Gulf Business Sustainability - November 2022

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The Brief / Consumer Behaviour COMMENT

ILLUSTRATION: GETTY IMAGES/TARIKVISION

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Why conscious consumption is the way forward As a society, we’ve reached staggering levels of consumption, which has had a major impact on the environment and biodiversity. Here’s why we need to stop and think before we shop 8

November 2022

ronic t-shirts, hats, and trainers were always my thing. As a GenXer who grew up in Canada, it’s not surprising that when I want a little retail therapy these are things I look for. That being said, as an environmentalist who has spent most of my career in the waste industry, trying to manage what people and companies throw away, I struggle with my conscience whenever I buy new things. According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the fashion industry is responsible for 10 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. That is an astonishing 1.7 billion tonnes of CO₂ per year and is expected to rise by 50 per cent by 2030. The same industry is also responsible for 20 per cent of all the wastewater produced in the world, primarily caused by fabric dying. To give you a sense of the scale of the water challenge; making a single pair of jeans uses 7,500 litres of water. That is equivalent to the amount of water the average person drinks over a period of seven years, according to a UN report (2019). Once we discard clothing, the story continues to be dire. Every second of every day, all year round, the equivalent of a rubbish truck load of clothes is burnt or buried in landfill, according to Ellen Macarthur Foundation. In fact, 13 per cent of clothing gets put into recycling programmes worldwide, however, from this only 1 per cent can be recycled as the remaining products that enter the recycling process are of poor quality and not recyclable as new clothing. As of 2020, the lost value of clothing waste accounts to more than $100bn globally. We are expected to dispose of 134 million tonnes of textiles per year by 2030. The result of these environmental impacts is an acceleration of the climate crisis caused by global warming. This is no longer some future risk. The crisis has arrived, and we are already feeling the effects of it. We are witnessing extreme weather events, melting glaciers, wildfires, etc. The impact on humanity is still being measured, but includes greater food and water insecurity, loss of land to rising sea levels and an increase in new disease transmission from wildlife. Over the past 15 years, production of clothing has doubled, while the amount of time an item of clothing is worn (utilised) gulfbusiness.com


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