Everyone, everywhere has the right to safe water. Goal 14 of the UN Sustainable Development goals: Life Below Water.
In a world where:
1 in 9 people don’t have access to water,
1 in 3 people don’t have access to a toilet,
women spend on average 6 hours to collect water everyday,
360 000 children under 5 die every year due to poor sanitation,
only 69% of schools worldwide have clean water...
It feels maddening that the fashion industry is doing irreversible damage to our global water supply at every stage of the garment life cycle. From polluting waterways when we dye textiles, to consuming vast amounts each time we wash our clothes...
we need to talk about the fashion industry’s impact on water. You’ve probably heard that fashion has a waste water issue: 20% of industrial water pollution comes from textile dyeing and treatment, including cotton processing. - Through harsh chemical manufacturing processes and the irresponsible disposal of toxic chemical waste, one of our favourite iconic products, blue jeans, is destroying rivers globally.
If you want to dive into the solutions, the @cottondiaries is an informative place to start. Their first episode, on innovating the wastewater out of cotton production, is out now.
Image: Fashion Revolution
