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Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

businessinsider.com

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

#51

Post by mfer »

esotericn wrote: post #18

We really need a better industry around re-use of essentially everything. Let's say I need some X. Last week I bought a base layer because it's getting cold here. I can order, or buy in a store, a brand new X trivially. I don't actually need a brand new X. A used X would do me just fine. But the difficulty in doing so is ridiculous in comparison. Cottage industry eBay stuff (that you have to order online) vs. an enti…

There is a massive reuse culture out there. It's just not been industrialized by a handful of companies or chased after by VCs. For clothes there are garage sales, second hand shops, and donations to those who are less fortunate (e.g., to the growing size of the group at or below the poverty line).

Part of the problem is the number of clothes that don't last long. They are expensive and wear out quickly.

Another part of it is culture. How many people can pull off wearing clothes from 10 or 20 years ago without being judged for doing so.

This is a larger problem than sharing and availability. It's cultural.

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

#52

Post by syphilis2 »

I'm glad to see growing awareness concerning plastic in clothing. The article mentions problems with cotton production as well.

With clothing I feel the same way I do about food, and the same way many people have felt for decades: I've been duped! It's not difficult, but it takes time money and effort to make good purchases, and that can be frustrating.

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

#53

Post by TeMPOraL »

rcMgD2BwE72F wrote: post #14

Flights are currently "used" by a tiny % of the global population, whereas clothing is a necessity for 100% of the population. What does that comparison says, exactly? Changing the habits of a few persons would have much impact on the environment as changing the habits of every person on Earth? Which change should we prioritize? Mmmh...

This comparison can be read as saying that if one was to search for changes at the industry level, either technological or legal, then clothing looks like a high-payoff place to do that.

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

#54

Post by JofArnold »

beat wrote: post #46

Generally, it's a good article, but it lands on a sore point for me with many environmentalist articles - treating "water use" as if water disappears when used. Generally, water doesn't cease to exist - it just gets temporarily stored.

Whilst that’s true, it’s not how it’s experienced. Take for instance Mexico City which has been using up its groundwater at a tremendous rate; sure, the water hasn’t been destroyed in the chemical or atomic sense, but the lack of it locally is very real.

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

#55

Post by itronitron »

esotericn wrote: post #18

We really need a better industry around re-use of essentially everything. Let's say I need some X. Last week I bought a base layer because it's getting cold here. I can order, or buy in a store, a brand new X trivially. I don't actually need a brand new X. A used X would do me just fine. But the difficulty in doing so is ridiculous in comparison. Cottage industry eBay stuff (that you have to order online) vs. an enti…

vinokilo.com if you are in Europe, they also have events in cities where they fill a space with sorted clothing and blast music way too loud (so bring earplugs)

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

#56

Post by arandr0x »

chimi wrote: post #13
amacalac wrote: post #5

That's interesting. I was thinking about this a lot over the past 2-3 weeks. The sheer amount of clothing lying in all the shops across the world. Talk a walk into any Macy's / Bloomingdales / Hudsons Bay and count the number of items of clothing. Then multiply that across that one store's chain of shops. Then realize there are multiple chains like that. Then realize there are multiple stores not in chains. Then real…

All the industries are competing to be the one by which you display your worth to society. The order as I see it is: House, Car, Clothes, Phone. Jewelry goes in there somewhere. Each of these products is trying to convince you of their value, excess value really, so you will spend your money on them, yet the expense of the product isn't worth much. You need a house to protect you from the weather and other people. Af…

They look beautiful. You know, like art. Is that also of no value?

That said, is art (or having a beautiful environment) worth, in this particular case, filling the oceans with junk and killing people, probably not.

But let's not pretend that fashion is a worthless status-seeking endeavor but playing video games is a window to a new world here.

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

#57

Post by pkaye »

helpPeople wrote: post #17
pkaye wrote: post #2

The quality of clothing has gone downhill over the years. Both the fabric and the stitching. They just fall apart faster.

I'm not sure I can agree. I'll give a few examples. "Free clothing" quality has gone up and become more fitted. Instead of 1 gender neutral size, clothes are by gender, and fabric softer. Stitching seems unchanged. I've had to purchase these for groups. High quality clothing has more accents. Quality of fabric is secondary to aesthetics.

So where is a good place to buy good quality T-shirts for men?

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

#58

Post by gherkinnn »

groby_b wrote: post #41
birdyrooster wrote: post #35

>85% of all textiles go to the dump each year So only 15% of textiles make it into someones home or office and doesn't get thrown out. Where is the waste? I assume it is 1) Unsold stock, 2) Unusable material during manufacturing, and 3) Consumers throwing clothing away in the first year of ownership. Could we reduce waste most significantly by moving to on-demand clothing manufacturing?

Yes and no :) "On-demand" clothing manufacturing is practiced today, in that fashions change rapidly, and in response, retailers produce what can only be described as "shitty quality, fast". (Exacerbated by Chinese clothing manufacturers + social media - they're extremely effective at churning out extremely glossy pictures for what's about the lowest possible bar of quality) That - "fast fashion" - is what gets disca…

Now, if only bespoke shorts and tshirts became a thing.

I’d happily pay a decent sum for a set of charcoal tshirts that fit me perfectly and last for a few years of daily use. Bonus points of I get to choose a fabric other than pure cotton.

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

#59

Post by praptak »

throwaway66920 wrote: post #29
esotericn wrote: post #18

We really need a better industry around re-use of essentially everything. Let's say I need some X. Last week I bought a base layer because it's getting cold here. I can order, or buy in a store, a brand new X trivially. I don't actually need a brand new X. A used X would do me just fine. But the difficulty in doing so is ridiculous in comparison. Cottage industry eBay stuff (that you have to order online) vs. an enti…

Well, for one, that would vastly reduce economic growth. But aside from that, there’s not many things that fit X in the scheme of things you purchase frequently. Packaging / containers of consumed items is a big one. Fashion might be but probably not. The example I hear a lot for some reason is power tools. Yeah it would be great to share power tools because you only need them once or twice... but you only buy them o…

> Well, for one, that would vastly reduce economic growth.

Yes, that's the point! I take the world without the economic growth where people are happy with what they have over one with economic growth and unsustainable level of CO2 emissions.

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

#60

Post by TeMPOraL »

arandr0x wrote: post #44
birdyrooster wrote: post #35

>85% of all textiles go to the dump each year So only 15% of textiles make it into someones home or office and doesn't get thrown out. Where is the waste? I assume it is 1) Unsold stock, 2) Unusable material during manufacturing, and 3) Consumers throwing clothing away in the first year of ownership. Could we reduce waste most significantly by moving to on-demand clothing manufacturing?

Not all textiles are made to be worn -- and plenty of those that are are children's clothes that are outgrown.

FWIW, these are at least shared by some people. More than half of the clothes my baby wears are used, sourced from Facebook groups for local exchange/givaways, and as she outgrows a particular size, we just box those clothes up (except for the few we want to keep for the possible second), and pass them forward to someone else in need.
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