When people hear the terms "fashion", "clothing", and "apparel", they typically think about things like which fads are trending, which designers are hot, and which cute dress they should buy for their next event. After all, shopping for clothes that look and make you feel good is fun! But the unfortunate reality is that behind the styles, sales, and purchases lurks an industry that is incredibly detrimental to people and our environment. The facts speak for themselves...

1. 30% of chemicals, dyes, and solvents used to produce clothing pose serious threats to human health (Ideas for Us, 2019).

2. Over 50% of garment workers are not paid a living wage (Ideas for Us, 2019).

3. Fashion is the world's third most carbon-intensive industry supply chain, accounting for 5% of the world's annual carbon dioxide emissions. Only the food and construction supply chains account for more (World Economic Forum, 2021).

4. Fashion produces 92 million tons of solid waste per year, or about 4% of the world's total. More solid waste is attributable to fashion than to supermarkets and discarded electronics (Wicker, 2021).

5. Fashion is the second leading cause of plastic pollution in the world's oceans. Washing clothes made with synthetic fibers releases 500,000 tons of microfibers into the ocean each year - the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles (Wicker, 2021).

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