Group of people standing in front of a world map holding plastic trash bags.

Ethics & Planet

Fashion and beauty are two of the most polluting industries in the world. Fashion produces nearly 10% of global carbon emissions, more than international aviation and shipping combined. The beauty industry adds almost a billion tons of CO₂ annually and creates over 120 billion plastic packaging units. These industries thrive on overproduction, synthetic fibers, and air-shipped supply chains, while the Global South bears the brunt of the toxic fallout.

Fashion store with clothing racks and shelves against a backdrop of a power plant with smokestacks.

Carbon Footprint

Fashion is one of the biggest climate polluters.

  • 10% of global emissions
  • 1.2B tons CO₂ from fast fashion
  • Polyester = 70M barrels of oil

✅ Solution: Switch to low-impact fibers, slow fashion, and regenerative farming.

Pyramid made of plastic waste in front of a store

Plastic Waste

Beauty packaging drives a toxic waste crisis.

  • 120B units produced yearly
  • Dumped in Global South landfills
  • Rivers & soil choked with plastic

✅ Solution: Refillable packaging, biodegradable materials, and stricter recycling systems.

White t-shirt submerged in water with industrial background depicting the amount of water used to make one tee

Water Scarcity

Fashion drains water and poisons what’s left.

  • Shirt = 2,700L water, jeans = 2,000L, leather shoes = 2,100 liters
  • 20% of industrial water pollution from dyeing

✅ Solution: Closed-loop dyeing, organic cotton, and wastewater treatment at scale.

Colorful clothing and other trash floating in a river poluted by glitter and makeup

Pollution From Supply Chains

  • Factories dump toxic dyes, chromium, and arsenic into rivers in Bangladesh, India, and China.

  • 22,000 tons of textile waste enter Bangladesh rivers annually; India sees 40 million liters of untreated wastewater flowing into the Ganges daily.

  • Workers, many of them women and children, are routinely exposed to unsafe chemicals.

Toxic Mining

Gold mining: 180M tons of toxic waste yearly


Mica mining: child labor in hazardous conditions


Leather & minerals: heavy environmental footprint

Microplastics

Synthetic fabrics are silent polluters of water systems worldwide.


Polyester, nylon, acrylic release microplastics


Contaminate 83% of global tap water


Persistent pollution threatens marine life

Greenwashing

60% of sustainability claims are misleading


Overhyped “eco-friendly” products create consumer eco-fatigue


Shoppers struggle to separate truth from marketing

Group of women chatting practicing yoga and meditating on a beach with ocean view

Emerging Solutions

  • Indigenous-led conservation protects biodiversity and promotes ecological stewardship.

  • Innovative materials: Piñatex, MIRUM®, orange peel leather, and mushroom-based alternatives reduce environmental harm.

  • Biotechnology enables sustainable production of ingredients like hyaluronic acid and retinol.

  • Regenerative agriculture and closed-loop fashion models offer pathways for recycling and circular design.

Ethics

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