During the first winter sales weekend of 2020, Extinction Rebellion Barcelona has taken a direct nonviolent action to raise awareness of the grave ecological footprint of fast fashion.
During the first weekend in January–the first weekend traditionally included in the first sales season of the year–XR Barcelona has organized a direct action at the main malls that are specialized in “fast fashion” to expose the climatic and ecological impact of this kind of textile production. The action consisted in sticking 300 stickers on the garments, so that shoppers could take notice of toxic business practices that impact the planet and our societies.
By “fast fashion” we mean the design, creation and marketing of fashion that emphasizes the constant supply of new trends as quickly and cheaply as possible, with huge social and ecological costs. To face the climate emergency properly, the accountable companies must stop this kind of production and distribution, and thus stop contributing to making life on Earth even more unstable.
The fashion industry is the second largest in CO2 production and responsible for 5% of all global emissions, only behind fossil fuel emissions and followed by aviation.
It also worryingly depletes human and environmental resources, with massive water usage for clothes production, or for instance with the exploitation and semi-slavery conditions of workers in the global South.
Moreover, it is one of the main waste producing sectors, in which residues are also particularly difficult to recycle and end up being burned in landfills. The plastics, as the rest of the chemical products involved in all the fabric production, also end up in our rivers, seas and oceans, and through them, in our own food chain.
Extinction Rebellion wants to expose this production and distribution as a part of a toxic system that is contributing towards our own extinction. We need collective, immediate actions to transform the production and consumption of our societies!
XR Barcelona
