twelve years ago I stood on this very
stage at this very school graduating
Here I am 12 years later giving a TED
talk I remember on that day we had to
you see the picture I’m holding in my
hand and everyone else we had to
actually draw a picture of what we
wanted to be when we grew up I remember
I thought this was a bit abrupt I mean I
was only five like so I thought okay
maybe I want to be a vet I mean I always
knew I always knew I liked I liked
helping animals and the environment and
everyone inside of it so why not
as the years went by I realized I didn’t
really feel like being of it I didn’t
really want to cut animals or help them
out that much I was more interested in
fashion and for the next couple years
shopping was my exercise and that’s what
I love to do it wasn’t until my junior
year of high school that I had I was
faced with a four thousand word essay
the extent that I say a requirement for
the IB Diploma I know a nightmare right
it was actually it was very very hard to
find a topic that I liked I mean how was
I supposed to write 4,000 words about
something that I wasn’t passionate about
well after doing a lot of a lot of
research I found out why don’t I write
about fashion right I don’t I write
about something that I’m actually
interested in I mean my mentor told me
to do so so I might as well write but
for some reason I thought how am I
supposed to write about fashion that’s
not something you teach in school that’s
not something you’re allowed to write
about I don’t know it felt weird and
then I came to find out that there’s a
lot more to the industry that I didn’t
really know about I mean I had to come
up with a research question and I
thought well okay let’s try to find some
statistics that’s like smart people
stuff you know so let’s try to find
something out about that
I actually came to find out that the
industry the the clothing industry
specifically was the second largest
polluter in the world of clean water
coming second only to the oil industry
and I thought what that can’t be right
like one of my pants have to do with
water and like that didn’t make sense in
my head well it does and let me tell you
it does a lot so there I was 16 having
to write a four thousand word essay
still not knowing what I wanted to do
for college well what if I can choose
that choose this as my career okay great
so now not only do I want to change the
fashion industry but I also want to
change the world
great I know pretty ambitious for a 16
year old in high school but Steve Jobs
once said that the ones who are crazy
enough to think that they can change the
world are the ones who do so call me
crazy okay so now back to the clothing
industry what does it have to do with
the environment well let’s talk about
pants we’re all wearing them today I
hope so let’s go through the average
life cycle of what so first you know the
cotton is planted and treated then
eventually that cotton goes into
production of the textiles it’s made
into denim then the denim is made into
pants and then the pants are shipped and
distributed we the consumers buy them
and what should happen is from Step five
it should go to step 6
and back to step 2 which means the pants
should be recycled or at least the
materials should be recycled and the
fabric should be refurbished and
repurposed now what usually happens is
from Step five we just jump to step
seven which would equal the end of the
life of the pants seems pretty wasteful
right I know well did you know that it
takes thirty three kilos I’m sorry it
the making of denim jeans actually emit
thirty three kilos of carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere that’s equivalent
that’s equivalent to a
to an average vehicle in the United
States driving for 125 kilometers also
that is equivalent also making a pair of
jeans also uses over almost 4000 litres
of water that’s equivalent to 5050 three
seven minute showers or for flushing the
toilet five hundred and seventy five
times that is also equal to more than
four hundred mega joules of energy which
is enough to power a computer for five
hundred and fifty six hours that’s
seventy days worth of work not only that
but it takes one kilo of cotton to make
pimp and from that and and for that
twenty thousand poops
twenty thousand liters of water is
required that’s enough for one month
worth of entire household chores now
think about that for a second and think
about the fact that four hundred and
fifty billion pairs of jeans are sold in
the u.s. annually you do the math so
back when fashion first started there
used to be two seasons right I’m sure
we’re all aware there’s fall in winter
and then spring and summer which meshed
together to make two seasons now with
the industry growing at such a fast rate
there are 52 seasons and for those of
you who weren’t very good at math like
myself that’s one for every week of the
year
sounds pretty wasteful right well
there’s a name for this it’s called fast
fashion and much like fast food there
are products which are low in quality
low in price but big in quantity now
what does this mean for those who
actually make the clothes do we ever ask
ourselves that no we’re just concerned
with the new pair of jeans that we
bought so how can we change this how can
we train change being so wasteful we can
