The fashion industry produces 100 billion garments annually – for 7 billion people on Earth.   

We send approximately 40 million tons of textiles to landfills or to be incinerated every year. Textile waste is exported from the U.S. to other countries where landfills smolder and pollute the air.  

It takes nearly 3,000 liters of water to make one cotton t-shirt and 3,781 liters of water to make a pair of jeans.   

The fashion industry heavily pollutes water and local communities with toxic chemicals and dyes. 

Cotton is called the ‘dirtiest’ crop.  Cotton farming consumes more pesticides than any other crop and the heavy irrigation that it requires carries these pesticides into surrounding rivers and groundwater. This contaminates land, air, food, and drinking water. 

60% of all clothing is made of synthetic fibers such as polyester, which is an oil derivative containing high levels of microplastics. Washing synthetic clothing releases microplastics and contributes to 35% of all ocean microplastic pollution.   

Every year 150 million trees are cut down to make fabrics.

The apparel industry is a significant contributor to biodiversity loss. 

40 million people are living in modern slavery today and fashion is the 2nd biggest contributor to this, with child labor common. The cost of fast fashion’s cheap clothing is extracted from the workers.