regions such as New Zealand and Kashmir in India have based their economy on wool production deriving from sheep races such as merinos and Kashmir goats.

Environmental footprint: Natural fabrics are generally sustainable but when issues such as overexploitation of the fields, and unrestricted use of pesticides and fertilizers are addressed the environmental impact of natural fibers becomes more negative. Adding the dyeing methods used, the procedure produces chemical wastes that pollute phreatic zones and natural resources such as rivers and fields. Organic wool and organic cotton are 100% sustainable solutions and fabrics produced from organic fibers are usually certified GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) and most often follow a manufacturing procedure of restricted use of water that may equal up to 80% of reduction.

Synthetic fabrics

Synthetic fibers are usually derived from petrochemical procedures as secondary products but may include plant derives and minerals. These include viscose, nylon and polyester - the latter is widely used in the clothing industry as the primary yarn - and have the ability to imitate natural yarns at a much lower cost.

Environmental footprint: Synthetic fabrics made from synthetic yarns are not environmentally friendly and generally are considered non-sustainable. The reason is that their production is required fossil fuel extraction, making the clothing industry the second most polluting industry after oil extraction. Obviously, here the list is long considering that chemical-derived textiles are unfriendly to the skin while machine washing releases toxic wastes and microfibers that pollute water gateways. Furthermore, the production of synthetic materials accounts for an important share of methane emissions and the release of toxins on earth. The latter takes place with the deposit in fields of a large number of unsold garments each year.

Semi-synthetic & Cellulose

As one may think, these fibers are the result of blending natural yarns with synthetic ones ( Poly cotton/ Poly wool) or are subject to plant extraction such as eucalyptus (Lyocell/Tencel). This is a common practice lately in an effort to maintain luxury traits of the fabrics providing performance characteristics required by many changing lifestyles and providing sustainable alternatives to fashion. Textiles such as poly-cotton, and poly wool are a blend of natural fibers such as cotton and wool with polyester.

Environmental footprint: These fabrics are generally considered green. The part of synthetic percentage usually comes from recycled materials such as plastic bottles the cased of recycled polyester and fishing nets the case recycled nylon, while cellulose fabrics that derive from renewable parts of plants and are usually manufactured under sustainable principles (water, dyeing methods, etc)

Sustainability and consumption

A phenomenon that made its appearance in the ‘90s and has culminated in the last ten years, the so-called fast fashion has certainly had an impact on textile waste excess. Over the last three decades, clothes have become a commodity and suddenly a number of product types became available to consumers at ridiculously low prices and infinite versions.

Globalization has contributed to its growth through a number of reduced duty tariffs and ever more easy outsourcing of manufacturing activities. Suddenly generations of young people have been addicted to everyday purchases of clothing garments that were used once or never actually only to be thrown away later. Add to the equation the factor of the earth’s exceeding population and you suddenly have an exploding equation. Only a few years before it was difficult to explain to consumers why some clothing garments cost more, and understand their quality traits and sustainability standards applied during their manufacture.

Only recently, an expressed interest in a green future has awakened, initially a few people in the industry, and then consumers in order to search for new viable ways to support fashion and the apparel industry. It became clear that clothing production should not be linked anymore to exploited labor conditions and toxic waste pollution. Young people are being engaged with ever more interest in green fashion and looking for brands with ethical business approaches to support. That has pushed big players in the fast fashion industry such as Inditex and H&M to review their supply chains and adapt to this new era.

Hopefully, this will not prove to be another marketing plan and sustainability should not be addressed as another trend, but as a true interest in sustainable green practices for the apparel industry. Consumers will decide if this tendency will become viable as for their willingness to pay inevitably higher prices for their products. Buying less and better is essential.

A paradigm of lifestyle for the future

What now becomes more critical than ever is a change of lifestyle for societies. It’s urgent for people and businesses to return to embracing quality and adopt sustainable practices in order to support communities and human welfare. Working in the apparel industry should guarantee everyone human living conditions and dignity. Wearing a clothing garment should not be a hazard to one’s health or a factor of pollution.

Welfare created in societies returns back as a form of investment. Buying less and better is the key towards a sustainable future for our lives.