If you want to understand why is sustainability important when it comes to fashion, you need to know a little bit more about the fashion industry. There are many talks concerning the environment right now and we are glad that our Planet has, finally, become a primary topic for journalists, politicians and major brands. But talking about the environment is not enough. We need to start implementing changes in our lives and adopt healthy principles. To help you understand why is sustainability important, we have created an informational article. Keep on reading to discover how your fashion choices can help protect the environment, find out where you can buy eco-friendly jewelry and see what options you have when it comes to fashion & sustainability.

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How Does the Fashion World Impact the Environment?

Did you know that the fashion industry is the world’s second-largest source of pollution after the oil industry? Yep, you read that correctly. So now you are beginning to understand why is sustainability important in the fashion world, but let’s get into more detail.

In many of the countries where your clothes come from, textile factories dump untreated toxic water into rivers. The water from these factories usually has led, arsenic and even mercury among many other harmful substances. As you can imagine, both people and animals are deeply affected by the pollution of rivers.

Cotton is another major threat to the environment because of the immense quantity of fertilizers needed for its production. Besides the problem of fertilizers, cotton also needs a lot of water in order to grow. How much water? 20,000 liters for a kilo of cotton. If this is not enough to answer the question why is sustainability important, think about all the cotton production. When you add the fact that the fashion industry also uses a lot of water to dye the fabric, the result will leave you speechless. Each year, 1.5 trillion liters of water go into the fashion industry.

In order to understand why is sustainability important, you also need to look at our daily activities. Washing your clothes is a normal activity, but it can have major impacts on the environment. Every single time you wash a synthetic garment, 1,900 microfibers get into the water that, eventually, reaches the oceans. Each year, 190,000 tons of synthetic microfibers end up in the oceans.

Why Is Sustainability Important – More Fashion Industry Facts

If you need even more reasons why is sustainability important, you should also think about the disposal of garments. 85% of the clothes we throw away end up in landfills while only 15% get recycled. Part of the clothes are buried underground while part of them get incinerated. The biggest issue here is that most of our garments contain synthetic fibers that take up to 200 years to decompose.

Another reason why is sustainability important is the great number of chemicals that people use in the fashion industry. When it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, the fashion industry accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions. Last, but not least, there are also the matters of soil degradation and rainforest destruction. People grow certain animals, like cashmere goats, in great numbers to provide to the fashion industry. They also cut down forests in order to plant trees that render wood-based fabrics (modal, viscose & rayon).

How Can We Be More Sustainable in Fashion?

Now that you understand why is sustainability important, let’s see what you can do about it. The most important thing is to choose clothes that come from countries with strict environmental regulations. Choose garments and jewelry that come from the US, the EU or Canada. This is also important for ethical reasons and to avoid potential child labor in developing countries.

You also need to be aware of the difference in various fabrics. Choose organic fabrics that don’t need a lot of water to grow, such as linen and recycled fabrics. You should try to stay away as much as possible from synthetic fibers as you will inevitability pollute the environment when you wash them. When it comes to the disposal of clothes, try to recycle as much as you can. You should buy fewer garments that will last a long time as opposed to buying lots of cheap clothes that will last less than a season.

Another important action you can take is to choose clothing brands from countries that use renewable energy. And, if you want to help protect our forests, don’t but garments that contain viscose, modal or rayon.

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Why Is Sustainability Important in the Jewelry World?

Perhaps you didn’t know this, but the jewelry world also contributes to the damage to our Planet. Precious metals don’t come in high amounts and the industries that mine them are very harmful. In order to mine gold, you need both dynamite. Then you need a solvent to separate the gold from other materials and that solvent is, usually cyanide.

The diamonds industry is also a very harmful one as it creates conflict and poverty among developing communities. Truth being said, we all need to understand why is sustainability important and do our part to uphold some standards.

In this regard, you can safely buy jewelry from Ana Luisa. We use 100% recycled gold and silver in our jewelry and we do our plating in-house. We also use lab-grown, clean diamonds and organic pearls that are beautiful, unique & sustainable. Visit our online jewelry shop and check out our eco-friendly jewelry.


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Ruxandra
Ruxandra is a fashion blogger who teaches fashion stumped twenty to thirty somethings how to shop their jewelry boxes for polished new ensembles. Her work has been featured in Vogue, Fashionista, Nylon, and Refinery29.