The fashion industry is becoming harmful to the environment. As the industry’s carbon footprint continues to grow, natural resources we rely on such as water and air are being impacted. If such disastrous practices continue, the fashion industry —the second-largest industrial polluter globally —will ruin the planet and its inhabitants. To stop this, the industry should adopt environmentally safe practices.

If current trends continue, the fashion industry’s environmental impact will double by 2030, potentially costing the industry up to $100 billion per year in lost value creation, according to “The Pulse of the Fashion Industry’s” 2017 report.

Social trends continue to change rapidly, so companies have started ‘fast-fashion’ which is a process to produce more clothes quicker and cheaper.

While fast fashion continues to grow, people are buying more clothes and getting rid of clothes quicker than ever. Clothing companies are increasing sales, but so is landfill waste from discarded clothing.

Thus, we should not focus on buying cheap but on buying right. If we buy from the right companies, we can support a healthier environment.

The Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act, passed in 2023, is one way to prevent further damage in the industry. This act was created to legally bind the industry with specific environmental and labor safety practices.

Gucci is also creating a sustainable policy that reports their environmental impact helping them to decrease their pollution levels. Companies should be conscious of their part in this growing epidemic and make severe changes before it’s too late.

The benefits of the industry being more sustainable would include countries reducing dye in their water supplies, stopping landfills from housing thousands of tons of clothes, and overall air quality would improve.

The fashion industry is responsible for high carbon emissions produced that will weaken the earth’s ozone layer over the next 15 years if not reduced severely. If this happens, our protection from the sun will weaken, warming the earth significantly.

Many states in the U.S. are experiencing severe droughts from the weather and lack of water. While the agriculture industry is the number one consumer of our water, fashion is the second consumer of the world’s water and the second-largest producer of water waste.

This is concerning as more states continue to suffer from little water access due to climate change and water pollution. 

This planet is all we have; we must try to reverse the heavy damage humans have caused because if we don’t it will be too late. We have to protect our homes and put our health and environment over corporate greed.

If the fashion industry does not adopt sustainable practices soon, things will continue to get worse. To make this change, we should do our part to help our planet by buying fewer clothes, purchasing second-hand and researching companies and their environmental impacts.

If we work together, we can change the statistics about where our planet is going and make it a better place for us and future generations to live.