be sustainable well what a
sustainability mean according to the
United States Environmental Protection
Agency it means to create and maintain
the conditions under
humans and nature can exists and
productive harmony to support present
and future generations okay but what
does that mean in fashion well in
fashion it means – it means the exact
opposite of fast fashion to be
sustainable means to produce garments
that are in that are high in quality
fair prices but in low quantities so
slow fashion if you want to call it that
because cheap what may be cheap for us
will surely have a cost for those who
are making it and for the environment so
back to what I was saying about the
about the ones who make her clothes we
don’t think about that we see a shirt
and we think it’s pretty and we buy it
we don’t think about those who are
actually making the shirt doing so those
factory workers I mentioned earlier are
not in fact factory workers at all
they’re sweatshop workers and that means
by the United States Department of Labor
that’s a factory that violates two or
more labor laws think about it their
laws for labor those who work and if a
factory violates that you can imagine
the conditions that they’re in very poor
conditions when I tell you and the
workers who make the clothes are not
paid what is considered the bare minimum
they’re sometimes asked to work for five
six hours over what they’re supposed to
and do they get paid for that no because
because the industry is so concerned
with making clothes that are so
unbelievably cheap for us the consumers
to want to buy them instead of being
concerned with making making clothes
that are so unbelievably great in
quality for example for us to want to
buy them so like I said not good many
tragedies actually can come from this in
fact in 30 2013 in Bangladesh there was
a collapse of a building called Rena
Plaza where a lot of fast fashion brands
made their clothes and over 1000 and 100
lives were lost
we don’t think about that when we’re
buying our pants do we know so when will
this stop
when will the injury industries stop
thinking about the price of the clothes
rather than the price of a life like I
said the statistic that actually brought
me to doing so much research about this
topic is that the industry the clothing
industry is the second largest polluter
of clean water in the world and not only
that but treating and dyeing textiles
actually takes up 20 20 % of industrial
water pollution and of that 25 percent
of all chemicals applied worldwide or
applied to cotton and of that cotton 90%
is genetically modified so with this
you’ve heard me talk all about how the
industry is big and bad and how you know
we should probably not buy into this and
everything like that but you’re probably
thinking great that’s that’s fine but I
can’t do anything to help that I’m only
one person and even if I could it’s
probably expensive or ugly or something
like that but no actually there are
pretty easy ways to help and let me tell
you I’ve been doing them recently and
they’re not that hard so first when
buying something ask yourself who made
my clothes do you know where they’re
made you know the country that they’re
made in perhaps if you look at the tag
but do you know who asked the manager
and if they don’t know don’t buy it
transparency is cheap when thinking
about sustainability you need to know
where your garments are being made and
if the manager of the store doesn’t know
chances are they’re being made in a
sweatshop so now what I like to call the
five R’s the easiest and simplest ways
to go sustainable firstly reduce simple
just reduce the amount of clothes your
bike I love shopping just as much as the
next girl but um
and I know we can get pretty lost in
clothes and shoes and shirts and bags
and dance and things but just think okay
if if what I’m about to buy will match
with more than three things in my closet
okay
I’ll allow myself to buy it if it’s
sustainable and if you’ve asked the
previous question so that’s the first
thing just reducing the size of your
closet go through your closet very
rarely we only were very concerned with
adding more things to our closet but
we’re not at all concerned with what’s
in our closet so go through your closet
first of all second repair if your
zippers broken don’t just buy another
dress don’t just buy their pants just
fix it
sec third reinvent DIY your clothes get
creative maybe you don’t like the dress
that you bought two years ago you can
make it into a shirt you can make it
into a skirt start cutting see what you
get
number four repurpose swap with your
friends it’s really fun actually
something that you think is so beautiful
and fresh and new and your friend’s
closet could be sitting there for years
they’d be glad to give it away just give
it a try and number five recycle go
thrifting go to a thrift store you have
no idea how great it is to wear
something and be complimented on it and
think okay I spent four dollars on this
but they don’t have to know that it’s a
great feeling really so like I said
before yes you’re right you are one
person and maybe what you do right now
doesn’t directly impact the industry but
you still are one person within the
environment you could very well be one
person up here giving a TED talk and you
don’t know how many people you’re gonna
