Continuing our exploration of clothes, we look at the environmental impact of the clothing industry.
Retailers like H&M and Zara work on volume by rapidly changing what’s on the racks. Remember when styles used to be seasonal? That's no longer the case: Zara rolls out a new collection 20+ times a year. That’s almost twice a month. In total, 100 billion pieces of clothing are manufactured each year.
Clothing: How thirsty is the cotton plant?
Uzbekistan is home to the one the greatest Capitalist-sponsored tragedies of our time:
As can be seen in the photo in 1989, the Aral Sea exists. However, in 2014, it is completely gone. The tragedy speaks to the thirst of the cotton crop. Uzbekistan is the 7th largest cotton crop producer, and its 1.47M hectares of cotton had to get that water from somewhere. Of course, the real issue is the fashion industry. Its insatiable appetite for profits translates into an unquenchable thirst for water:
But how much water does the fashion industry use as a whole?
According to a 2017 report co-authored by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), it currently uses 79 trillion litres of water. It is expected to consume 118 trillion by 2030. This equates to the annualized water needs of almost half the planet or 3.2 billion people.
The Throwaway Culture
The trend has been fueled by vanity, low prices and the throwaway mindset. A piece of clothing will last about 5 weeks in a person's wardrobe.
How much waste does this produce?
“The average American now generates 82 pounds of textile waste each year. That adds up to more than 11 million tons of textile waste from the U.S. alone.” [Emphasis added] Globally this amounts to 48 million metric tons; (see appendix B in here). That’s over 105 billion pounds or the weight of about 775 million people.
Fast Fashion: More profits, more pollutants
Fast fashion relies on cheap materials to ensure profitability. About 60% of clothing materials consist of "polyester, nylon, acrylic, and other synthetic fibres." These artificial microfibers break down into microscopic particles when washed, which then enter into our waterways. This, in turn, gets eaten by marine life and then by us:
”Microfibers are emerging pollutants with widespread distribution in the environment and have adverse ecological impacts. Approximately 2 million tonnes of microfibers are released into the ocean every year from various sources, of which 700,000 micro fleeces are released from each garment through the domestic laundry. Microfibers are the major marine pollutant throughout the world estimating 13 million tonnes of coastal synthetic fabric waste entering the ocean each year, out of which 2.5 million tonnes enter through adjoining rivers. It is anticipated that, to date, 1.5 million trillion of microfibers are present in the ocean. Microfibers are mistakenly ingested by marine animals and cause hazardous effects to aquatic species.” [Emphasis added]
And how much air pollution does the clothing industry generate?
In 2015, textile production contributed 1.2 billion tones of greenhouse gases, which is “more than those of all international flights and maritime shipping combined." The trouble is that clothing production has doubled in the last 15 years. So the ecological devastation will not only continue but accelerate.
Why can’t the industry sell fewer clothes that last longer?
Because the investors will fire the CEOs if they did that.
Capitalism is hard-wired to pillage the people and the planet. CEOs are hired solely to grow the wealth of stockholders. If you made a billion dollars last year, you must make 1.1 billion dollars this year. This is the “fairytale of endless economic growth” in action. For example, investors advertise that Zara is a good investment because it sells 450 million clothing items annually. It doesn’t matter that more microscopic particles will end up in the ocean, more Bengali workers will be exploited, or that more fuel will be burned. All that matters is increasing shareholder value. That's it. Forget the environment and forget about us.
Consumerism: Capitalism’s “answer” to spirituality?
Are we being called to worship at the altar of consumerism?
Brain studies seem to say that the answer is yes. A BBC Three documentary looked at what parts of an Apple fan’s brain lit up when exposed to Apple products compared to non-Apple products. They found it was the same part of the brain that lights up when a person of faith was exposed to religious images. A scientist who looked at the images suggested that: “…big tech brands have harnessed, or exploit, the brain areas that have evolved to process religion.”
Misery for all
And this false god will not only empty out the wallets but also demand that people will be burdened down with a debt of $14.3 trillion. It will also need armies to invade foreign lands, install brutal dictators, and enslave the masses through poverty. And for what? To only throwaway that item in a few weeks or contribute to the piles of useless stuff that clutters our homes, leading to anxiety and stress.
Consumerism is endless misery. Think about the garment workers in Bangladesh, 1,100 were crushed to death when their factories collapsed in 2013. Pre-COVID, Bangladeshi garment workers were exploited at the rate of $95 per month. During COVID, the Capitalist corporations have simply reneged on the orders leaving these workers in the lurch. Some companies felt bad and paid up, but others like, The Children's Place, Arcadia, and Urban Outfitters have not. The activists noted the following list of companies who have paid and not paid (and yes Walmart has not paid):
And its misery for consumers. Advertising must make you miserable about your life. Why else would you buy new stuff if you were content with what you have? A Harvard study found that if advertising was doubled, it would reduce life satisfaction by 3%. And what’s even more interesting is that even the rich people are miserable. They know that this system of inequality that ravages us all is going to backfire. So, they are building bunkers to protect themselves or finding other ways to escape.
Do we really need so many clothes?
My mom was telling me that in India, her grandparents would sew her and her three other siblings’ clothes twice a year. Do we really need more than that? If things lasted, I don’t think so.
This would require a major paradigm shift. But it is possible.
There was a governor, Sa'id ibn Aamir Al-Jumahi (ra), in Homs (a city in present-day Syria) during the reign of Umar bin al-Khattab (ra) who took this paradigm shift to the next level. Consider the following:
He refused to be a governor: Democracy has become synonymous with corruption. The rich buy politicians to do their bidding. Sa’id, in contrast, refused the position when it was offered to him because he feared the temptations of the position.
A governor below the poverty line!? When a census was taken to determine who was poor, he was on the list. It was reported that “several days go by without a fire being lit in his house“; meaning he wasn’t eating. When Umar (ra) heard about this, he was shocked and sent him 1,000 dinars. This was 4.25 kg of gold or about $260,000 US today.
What did he do with the $260,000? He did not buy a house, a new ride, or anything else. Instead, he was horrified by this turn of events, saying: “The world has come upon me to corrupt my hereafter and create disorder in my house”. So, he instructed his wife to get rid of it and give it to the poor.
What does this have to do with clothes? Read on.
The people he was governing complained about the fact he was absent one day per month. This seems strange but it is because the people had a reputation for complaining about things. Regardless, their complaints were taken seriously by Umar (ra).
Why was he was absent?
He explained that it was due to the fact he had to wash the one pair of clothes he had. That's right, one pair of clothes. That’s it.
This type of dedication to a simple life, known as "zuhd", is exceptional and hard to attain. However, it illustrates how Islam has the necessary spiritual and conceptual foundations to support a sustainable economy because it addresses human beings as a comprehensive whole. Spiritually will never be satisfied by the empty pursuit of material things. It can only be satisfied by seeking the pleasure of the Creator of all things, Allah (swt).
Calculations:
775 million people were estimated using the global average weight of a person is 136.4 pounds. The average American man is heavier at 197.6 pounds. (i.e. 105 billion pounds/136.4= 775 million)
3.2 billion people's drinking needs were estimated at 100 litres per day, which is 36,500 litres per year. (i.e. 118 trillion liters/36,500=3.2 billion)
The spot price of gold per kilo was 60,569 USD per kilo. A gold dinar is 4.25 grams, hence a 1,000 dinars would be 4.25 kg of gold.