• 5% of municipal solid waste results from unnecessary waste of clothing and textiles; 95% of which could be reused again
• Ontario generates 12 million tonnes of waste a year, but diverts only 25 percent from landfills
• Toronto residents produced nearly 800,000 tonnes of waste in 2012
• Second hand clothes are worn by 75% of the world’s population
• Every year, over 350 million pairs of reusable shoes end up in landfills
• To produce one t-shirt, 2,000 litres of water & 150 grams of chemicals are required
• Producing a tonne of clothes takes 10 times more energy than glass/steel production
• If all Canadians bought just one reclaimed garment, it would save an average of 250 million gallons of water each year
• Conventionally grown cotton, one of the most popular clothing fibers, is also one of the most water and pesticide-dependent crops
• The fierce competition and constant desire to decrease costs in the international garment industry creates poor working conditions for labourers in developing nations and in 3rd world countries
• In Bangladesh, unsafe conditions in a garment factory led to its collapse killing more than 1,100 people in April 2013, while a fire in November 2012 killed 112 workers
• According to the International Labour Organization, there are 246 million child-workers (age 5 to 14) in the world today, most who work in the clothing industry
• Intensive farming practices to secure clothing fibres damage the environment as a whole while animals are exploited, abused, and live in deplorable conditions
• Cotton is the most pesticide intensive crop in the world. These pesticides harm and kill many people every year
• Americans spent $340 billion on clothing and shoes last year, which makes up about 25 percent of the global market
• 30,000 Canadians are homeless every night
• 200,000 Canadians are homeless in any given year
• At least 150,000 Canadians a year use a homeless shelter at some point