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The industry
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81 pounds – the amount of clothing the average American throws away each year. Most of this ends up landfilled or burned, as only ~15% is recycled.)
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100 billion – pieces of clothing are produced worldwide annually, yet a vast portion is quickly discarded. 92 million tonnes of those garments become waste each year
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$500 billion – the annual economic loss due to clothing that’s scarcely worn and rarely recycled, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation
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Individual Impact (18-25 year olds in the U.S. and Europe)
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Waste Reduced: Average person discards 15kg of clothing/year. = 214,000 garbage trucks not sent to landfills.
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CO2 Emissions Avoided: Buying second hand saves 157 kg CO2 per person/year. = Removing 2.8 million cars off the road for a year.
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Water Saved: Each person buying second hand would save roughly 227 billion liters of water. = Drinking water for 310 million people for 1 year.
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Consumer Savings: Young adults spend $500/year on fashion, second hand saves 20-30%, totalling $8.4 billion in Europe/the U.S. = Reforesting nearly 10 million acres.