“Take from this world only to the measure of your needs, and forgo that which exceedeth them. Observe equity in all your judgments, and transgress not the bounds of justice, nor be of them that stray from its path.”
Bahá’u’lláh (Suriy-i-Muluk, Summons p. 193)
October 2020, Christine Muller
The fashion industry is extremely harmful to the environment—it is the second largest industrial polluter, only the oil industry is worse. The production of clothes consumes more energy than the aviation and shipping industry combined and contributes 10% of all carbon emissions.
According to a United Nations report, it is also extremely water intensive: “To make just one pair of denim jeans, 10,000 liters of water is required to just grow the one kilo of cotton needed for a pair of jeans. In comparison, one person would take 10 years to drink 10,000 liters of water.” In addition, the water pollution from the garment industry is extremely harmful.
Fashion used to change once a year, now it is changing several times a year. In the U.S. only 10% of donated clothes get resold and 13 trillion tons of clothes go to landfills. Clothes have almost become disposables for many people. Clothing has become cheaper at great cost not only to the environment, but also to the exploited workers in the industry.
Now, this problem has an easy solution—let’s treasure our old clothes and make them to be our personal fashion. When they finally wear out, we can replace them by buying good quality used clothing.