impact doing that so what you choose to
do every single time you buy wash or
discard your clothes
ten and we’ll help save our environment our planet and change the world
stage at this very school graduating
Here I am 12 years later giving a TED
talk I remember on that day we had to
you see the picture I’m holding in my
hand and everyone else we had to
actually draw a picture of what we
wanted to be when we grew up I remember
I thought this was a bit abrupt I mean I
was only five like so I thought okay
maybe I want to be a vet I mean I always
knew I always knew I liked I liked
helping animals and the environment and
everyone inside of it so why not
as the years went by I realized I didn’t
really feel like being of it I didn’t
really want to cut animals or help them
out that much I was more interested in
fashion and for the next couple years
shopping was my exercise and that’s what
I love to do it wasn’t until my junior
year of high school that I had I was
faced with a four thousand word essay
the extent that I say a requirement for
the IB Diploma I know a nightmare right
it was actually it was very very hard to
find a topic that I liked I mean how was
I supposed to write 4,000 words about
something that I wasn’t passionate about
well after doing a lot of a lot of
research I found out why don’t I write
about fashion right I don’t I write
about something that I’m actually
interested in I mean my mentor told me
to do so so I might as well write but
for some reason I thought how am I
supposed to write about fashion that’s
not something you teach in school that’s
not something you’re allowed to write
about I don’t know it felt weird and
then I came to find out that there’s a
lot more to the industry that I didn’t
really know about I mean I had to come
up with a research question and I
thought well okay let’s try to find some
statistics that’s like smart people
stuff you know so let’s try to find
something out about that
I actually came to find out that the
industry the the clothing industry
specifically was the second largest
polluter in the world of clean water
coming second only to the oil industry
and I thought what that can’t be right
like one of my pants have to do with
water and like that didn’t make sense in
my head well it does and let me tell you
it does a lot so there I was 16 having
to write a four thousand word essay
still not knowing what I wanted to do
for college well what if I can choose
that choose this as my career okay great
so now not only do I want to change the
fashion industry but I also want to
change the world
great I know pretty ambitious for a 16
year old in high school but Steve Jobs
once said that the ones who are crazy
enough to think that they can change the
world are the ones who do so call me
crazy okay so now back to the clothing
industry what does it have to do with
the environment well let’s talk about
pants we’re all wearing them today I
hope so let’s go through the average
life cycle of what so first you know the
cotton is planted and treated then
eventually that cotton goes into
production of the textiles it’s made
into denim then the denim is made into
pants and then the pants are shipped and
distributed we the consumers buy them
and what should happen is from Step five
it should go to step 6
and back to step 2 which means the pants
should be recycled or at least the
materials should be recycled and the
fabric should be refurbished and
repurposed now what usually happens is
from Step five we just jump to step
seven which would equal the end of the
life of the pants seems pretty wasteful
right I know well did you know that it
takes thirty three kilos I’m sorry it
the making of denim jeans actually emit
thirty three kilos of carbon dioxide
into the atmosphere that’s equivalent
that’s equivalent to a
to an average vehicle in the United
States driving for 125 kilometers also
that is equivalent also making a pair of
jeans also uses over almost 4000 litres
of water that’s equivalent to 5050 three
seven minute showers or for flushing the
toilet five hundred and seventy five
times that is also equal to more than
four hundred mega joules of energy which
is enough to power a computer for five
hundred and fifty six hours that’s
seventy days worth of work not only that
but it takes one kilo of cotton to make
pimp and from that and and for that
twenty thousand poops
twenty thousand liters of water is
required that’s enough for one month
worth of entire household chores now
think about that for a second and think
about the fact that four hundred and
fifty billion pairs of jeans are sold in
the u.s. annually you do the math so
back when fashion first started there
used to be two seasons right I’m sure
we’re all aware there’s fall in winter
and then spring and summer which meshed
together to make two seasons now with
the industry growing at such a fast rate
there are 52 seasons and for those of
you who weren’t very good at math like
myself that’s one for every week of the
year
sounds pretty wasteful right well
there’s a name for this it’s called fast
fashion and much like fast food there
are products which are low in quality
low in price but big in quantity now
what does this mean for those who
actually make the clothes do we ever ask
ourselves that no we’re just concerned
with the new pair of jeans that we
