Fashion, Water Shortages and Pollution

Water is such a vital resource for human life and so many other living things. In the UK, we take water for granted, unless occasionally we have a major summer drought or floods where fresh water supplies are contaminated. In many areas of the world, clean water is not so easy to find. Water shortages and pollution caused by the fashion industry are a significant environmental issue.

The growth of cotton uses a great deal of water. For example in production a cotton T shirt uses 60kg of water and produces 45kg of waste water per kg of the final product. The Environmental Justice Foundation have prepared a report on an example of the effect of cotton irrigation on water. The Aral Sea  has now shrunk to 15% of its former volume partly due to the irrigation of cotton in Uzbekistan. The decrease in water has been accompanied by an increase in salinity and eradication of all native species of fish. The water crisis in Uzbekistan has far reaching environmental impacts with the eradication and fragmentation of Tugai forests and loss of the species that live in this habitat.

So what are the solutions? There is never an easy answer, but the following may help in some ways:

• Greater use of sustainable fibres like bamboo that do not need as much water/ irrigation to grow.
• Development of fabrics that do not need to be washed as often, decreasing the water and energy used in the lifecycle of each garment.

pictures - left Aral Sea in 1989, right Aral Sea 2003, from www.ejfoundation.org