Overconsumption of natural resources

It takes a lot of water to produce textile, plus land to grow cotton and other fibres. 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.

The textile sector was the third largest source of water degradation and land use in 2020, according to a report by the European Environmental Agency.

In 2022, textile consumption per person in the EU required on average:

323 square metres of land

12 cubic metres of water

523 kg of raw materials.