The cotton industry and its effects on our planet- Writing Wednesday

Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post,

Recently, I watched a documentary called Fashion's Dirty Secrets with Stacey Dooley and I was shocked by what I had seen. We constantly talk about the effects of plastic on our environment but little do we know that cotton has a large impact on our planet too. If we are globally producing 100 billion new garments from new fibres every year, our planet will simply not be able to handle the impact-as Stacey Dooley quoted. So what is the damage? Here are a few examples.

BBC Three

Back in the 60s, the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan, covered 68,000 sq km. It was known as one of the biggest inland seas in the world with a full ecosystem and attracting loads of tourists. However, it has shrunk dramatically due to the cotton production. Stacey drove for 3 hours on what once was the seabed. This catastrophe is all down to the fact that we can use up to 15,000 litres of water to grow cotton to make one pair of jeans.

Another big issue lies in the international hub for clothes production in Indonesia. Due to the cheap garment industry, chemical waste is discarded into the nearby Citarum River by 400 factories during manufacturing. Dr Sunardi, a nearby toxicologist, tested the river water and found high traces of mercury, cadmium,lead and arsenic. Many families on the nearby river can't get access to clean water so they drink and bathe in the river water. Many have incurable skin conditions including children and small babies. 

In textiles produced in the EU, cotton is the most used fibre. Since it totals 43% of clothing sold,it might not sound like an extreme polluter in the way oil is. However, the manufacturing process includes using pesticides in cotton farming, toxic dyes that eventually get carelessly chucked into rivers as well as natural resources, like water, which causes huge shortages.

What I found was most shocking was that big brands such as ASOS, H&M and Primark, who probably produce clothes in those factories, simply just don't want to listen to what is happening. Stacey made numerous phone calls and emails to their managements but many just didn't answer or answered with a mediocre message. Stacey even attended an event where these big brands were trying to make their products more environmentally friendly and even there, they refused to answer her questions face to face.

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This may be a global catastrophe, but there are businesses and people willing to make a change and a positive impact. 


Head of the the global product innovation for the jeans brand Levi's,Paul Dillinger told Stacey that his team are working on taking old garments, chemically deconstructing them to make it look and feel like cotton but with zero water impact.

Niomi Smart, a well known influencer on YouTube, is hoping to change people's attitudes about buying into fast fashion. She quoted-"Rather than going directly to retailers, I’d talk to my audience," she said."As a consumer, let’s change our attitudes. The beauty of what I do is I can take my audience on a journey with me. It’s letting people know they can wear the same outfit more than once or swap clothes with friends. It's more: let's talk about this; what can we do to make more of an effort, and be more conscious about the environment?"

Niomi Smart

Since then, she has taken the time to declutter her wardrobe and keep only the clothes she wears often.

What am I going to do about this?
I have never really been a bad shopper in the first place. But I will be honest, there has been times when I did go out and I did buy a little more than I needed and that is what has to change. Maybe I could start shopping more in charity shops when I do want to splurge on some items. I am also going to try my hardest to buy clothes when I really need them. Recently, I bought some jeans from Tesco because I needed new jeans. As an influencer, I am going to try and educate more people about this subject. As Niomi Smart said, it's not necessarily about going to retailers but more so about educating our audience as consumers, to buy less clothes from the fast fashion industry.

What can we do better with the cotton/clothes industry? I quite liked the idea of changing the cotton from old garments into something that looks and feels like cotton but uses zero water. Let me know some of your opinions in the comments below. I ♡ hearing from you!

See you guys on Saturday for another dance post,

Bye

XOX, Juliette

Research/Video channel links:
Stacey Dooley investigation article
Niomi Smart
BBC Three

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