Have you ever counted how many pieces of clothing you have at home? 30? 50? The actual number may be far beyond your imagination! According to a survey done by Greenpeace in 2016, each person in Hong Kong owns about 94 pieces of clothing (Note 1)! When we bought these 94 pieces of clothing, the resources we consumed is it only these 94 pieces of light cotton wool?
There are only less than 1% fresh water on Earth is available for our consumption (Note 2). However, the production of clothes requires a lot of water such as irrigation for cotton cultivation and washing and dyeing in garment processing. Take the production of one cotton t-shirt as an example, it consumes about 2,700 liters of water which is enough for a person to drink for 3.5 years (Note 3)! For the production of a pair of jeans, it even requires about 10,000 liters of water resources which is an astonishing number (Note 4)! In addition, a large amount of sewage is discharged through garment processing. Not only reducing the supply of clean water resources due to the pollution, but also cause irreversible disaster to the ecological environment.
Other than affecting the water resources, garment processing intensifies the problem of global warming. According to the latest information from the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat, fashion industry accounts for 10% of the world's total carbon emissions (Note 5)! What are the reasons contributing such high carbon emissions? Two of the reasons are listed below:
- The production of clothes requires abundant land for cotton planting. For example, the amount of cotton to produce one pair of jeans requires about 10 square meters of land to be planted (Note 3). When a large amount of land is needed to produce cotton, in other words, it is necessary to carry out deforestation to meet the land demand. Reducing the number of trees decreases the absorption and increases the emission of carbon dioxide respectively.
- A commonly used fiber in clothing is called polyester fiber. The production of this fiber requires about 70 million barrels of oil per year which is enough to make a Boeing 747 fly for 10 hours for more than 80,000 times (Note 3)! The process of extracting oil and producing this fiber emits a large amount of greenhouse gases that intensifies global warming.
If the production of one piece of clothing consumes a lot of resources, how much damage does the 94 pieces of clothing in our home do to the environment? Think about how many of these 94 pieces of clothing are not necessary, or even have not been worn for a long time? By understanding the numbers behind clothes, perhaps we can reminded ourselves to consider the practicality before buying new clothes in the future so as to reduce the waste and pollution.
References:
Note 1: Lam, L.Y. (2016, June 23). Each Hong Kong Adult "Hoards" 15 Pieces of Clothing which is Estimated to Waste 3.9 Billion. HK01. Retrieved from https://www.hk01.com/社會新聞/27550/港成年人平均-雪藏-15件衣服-推算大嘥39億元
Note 2: Water Supplies Department (2022). Water Resources on Earth. Introduction. Water Resources in Hong Kong. Water Supplies Department. Retrieved from https://www.waterconservation.hk/tc/at-school/secondary-school/water-resources-in-hk/introduction/index.html
Note 3: Redress (2022). Module 2: Fashion’s Dirty Secrets. ECF Circular Fashion Education Toolkit - Online Learning Resources for Students and Teachers. Retrieved from https://www.redress.com.hk/ecf/module2
Note 4: Water Supplies Department (2021). Virtual Water. Why “Save Water”?. Water Supplies Department. Retrieved from https://www.waterconservation.gov.hk/tc/why-save-water/virtual-water/index.html
Note 5: World Wide Fund for Nature (n.d.). Making Zero Impact Fashionable. Retrieved from https://www.wwf.org.hk/cities/fashion/clothing/
