The fashion industry is the world’s second largest polluter after oil. It is also responsible for 20% of water pollution. By the way, did you know that it takes 20,000 liters of water to make one T-shirt? All these statistics have one thing in common. they are false. For years, the fashion industry has made outdated statistics, wild generalizations, and unsubstantiated claims.whatever you call it – misinformation, fake news, or zombie data — The truth is that they are undermining progress in sustainability in fashion.

George Harding-Rolls, campaign manager for the Changing Markets Foundation, a group exposing irresponsible corporate practices on sustainability, said: You can tell the statistics are wrong, he explains.

Fashion is unique because it intersects with many other industries, such as agriculture (leather, cotton, viscose, wool, etc.) and big oil (materials such as polyester, PVC, polyurethane, etc.). Not to mention chemicals, transportation, retail, returns, textile recycling and the used clothing market. All of these things can take your clothes around the world and come back again in a lifetime.

“Unlike other industries, fashion is embedded in the global economy,” says Harding Rawls. “So it’s hard to try to find accurate data on any of these.” Transparency Even with the most basic information, it’s impossible to package the impact of fashion into neat statistics.

Lack of research is also a factor. “It’s not an industry with a strong scientific community interested in research. exposed a number of suspicious facts throughout her career. “More grants should go out to those who want to study this, and more university programs should allow people to study textile chemistry in a way that makes working for brands inevitable.”

Arguably, the fashion media also play a role in spreading falsehoods. “Do you wish fashion journalists were more educated on some of these topics? Well, yes. But I’m guessing that people who want to write about fashion probably don’t have a degree in organic chemistry – me We don’t have any,” says Wicker. “Fashion journalism runs on the wrath of young people who aren’t getting paid enough for the time it takes to do this kind of dramatization.” , is essential to stop misinformation at its source.

When research is done, it is often published or funded by brands, so the findings are inherently biased. Yes,” says Nusa Urbancic, campaign director for the Changing Markets Foundation. “It makes sense to provide more independent funding to academia that can understand the impact of the fashion industry.”

But if these punchy (albeit imprecise) statistics highlight the magnitude of fashion’s influence and encourage change, that’s certainly a good thing, right? There has been much debate about how the industry’s statistics have galvanized action. “It has inspired promise and greenwashing. It made it possible to make similarly vague and unmeasurable climate promises.

Brands may be using outdated or inaccurate data (or lack thereof) to make sourcing decisions. That means you may be actually increasing your influence, manipulating your data to fit your agenda, or delaying your sustainability efforts altogether. “Everyone is throwing a damper at the need for better data, while the broader discussion of fossil fuel dependence and overproduction has been conveniently sidelined until some day in the future.” Harding Rawls says. “The environmental crisis is so imminent that we shouldn’t wait for perfect data,” Urbancic agrees.

So what is the solution? “Legislation would really change the situation,” he says Urbancic. “Basic information is hard to mine, but if mandatory legislation were enacted, this would change.” The New York Fashion Act is he one of the potentially game-changing laws. “We are using the government to force brands to report what is happening in their supply chains, so this can go a long way,” says Wicker. “Watchdog can use this to create data that journalists can use to hold brands accountable.”

In the media, Wicker hopes to get science, climate and health journalists interested in fashion. “It’s a lot of fun to write about. I don’t think science geeks realize how fascinating a topic fashion can be,” she says. “There’s a lot to get into. That’s why I love it.”