5 Facts About Sustainable Clothing

Sustainable clothing has been finding more headway in the larger fashion market for years. As the peril of our environmental future and wage disparities in the global market become more stark, sustainability is entering the mainstream. Brands like Mon Coeur are even making sustainable clothes focused on the needs of toddlers and other young children. It’s an exciting time to live in, and initiative like this will hopefully ensure that the next generation is the most conscientious yet. But there are still some major misconceptions about the sustainable clothing industry. These five fast facts about sustainable clothing may force you to reconsider your understanding of the whole market.

1. Almost All Fabrics Can Be Recycled

While not all fabrics technically fall under the umbrella of “sustainability”, that doesn’t mean that you can’t change your habits regarding the clothing and other textiles you’re already using. Don’t underestimate the role that clothing donations can play in creating a healthier and more sustainable world. After all, these types of donations fulfill two of the main criteria for sustainability: extending the life of specific articles of clothing while also providing redress to deal with economic inequalities in less affluent communities.

2. The Fashion Industry Has a Huge Waste Problem

While sustainability is gaining ground in many fashion circles, it’s still just a drop in the larger bucket. A big part of that problem comes down to our personal practices. When compared to 15 years ago, people wear their clothing around a third less before disposing of them. And a majority of the clothing that’s discarded doesn’t find a use anywhere else. Estimates claim that 60% of clothing will eventually end up in an incinerator, and less than 1% of clothing is ultimately recycled to make new clothing or textile materials.

3. Water is One of the Most Wasted Resources

We often don’t think a lot about water scarcity in the civilized world, but that’s part of the problem. Sustainability only works if we consider the impact our decisions are having on a local, national, and global level. And the fashion industry is a tremendous hog when it comes to using the world’s most prevalent and precious resource. A single t-shirt can require up to a hundred gallons of water to produce. While we can’t have a direct impact on the resources that go into our clothes, we can shop smarter and make more sincere choices about how and what we wear.

4. Clothing is Clogging Up Our Landfills

This one is especially alarming considering those numbers listed above about clothing incineration. Despite only a fraction of textiles making it to the landfill, they’re starting to clog up our garbage dumps in a serious way. In 2017 alone, Americans produced a staggering 16 million tons of textile waste. More than two-thirds of this waste ended up in landfills. Considering that synthetic materials can take decades to break down, your children could be dealing with the impact of our waste well into middle age and beyond.

5. Intergenerational Education is Necessary

It’s predicted that the fashion industry will be producing 150 million tons of waste by 2030. And despite the fact that over half of consumers say they want to shop more sustainably, many businesses still believe that people aren’t willing to pay the premium for clothes that do things the right way. That means that the problem isn’t going to change overnight. Speaking with our kids about shopping ethically is one of the most important decisions we can make according to Mon Coeur. Introducing these principles to them at an early age will be critical to ensuring that this problem gets solved before it becomes intractable.