Earth Day (April 22) is everyday at Goodwill Keystone Area! According to the Ohio Valley Goodwill Industries, here are 5 surprising facts about fashion and the environment:
Fact #1: Our landfills are full of textile waste
According to the most recent EPA statistics, Americans created more than 16 million tons of textile waste in 2017. Of this total, 11 million tons ended up in landfills instead of being recycled or reused. While food trash takes only a few hours or days to decompose, clothing can sit in landfills for years. Synthetic fabrics like polyester, lycra, and nylon can take 30 to 40 years to break down fully. That’s a great reason to donate used clothing and purchase gently-owned items instead of buying brand-new from a traditional retailer!
Fact #2: It can take more than 700 gallons of water to make a single t-shirt
It takes a lot of water to grow, manufacture, transport, and wash cotton, which is one of the most popular fabrics used in today’s clothing. It’s estimated that producing one pound of cotton takes 1,320 gallons of water. That equals over 700 gallons for just one t-shirt! Extending the lifecycle of clothing, especially cotton clothing, can reduce your total water footprint and help protect the environment.
Fact #3: The average lifetime of a clothing item is about 3 years
Fast fashion is a term used to describe new styles of clothing that are manufactured quickly and sold at very low prices. While fast fashion makes clothing affordable for consumers, it comes at a big cost to the environment. Trendy and cheaply-made clothing has a short lifespan in people’s closets, often leading to more clothes ending up in landfills.
Fact #4: Clothing and textiles are almost 100% recyclable
Clothing and other textiles can be recycled and used for a variety of other purposes, from carpet to home insulation to “new” fabric made from the clothing’s fibers. It doesn’t matter if the clothing has rips or tears — it can almost always be converted into something else. Because textiles do not degrade easily, they should not be disposed of in the garbage. Donate your used clothing to Goodwill instead!
Fact #5: It’s easy to shop more sustainably
The harmful cycle of clothing waste can be broken. We can all work to reduce textile waste and lower the impact the fashion industry has on our planet by shopping sustainably and recycling clothing responsibly.
Shopping at your local Goodwill Keystone Area, not only helps the environment, but according to their mission “For 75 years, Goodwill Keystone Area has built a strong legacy of helping people with barriers to employment build skills, find jobs and grow their careers.” Help, the earth, help your neighbors – shop at Goodwill!
About The Blogger
Kirsten is a 40-something mom, wife and marketing professional. She loves all things crafty, tasty and fashionable, especially while being frugal. She enjoys hunting for treasures at her local Goodwill Keystone Area stores to decorate her home and wardrobe.