- The Atacama Desert. This mesmerizing landscape has become an unwitting victim of the fashion industry's insatiable appetite for cheap, disposable clothing. Mounds of textile waste have transformed the serene desert into a dumping ground so large, it's visible from space. These discarded garments, once cherished and flaunted, now contribute to an environmental crisis with dire consequences for the environment and the local community. Once a haven for unique flora and fauna, it now faces irreversible damage and this is just one of the many environmental disasters primarily due to the fashion industry. How did we let this happen? To understand more about the environmental effects of fast fashion, let's go back to the start where our clothes actually come from. This is Dr. Rebecca Van Amber. She's a college professor who focuses on textile and apparel sustainability, and she loves fashion. - I think this is kind of the problem with clothing. It's an ordinary everyday item and we're so disconnected from the production of how it's made that people, I don't think, truly value it how it should be. For something like cotton, it's hugely complex. Obviously, you're planting the cotton, you need a lot of water to grow the cotton, and then there's the harvesting of the cotton. So think of all the machinery. There's a lot of oil and petroleum that you need to run the machinery, pesticides, or other treatments. But once it's actually harvested, there's a huge amount of cleaning that happens and then there's huge numbers of processing to align the fibers. So you need to make sure they're all in a row before you can then spin it into a yarn. You can also dye the cotton if you're making it into something like denim. There might be treatments to the surface of the denim, whether it's stone washing or sandblasting, and then the use phase. So the entire garment from conception all the way to the use phase is hugely energy and resource-intensive. - The fashion industry is responsible for around 4% of the world's global greenhouse gas footprint with the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles being landfilled or burned every second. This is more than France, Germany, and the United Kingdom combined. Additionally, over 60% of fabric fibers are synthetics, which are largely non-biodegradable and can take thousands of years to decompose. Thankfully, thrift stores allow us to buy unique clothes that are pretty stylish and help reduce the ridiculous amount of waste. So, we should just donate our old clothes, right? - It's a really common misconception that I think all of us make. And you think, "I'm going to do the right thing. "I'm going to put it in the charity bin" and you assume that it's going to end up on the floor, and that's not entirely true. A lot of what we donate to our charities ends up being exported overseas, and it's so problematic now that many of these countries, they don't want it either, they don't want our trash. - It's not that we should never give to thrift stores, it's that we should be more mindful of what we're donating. Only donate old clothes that you could still wear. That means no broken zippers or pilled sweaters. If it's trash to you, don't count on it being someone else's treasure. - It's very much that out of sight, out of mind mentality. You know, it's made overseas, we don't see how it's made. It comes here, it's a beautiful product, we wear it, and then it goes off overseas and ends up in a landfill again. - So that's how this happened. - Seeing those images of piles of discarded clothing, that's the kind of stuff that really haunts me. And to see all of this discarded clothing ending up there is really horrifying. - Like many of the problems that contribute to climate crisis, the solutions require sustainability and immediacy. In the specific case of fast fashion, circular fashion might just be the key. - A circular economy is the idea that when we produce items, they can be basically cycled through, and so we're trying to recover as many of the resources as possible. The garment is produced and it goes to the consumer and then it possibly ends up in the landfill at the end of its life. What we want to do is really sort of close that loop and ensure that when the garment comes to the end of its life, it goes back into the resource cycle where it can become useful again. The best option is always to wear something and use it as long as possible. Can you repair it? Can you give it to a friend? Can you remake it into something else? Can you make it into rags if it's suitable? So the longer you use the garment, that is the best option, use it for as long as possible. Putting it in the bin should be the absolute last options. - We can all help by repairing, sharing, and buying second hand clothing, but most importantly, buying less. If you liked this video you can find it and so many more at clickview.net Sign up for free today!