There is a lot of information as to why cotton is bad for the environment and how much water and chemicals are used to create them. A pair of jeans and a basic t-shirt are two staple pieces in every consumers wardrobe therefore, I thought I would shine some light onto the harmful process and what goes into it.
Resource consumption
We all have a range of t-shirts and a few pairs of jeans in our wardrobe, but do we really know the impact they have had on both the environment and the people who have made them for us.
The world we live in has a variety of denim jeans ranging from £10 to £500 - there is such a diverse market for jeans, that both fast fashion and designer brands create pairs of denim jeans as a staple piece for consumer collections. From the cotton seed to the final denim garment, the process of a pair of jeans is truly shocking and eye-opening.
Source: Sewport
Water
It is estimated that a total 2700 litres of water are need to produce just ONE cotton t-shirt. 2700!! The production of one t-shirt is enough water for one individual to drink 3 litres of water for 2.5 years - 1% of our plant is made up of freshwater sources, and of that 70% is used for agricultural use. If you go and take a look at one of my recent blog posts, you can see the Aral Sea impact, which is a result of extreme water use for agricultural purposes.
GoodOnYou have looked into the harmful resources that denim jeans have on the environment and they have found that a staggering 3781 litres of water are needed to make 1 pair of Levi's jeans, with 5196 litres of water being used in the full life cycle of a pair of jeans (including washing). Some brands' jeans use more than this, depending on where the material is sourced, the country it comes from and the manufacturing process etc.
Over 10% of the world's population (approximately 750 million people) is deprived of water, with many countries that are used to produce the cotton being under high water stress. 85% of the daily water needs of India would be covered by the water needed to grow cotton in the country; 100 million people do not have access to drinking water in India.
T-shirt impacts (Source: AroundEco)
Pesticides
Cotton production is responsible for 16% of all insecticides and 6.8% of all herbicides used worldwide - pesticides that are used in cotton farming are toxic and create a hazardous working environment for cotton farmers. Between 1 and 3% of agricultural workers worldwide suffer from acute pesticide poisoning with at least 1 million requiring hospitalisation each year. Pesticides also act as a polluter to local soil and water systems, putting local communities at health risks, due to consumption of said sources (Source - GoodOnYou).
Dyes
Dyes used in t-shirts and jeans manufacturing tend to not be natural and create carcinogenic chemicals in the process. This creates a harmful environment for the workers involved and can again harm communities who consume contaminated sources.
Dyeing a pair of jeans adds approximately 0.004 kilograms of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere per wear and a t-shirt can contribute approximately 0.01 kilogram of carbon dioxide per wear.
Jeans impact (Source: Pinterest)
Labour
Forced labour, child labour and exploitation in developing countries is a recurring theme in many of the countries where cotton is produced, including the manufacture of jeans and t-shirts. Many fo the workers who are involved in the process are put at risk due to the chemicals that they are exposed to. Many of the workers also tend to be women, who work long hours at low wages - many of which are not even paid overtime. On top of that, few women make managerial roles, with many enduring poor treatment in both farming and factory roles.
Concluding thoughts
The impact of a t-shirt and jeans on both the environment and producers of the garments is so shocking that some people may not believe it. This does not even include the washing and disposable of a garment - the full life cycle of a garment is so detrimental, that if we don't act to combat fast fashion then we will continue to pollute the environment further and harm the people who make our garments.
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