Did you know about 15 million tons of textile waste ends up in landfills each year?

FIFTEEN MILLION TONS, to put this in perspective one ton is 2,000 lbs or a small car. Most of the reasoning behind this is because of a thing called fast fashion where retailers sell trendy “must have” clothes at extremely low prices. In current day society I feel like most people believe fashion as disposable. Seriously, if I only paid $4 for it I might not think twice about throwing it away.With quantity over quality some retailers can charge next to nothing for items that are mass produced. We are talking massive amounts of textile waste.. 15 million tons a year?? My mind is so blown. A lot of retailers also are trying to sell these clothes by creating more seasons, instead of 4 a year I feel like there’s 12 or 14.. Am I right or am I right? There are some times where I find myself not being able to keep up with the latests fashion trends or the worlds’s newest threads. 

In landfills these cheap, trendy items produce methane gas when they decompose.

Currently, the average American discards about 80 pounds of clothing each year, 85 percent of which ends up in landfills

In addition most fast fashion comes from China or Bangladesh  so shipping to the U.S requires the use of fossil fuels. 

Put do we want to get into the production of this?

As far as the cotton goes, there is a huge risk of contamination. Almost half of our clothing is made of cotton which means it is usually genetically modified cotton sprayed with yucky pesticides even some that are known carcinogens (cancer causing) This can damage some of the crops that are non-GMO, cause water contamination, reduce bio-diversity and have negative impacts on human health. Not to mention everything overseas have a big impact on the environment even as simple as it shipping across the ocean. 

Also, another not so fun fact, is that fast fashion is an industry still largely propped up by child labor. 

Toxic to the environment and detrimental to human rights- who needs it? To help with this massive effect of the environment try alternatives such as re-purposing old clothing, choosing locally handmade garments, buying vintage or participating in clothing swaps with family and friends. 

Is there anything that you do to save the planet? Let me know in the comments!