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Frans Timmermans and the European Commission promised a comprehensive EU Textile Strategy this year.

Europeans call on you to adopt strong measures to slow down the rate of clothing production and consumption, which is inherently unsustainable and increasingly reliant on fossil fuels. The upcoming strategy should increase the quality of materials and employ circular principles throughout the supply chain. To minimize the fashion industry’s contribution to climate change and stay below 1.5 degrees of global heating, the Commission needs to set measures to curb overproduction, manufacturing of cheap, disposable clothes and decouple fashion from fossil fuels. Special attention should be paid towards increasing the transparency of supply chains and obliging companies to adopt due diligence with regards to human and labour rights and towards preventing environmental violations.

Why is this important?

Every second you’ll spend reading this, one more truck will drop textile waste on an ever-growing mountain of clothing garbage. [1]

In just 15 years clothing production has doubled, with the average consumer buying 60% more clothes. Each item is now kept for half as long, clothes are so cheap they have become disposable -- some are discarded after just 7 or 8 uses! [2]

Burning, shredding, landfilling is their (fast) fate - less than 1% of clothes get recycled into new clothes. This vicious circle means not only more and more emissions that fuel climate change, but also polluting rivers and underground water, as well as a waste problem that is already unmanageable.

The European Commission promised an ambitious textile strategy - and they are moving fast! In the next two weeks actually.

The Commission's Vice President, Timmermans, could be a strong ally. But without wide public support, his is a lone voice amidst other politicians whose interests are close to those of the fast fashion corporations. That’s why a strong wave of European support would make a real difference for him… and for our future. He is willing to meet us. Let’s show him how much support he has.

References:

Ellen Macarthur Foundation (2017) A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion’s Future [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/our-work/activities/make-fashion-circular/report
McKinsey & Company (2016) Style that’s sustainable: A new fast-fashion formula [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability/our-insights/style-thats-sustainable-a-new-fast-fashion-formula

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Don’t let fast fashion kill the planet