With the world facing so many conservation issues, we at the Conservation Society can find ourselves running in many directions trying to keep up with it all. Our core mission is to reduce water consumption and waste production in Williams Lake and the surrounding areas through education. However, since water and waste are integral to nearly every human activity, that doesn’t really narrow things down much.
At our recent staff meeting, we decided to prioritize textiles in 2025 – an industry that uses vast amounts of water and generates significant waste. Fortunately, there are pretty simple behaviour changes we can each make to reduce our textile footprint.
I often get teased in our office for liking my facts, but I feel that to get to solutions, you need to understand the problem, so here are a select few to chew over:
* The textile industry is responsible for eight to 10 per cent of global carbon emissions. That’s more than the combined percentage for both the aviation and shipping industries.
* Textile production is estimated to be responsible for about 20 per cent of global clean water pollution from dyeing and finishing products. It was the third largest cause of land and water degradation in 2020. To make a single cotton T-shirt requires 2,700 litres of water.
* It is thought that between 10-40 per cent of the 80 to 150 billion garments made every year are not sold and end up as waste.
* It is estimated that less than one per cent of clothes are recycled and eight per cent are reused. The rest end up in dumped or burned, usually in the third world with the resultant pollution issues.
* Sixty per cent of new clothing materials are plastic.
I can hear the weary sighs out there and the internal comments along the lines of ‘reading your articles are just so depressing Jenny - can’t I enjoy anything without guilt anymore?' which I totally get and go through too. However, changing your buying habits is actually one of the easier and more fun ways to help the planet.
Here are some easy tips:
* Buy less clothing! We buy 60 per cent more clothing than we did in the year 2000. Do you really need another T-shirt? Repair old clothes when possible.
* Buy used! This way you get that dopamine hit of something new to wear without the textile footprint to go with it. My latest thrift scores include a $5.00 down vest and a now favourite pink wool sweater, the perfect weight for spring weather.
* Host a clothing swap! Enjoy the fun of new-to-you clothes combined with spending 0 dollars, and an evening with friends. (The Conservation Society will be supporting a couple this spring.)
* When you buy new, buy local! Avoid ‘fast fashion’ and choose high quality and long- lasting items, ideally made with sustainable or eco-friendly materials. The average piece of clothing is only worn seven time before being discarded, so it is worth paying a bit more initially, to have something that will last for years.
I want to explore this topic more in a couple of future articles; we’ll look at how textiles tie into our microplastics issue and how we offload our textiles waste problems to the developing world.
Until then, Happy Thrifting!
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20201208STO93327/the-impact-of-textile-production-and-waste-on-the-environment-infographics
(https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2024/jan/18/its-the-industrys-dirty-secret-why-fashions-oversupply-problem-is-an-environmental-disaster?CMP=share_btn_url)
(https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/environmental-science/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2022.973102/full
For more information on Water Wise or Waste Wise and any of our school and community programs, contact the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society at coordinator@conservationsociety.ca or visit the website at www.conservationsociety.ca.
Jenny Howell is the water wise instructor and executive director of the Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society.
