The Dirty Industry Of Fast Fashion Is Causing An Environmental “Emergency”

The $2.5 trillion fashion industry is the second-largest user (pdf) of water globally, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), noting that producing one cotton shirt requires 2,700 liters of water—”the amount a person drinks in 2.5 years.” The agency also estimates that one in six people worldwide works in a job related to fashion, an industry whose supply chain has a reputation for unsafe conditions, child labor, and other exploitative practices, especially for girls and women. Fashion is not usually at the top of the agenda for UNECE. Its aim is to promote economic integration and cooperation among its member countries, which include European nations, the US, Canada, Israel, and several countries in Central Asia. But the agency does have a stake in advancing the UN’s list of sustainable development goals, such as reducing poverty, providing people everywhere with clean water and sanitation, promoting gender equality, and offering decent work to all. And that’s why fashion is an industry it can’t ignore. Read more at Quartz.