It is recorded that the fashion industry is the second largest polluter after the oil industry. As fashion brands churn out new collections weekly (even daily for some retailers!) what actually happens to all of these clothes?!
The answer is Landfill.
Huge quantities of disposed clothing are ending up in landfills, causing a great environmental problem. Fast fashion has become the norm in society whereby clothes only stay in the wardrobes of consumers for a very short time before they are thrown away.
As we have mentioned in some of our previous blogs, many manufacturing processes used by these brands involve using toxic and harmful chemicals to produce the clothing quickly and cheaply. A high percentage of the clothes are made from synthetic materials which can take years to biodegrade and therefore are hanging around in landfills for very long periods of time before they break down, still leaving traces of their toxic chemicals into our earth.
“Currently, 72% of all clothes that are thrown away are made of synthetic materials which can take up to 200 years to biodegrade." (1)
Biodegradable material is capable of being decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms. Ultimately this means that anything biodegradable has the ability to break down to its basic form and blend back into the earth.
Here at This Is Anyo we consider our products life cycle from start to finish, our goal is to have the least environmental impact as possible. Our fabrics are nature-friendly with the majority of our collection being made from Organic Cotton. It is so important to protect soil biodiversity and raise awareness on the importance for our eco-systems.
Well, we are glad you asked!
Our supplier did an experiment and buried a Natural Raw T-shirt into the ground. After 50 days they checked to see what had happened. As you can see from the image on the right, virtually nothing was left! This is a circular model and we love that our Organic Cotton styles have been grown from the earth, then go back into the earth at the end of their journey.
This Is Anyo and our supply chain are continually learning and will strive to keep developing and improving our processes. Keep following our progress!
Shop Our Organic Cotton T-shirts Here!
For further reading on the issues around manufacturing, please check out our previous blog posts:
Why Is Fast Fashion Harmful To The Planet And How Can Slow Fashion Help?
How Organic Cotton Is Not Only Better For The Environment, But Better For You!
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