The clothing industry is responsible for about 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions and consumes more energy than aviation and shipping combined according to the United Nations Environment Program.

Fast fashion and some high street stores putting out as many as 24 different collections each year, has led to many regarding clothes as “nearly disposable” goods, and some forecasters have estimated that fashion emissions will grow by 63% by 2030. 

The production of clothing is also very water-intensive. The average water footprint for a pair of jeans and a shirt is 10,000-20,000 litres. India and Pakistan are major suppliers of cotton to the UK, but both countries suffer from very high levels of water scarcity. 

And the impacts just keep on coming… one washing machine load of polyester clothes can release 700,000 microplastic fibres into the environment. It is estimated that half a million tonnes of these microfibres end up in the sea each year with a massive impact on sea life habitats. The Waste and Resources Action Programme in the UK estimates that households send in the region of 300,000 tonnes of clothing to landfill every year.