The importance of agriculture for the world population is quite clear. As we talked about in our last article about climate-smart agriculture, there has been a lot of discussion on how to sustainably improve agricultural production in order to improve food security worldwide. Agriculture is a part of people’s everyday life, however, what many of us don’t realize is that agriculture goes beyond the food we eat, it is also in the clothes we wear. Textile brands are starting to comprehend that, and as a result, there’s a new wave of sustainable clothes in the raise which aims to focus on the link between regenerative agriculture and fashion.

Source: Tim Hüfner

Source: Tim Hüfner

The impacts of the fashion industry

Fashion is an important industry with a global market value of approximately $759.5 billion, but it is also the second largest polluting industry in the world. The problem with this industry is that there isn’t a single specific environmental impact that stands out, but a wide range of different impacts which alone would be worrisome, but together, are catastrophic.

One example to illustrate that is the fundamentally unsustainable business model behind fast fashion. This model is designed to sell large quantities of clothing, while employing the cheapest materials and labor. Consequently, fast fashion generally produces lower quality products, not to mention the problems involving working conditions in the supply chain.

Let’s take a look on some of the environmental impacts of the fashion industry:

Carbon emissions

The global fashion industry is responsible for 10% of all anthropogenic carbon emissions each year. The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are mainly due to the intensive use of energy in the production, manufacturing and transport of garments. In addition, most of the clothes we buy – especially fast fashion – are produced in countries essentially powered by coal (e.g. China, India and Bangladesh). As a result, the carbon footprint of each product is higher than the ones produced in countries powered by renewable energy.

Moreover about 60 to 65 percent of the clothes we wear is made of polyester. Synthetic fibers such as polyester, acrylic and nylon are composed by plastic, in other words, they come from fossil fuels. Which means that its production emits more GHG than natural fibers. In fact, its estimated that it takes about 700 million barrels of oil every year to produce the polyester in our clothes.

Microplastics

Carbon emission is not only problem with synthetic fibers. As mentioned, polyester is a plastic, and this material is causing ocean pollution. As a matter of fact, a report released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that 35% of all microplastics in the ocean came from washing synthetic textiles.

Every time we wash these garments approximately 1,900 microfibers are released into the water. This is que equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles being dumped into the ocean each year.

Water consumption

Fashion is a water-intensive industry, being the second-largest consumer of freshwater in the world, mainly due to fiber production and from textile dyeing.

According to the World Economic Forum, it takes about 700 gallons of water to produce one cotton shirt, and about 2,000 gallons to produce a pair of jeans. That’s enough water for one person to drink eight cups per day for three and a half years and 10 years respectively.

Chemicals

In addition to a huge water footprint, fashion also causes water-pollution problems. Polluted water resulting from textile dyeing is often dumped into ditches, or rivers. This wastewater can contain chemicals used for bleaching and dyeing fabrics.

Besides polluting freshwater, the chemicals used in garment production can also be detrimental to human health. Our skin is the body’s largest organ, and it absorbs what we put on it, including chemicals from our clothing. These substances can contain toxins, carcinogens, and hormone disruptors, thus presenting a risk to our health.

What is the link between regenerative agriculture and fashion?

The link between regenerative agriculture and fashion may not be so clear for most people since most of us see the clothes in the stores and worry about how it looks, but we don’t usually think about how they were produced. We might know the designer or the brand, but we generally don’t know anything else about the brand’s supply chain.

Agriculture provides the fashion industry with fibers for garment production, these include plant-based fibers such as cotton, hemp and flax and animal-based products such as wool and leather. Therefore, for the fashion industry to reduce its impact on the environment, fibers must also be produced sustainably, and this can be done through regenerative agriculture.

The concept of regenerative practices goes beyond reducing the negative effects of agriculture. It applies a holistic land management to restore the ecosystem and improve soil health. As a result, these practices promote carbon sequestration, soil fertility, soil biodiversity and biodiversity above soil surface. Therefore, regenerative agriculture can improve food security, by boosting productivity while tackling two major crises: climate change and biodiversity loss.

Source: Trisha Downing

Source: Trisha Downing

It is estimated that the production of a cotton shirt releases two to three times less carbon than a polyester shirt. However, conventional cotton production is also associated with excessive water consumption, land degradation and dependence on harsh chemical inputs, including synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. For that reason, regenerative agriculture and fashion must be interconnected. It’s necessary not only to replace synthetic fibers with natural ones but adopting regenerative practices for natural fiber production.

What are the challenges?

Although and amazing initiative, advancing the adoption of regenerative agriculture in the fashion industry have its challenges. The first being the price of the products. Clothes made from regenerative grown fibers are usually more expensive, and in a culture that favors price and quantity over quality and environmental impact, it’s not an easy task to get consumers to spend the extra cash for sustainable clothes.

The second challenge is that, different from organic production, regenerative agriculture doesn’t have a standard certification yet. Thus, with “regenerative” becoming the new buzzword, there’s also a big risk for greenwashing.

It’s important for consumers to support regenerative agriculture in the fashion industry, but it’s also vital for them to educate themselves and make informed decisions on how and where to spend their money.

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