7th October 2026
Water use and fashion
Across Europe each persons buys on average 19kg of clothes a year – and throws away 12kg. Given that little if that is recycled is of its self a concern, but alongside that consider the environmental footprint of each person’s new clothes: 323 square meters of farmland, 523 kg of raw materials (including various chemicals used to make dyes, elastic, coatings, zips etc), and 12000 litres of water. (1)
Droughts are clearly a problem for farmers growing cotton (less so for those growing hemp or flax which are less thirsty crops). They can also be a problem for manufacturers if the cost of water and of raw material goes up – manufacturing and dying cloth is highly water intensive. Such costs are more likely to affect those manufacturing cheap clothes – and it is likely that one area of cost saving might be in reducing labour costs which is not good for vulnerable workers.
We as consumers clearly have a role to play – we can choose to buy fewer clothes (and repair, reuse or redesign what we have) and we can choose to buy second hand clothes – and donate what we don’t need. We can, if it is within our budget, choose to buy good quality clothes that will last.
We can also campaign against fast fashion, supporting groups such as Oxfam, Friends of the Earth, Transform Trade etc.
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