It’s common knowledge that the textiles industry is the world’s second largest polluter, behind the petroleum industry. According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, not only does the industry contribute about 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, but it uses more energy than the aviation and shipping industries combined. The agency states, “The industry’s impact is not limited to global carbon emissions. It also produces about 20% of global wastewater and 85% of textiles end up in landfills or are incinerated when most of these materials could be reused.”

In the documentary River Blue, EcoWatch documents the fact that one major fashion brand uses 28 trillion (yes, with a T) gallons of fresh water every year. You can watch the trailer here. The full documentary can be accessed via Prime Video on Amazon. It will break your heart and perhaps make you think differently about your fashion choices. In the opening scene, you can see deep magenta wastewater spilling into a river in China with the voice-over saying, “There is a joke in China that you can tell the ‘it’ color of the season by looking at the color of the rivers.” But it’s no joke.

Let’s talk about jeans. I don’t know about you, but I love my jeans. I’ve grown up wearing jeans. But perhaps like you, I never gave much thought to the environmental impact of a single pair of jeans. Did you know that 10,000 liters (more than 2,500 gallons) of water is required to make a single pair of denim jeans? And then there is the energy cost of weaving the fabric, dyeing the fabric, drying the fabric, and then, ultimately, manufacturing the pair of jeans. If you are interested, this Fiber-to-Fashion white paper describes the entire process. And don’t forget the water required to grow the cotton in the first place, and the energy required to harvest and process it. And the health cost to workers who manufacture that great pair of jeans.