Unsavory Facts About The Textile Industry
(and why we donate):

Water Waste: To make a single cotton t-shirt, 2,700 litres of fresh water are required according to estimates, enough to meet one person’s drinking needs for 2.5 years. On top of this, textile production is estimated to be responsible for about 20% of global clean water pollution from dyeing and finishing products.

Microplastics: In a test done by the Ocean Wise Conservation Association, a kilogram sample of polyester fleece released as much as 4.5 million fibres in a single wash. A devastating finding considering microplastics are often toxic for humans and animals, especially marine life, which consume the microplastics and can have a detrimental effect on their health, with the plastic then being passed on to the next animal that consumes them, such as humans.

Sweatshops: People in sweatshops work very long hours in poor and often dangerous conditions. often there is no overtime meaning the hourly wage can be as low as under 20 cents USD, and often times huge portions of these workers are minors doing child labour.

Carbon Footprint: The textile and garment sector accounts for an estimated range between 6 and 8 per cent of total global carbon emissions, or some 1.7 billion tonnes in carbon emissions per year, more than international flights and maritime shipping combined.

Although this is an absolute fraction of the laundry list of issues associated with the textile industry, the reality is apparent that the textile industry poses a real threat to not only the environment, but our health, and the health and welfare of those around the world. While participating in a community focused on transacting used items amongst each other is an important step in the right direction to curbing consumerism and overconsumption, there is a lot of work yet to do. Thus our donations go to the teams and people who know these issues best, and are best suited to tackle them, so we can all hope for a cleaner better future.