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Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

businessinsider.com

171–180 of 294 posts

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#171

This article has a bit of an underhanded motive. It pretends that is all pro environment but it comes out as an attack on fast fashion. One can argue that fast fashion is bad for the environment. One can argue that it encourages people to throw away clothes, that fast fashion clothes are cheap and wear out very quickly, etc. But that does not have to be the case. The ideal of fast fashion is that it is about putting…

> they just feel worse on your body

I don't think this is true anymore. I am a huge fan of cotton, but for athletic activities there is nothing like a modern, wicking, synthetic shirt. The 32 Degrees brand really sold me on synthetics a few years ago. Yes, it is bad for the environment... I'm just saying that synthetics aren't like they were in the 80s.

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#172

Ecologically speaking maybe Steve Jobs/Star Trek respectively were onto something. A high quality minimal personal style that involves orders of magnitude less garment churn and waste with the added benefit of just not having to spend time on what to wear each day (insert pithy Jobs quote). But seriously if I was to explore finding a personal style that I could wear as my day to day work/life “uniform”, where to look…

Gustin has a similar idea, focusing on making clothing with less waste, high quality materials and wholesale prices by crowdfunding the designs. This also allows them to make short runs of clothing that would not sell well in retail environments. Most of the clothing they sell is long lasting and versatile as a result, but the catch is you need to "buy" the clothes a few months ahead of time. Taylor Stitch is similar in some ways.

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#173

Ecologically speaking maybe Steve Jobs/Star Trek respectively were onto something. A high quality minimal personal style that involves orders of magnitude less garment churn and waste with the added benefit of just not having to spend time on what to wear each day (insert pithy Jobs quote). But seriously if I was to explore finding a personal style that I could wear as my day to day work/life “uniform”, where to look…

I've pretty much exclusively switched to Merino t-shirts. Various good brans out there (Woolly Co, Smartwool, Icebreaker, etc) and most can be found in simple, versatile colors. Can wear them with almost anything, super comfortable, and the real kicker is that they can be worn a few times without needing a wash. Makes packing for travel easy, and saves time/effort/water with freq laundry. Also, as someone who runs pretty hot, it's awesome having a quick-drying and wicking fabric. They aren't quite as durable as cotton shirts, but make up for it with everything else imo

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#174

The article references this report from a year ago: https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/putting... (2018) “ The fashion industry produces 20 per cent of global wastewater and 10 per cent of global carbon emissions - more than all international flights and maritime shipping. Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water globally and it takes around 2,000 gallons of water to make a typical pai…

By comparison, a pound of beef is around 1,800 pounds. Average American eats like 200 pounds of meat per year. How many pairs of jeans do you think a person buys each year? I buy 1 pair of Levis and just wear them about once or twice a week (never washing them) and throw them out after 2 or 3 years. https://foodtank.com/news/2013/12/why-meat-eats-resources/ https://www.globalagriculture.org/whats-new/news/en/32921.ht…

Are you talking about cow farts? When cows eat grass, the carbon they emit was already in the system. It's just like any other organism staying alive. This is different than burning fossil fuels, the carbon of which until they are extracted hasn't been in the system for millions of years.

To the extent that the beef industry burns fossil fuels, that's something you could criticize, but it's hardly unique to the beef industry. Cattle would eat less intensively-cultivated corn and more grass if the corn farmers weren't subsidized so much. If no corn was cultivated at all, cattle would still be a pretty efficient way of sustainably extracting food from marginal grassland.

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#175

To me men (not all 100%, the majority) are stoic: few garments, the necessary. How many of you are the opposite to this? My GF is a machine of buying clothes. Her friends too. I don't see my friends buying that much each month. When I go to a shopping center the majority of stores are women oriented, the entire fashion industry is run for them to ludicrous levels.

I do not and never will understand fashion. I understand the whole speech in The Devil Wears Prada (that the things we all wear were once the trendsetters, just like the tech in luxury cars trickling down) but I just don't get it.

Even when someone buys me something I tend to just pick a favourite and stick to it. I have a few pairs of shoes but pretty much just wear one unless the occasion says I shouldn't.

And then there are the gamers with their "Fashion is the real endgame!" attitude which I've found in a few games. I seriously don't care if I look like this (http://i.imgur.com/SfYDtUO.jpg) when playing. Just gimme the stats I need.

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#176
LOL at dudes in the thread shopping at thrift stores and dumpster diving for clothing. I own 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of shoes, about a dozen t-shirts and some underwear, socks and a hoodie. My wife, on the other hand, has a bedroom-sized closet stuffed so full of clothing and shoes, if a clothing- or shoe-slide happens inside she won't be able to open the door. 95% of what's in there was worn only once or twice as far as I can tell, and she has long since lost track of what she does and does not have.

Which is a long-winded way of saying, dudes contribute nearly nothing to this particular part of global emissions, and all the dumpster diving will be for naught. You gotta convince the ladies they don't need more shoes and clothing, and this is very, very hard to do. I've been trying for 20 years now, and so far I haven't figure out how to argue this case effectively.

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#177
post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, the "fleece" jackets are made of plastic?? You're not talking about the outer layer of the down jackets?

Patagonia actually advertises that it's fleece is made from recycled water bottles.

>its

Yeah and people who buy Patagonia fleece expect it to be made from recycled water bottles

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#178
post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, the "fleece" jackets are made of plastic?? You're not talking about the outer layer of the down jackets?

Modern "fleece" is polyester, which is plastic-based: https://www.contrado.co.uk/blog/what-is-fleece/

That page even has a pair of bullet lists showing that the plastic imitation is inferior to the real thing!

I do make a lot of winter trips like the one in the photograph (long winter backpacking trips) and am an instructor and I only use wool for my socks and other undergarments, and jackets. Down for sleeping in. Synthetic underpants though!

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#179

Ecologically speaking maybe Steve Jobs/Star Trek respectively were onto something. A high quality minimal personal style that involves orders of magnitude less garment churn and waste with the added benefit of just not having to spend time on what to wear each day (insert pithy Jobs quote). But seriously if I was to explore finding a personal style that I could wear as my day to day work/life “uniform”, where to look…

[deleted]

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#180

I can't wait for the day when I can walk to my local dump and move into a mcmansion somebody threw out because the paint was the wrong color... And I am only half joking. Go into your local thrift store and try not to gasp as you walk past $300 pair of designer jeans after $400 dress, some of them still with tags on them as they've never been worn, and most all of them in seemingly brand-new condition. It's a consume…

FWIW I've heard storage units are not necessarily a super profitable business, instead they are a low overhead operation to cover the property tax on land in the outskirts that you're sitting on waiting for appreciation as the city grows. So they only have make up the cost of the cinderblocks to be worthwhile.
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