[Temilade Adelaja/Reuters]
Fast fashion sold by retailers such as Shein and Temu) drives overconsumption, seriously burdening the environment, according to data from Eurostat and online data platform Statista.
In 2022, the average consumption of fabric per person in the European Union required 323 square meters of land and 523 kilos of raw materials, causing emissions of 355 kilos of carbon dioxide.
The same data showed that production of a cotton T-shirt requires 2,700 liters of fresh water. This equals the amount of drinking water a person needs for two and a half years.
In the EU, forest areas decreased by 1.9% between 2018 and 2022, in contrast to Greece where the decrease reached 22% in the same period. Accordingly, unused and abandoned areas in the EU increased by 8.1%, while in Greece they recorded a threefold increase, exceeding 24%.
