Sustainable fashion: How to make ethical and eco-friendly fashion choices

Sustainable fashion is our only option. The future of our planet, maintaining adequate resources, and protecting human rights all depend on our toxic fashion industry evolving to a more sustainable and circular fashion industry. The fashion manufacturers, suppliers, brands and retailers must all do their part to address the changes required.

Fast, toxic fashion is the term for the high-turnaround, low-cost, trendy clothing and accessories created to maximize profit and meet demand. These garments are created without consideration for the environment, waste, and human labor. This has been the common practice for years without consumers blinking an eye; however, trends are shifting and consumers are demanding more ethical goods.

Fast fashion has grown into a beast of its own that enables consumers to see a garment worn on the red carpet, social media, or runway and purchase it on their phone virtually moments later. The fashion industry is a $2.4 trillion dollar industry that employs approximately 86 million people worldwide. Between the years 1975-2018 global textile production per capita increased from 5.9 kg to 13 kg per year. Additionally, global consumption has risen to 62 million tons of apparel per year and is expected to rise to 102 million by 2030. The average U.S. consumer now purchases one item of clothing every 5.5 days and wears the item 36% less over its lifecycle, generating 82 pounds of textile waste each year. This consumption demand has driven fashion retailers to producing almost twice the amount of clothing than they did in 2000.