watervole | Clothing and Carbon Emissions

I'm just about to patch my pair of dungarees for the third or fourth time...Luckily, they were a patchwork design to start with, so the new patches blend in very well.

Clothing is a big hitter in global carbon emissions, and also in water consumption (if you think clothing uses a lot of water, then up your estimate - it uses even more than you think!)  Then add in the problems of microfibre plastic pollution every time you wash synthetic fabrics, and the pesticides used to grow cotton, and you quickly realise that there are no easy answers.

There's a good summary of the issues in a report produced for the UK parliament .

One good thing, is that the sheer scale of the problem means it's easy to reduce your individual contribution to it.

I recently completed a year without buying any new clothes (charity shops are allowed, as second hand purchases are keeping stuff out of the waste stream). Since then, I've had one lapse by buying a new waistcoat for my sword dance costume, and I suspect I'll need new underwear at some point, but apart from that, it's surprising what you can manage with a bit of darning, patching and new elastic.

Clothing and Carbon Emissions

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