bought so how can we change this how can
we train change being so wasteful we can
be sustainable well what a
sustainability mean according to the
United States Environmental Protection
Agency it means to create and maintain
the conditions under
humans and nature can exists and
productive harmony to support present
and future generations okay but what
does that mean in fashion well in
fashion it means – it means the exact
opposite of fast fashion to be
sustainable means to produce garments
that are in that are high in quality
fair prices but in low quantities so
slow fashion if you want to call it that
because cheap what may be cheap for us
will surely have a cost for those who
are making it and for the environment so
back to what I was saying about the
about the ones who make her clothes we
don’t think about that we see a shirt
and we think it’s pretty and we buy it
we don’t think about those who are
actually making the shirt doing so those
factory workers I mentioned earlier are
not in fact factory workers at all
they’re sweatshop workers and that means
by the United States Department of Labor
that’s a factory that violates two or
more labor laws think about it their
laws for labor those who work and if a
factory violates that you can imagine
the conditions that they’re in very poor
conditions when I tell you and the
workers who make the clothes are not
paid what is considered the bare minimum
they’re sometimes asked to work for five
six hours over what they’re supposed to
and do they get paid for that no because
because the industry is so concerned
with making clothes that are so
unbelievably cheap for us the consumers
to want to buy them instead of being
concerned with making making clothes
that are so unbelievably great in
quality for example for us to want to
buy them so like I said not good many
tragedies actually can come from this in
fact in 30 2013 in Bangladesh there was
a collapse of a building called Rena
Plaza where a lot of fast fashion brands
made their clothes and over 1000 and 100
lives were lost
we don’t think about that when we’re
buying our pants do we know so when will
this stop
when will the injury industries stop
thinking about the price of the clothes
rather than the price of a life like I
said the statistic that actually brought
me to doing so much research about this
topic is that the industry the clothing
industry is the second largest polluter
of clean water in the world and not only
that but treating and dyeing textiles
actually takes up 20 20 % of industrial
water pollution and of that 25 percent
of all chemicals applied worldwide or
applied to cotton and of that cotton 90%
is genetically modified so with this
you’ve heard me talk all about how the
industry is big and bad and how you know
we should probably not buy into this and
everything like that but you’re probably
thinking great that’s that’s fine but I
can’t do anything to help that I’m only
one person and even if I could it’s
probably expensive or ugly or something
like that but no actually there are
pretty easy ways to help and let me tell
you I’ve been doing them recently and
they’re not that hard so first when
buying something ask yourself who made
my clothes do you know where they’re
made you know the country that they’re
made in perhaps if you look at the tag
but do you know who asked the manager
and if they don’t know don’t buy it
transparency is cheap when thinking
about sustainability you need to know
where your garments are being made and
if the manager of the store doesn’t know
chances are they’re being made in a
sweatshop so now what I like to call the
five R’s the easiest and simplest ways
to go sustainable firstly reduce simple
just reduce the amount of clothes your
bike I love shopping just as much as the
next girl but um
and I know we can get pretty lost in
clothes and shoes and shirts and bags
and dance and things but just think okay
if if what I’m about to buy will match
with more than three things in my closet
okay
I’ll allow myself to buy it if it’s
sustainable and if you’ve asked the
previous question so that’s the first
thing just reducing the size of your
closet go through your closet very
rarely we only were very concerned with
adding more things to our closet but
we’re not at all concerned with what’s
in our closet so go through your closet
first of all second repair if your
zippers broken don’t just buy another
dress don’t just buy their pants just
fix it
sec third reinvent DIY your clothes get
creative maybe you don’t like the dress
that you bought two years ago you can
make it into a shirt you can make it
into a skirt start cutting see what you
get
number four repurpose swap with your
friends it’s really fun actually
something that you think is so beautiful
and fresh and new and your friend’s
closet could be sitting there for years
they’d be glad to give it away just give
it a try and number five recycle go
thrifting go to a thrift store you have
no idea how great it is to wear
something and be complimented on it and
think okay I spent four dollars on this
but they don’t have to know that it’s a
great feeling really so like I said
before yes you’re right you are one
person and maybe what you do right now
doesn’t directly impact the industry but
you still are one person within the
environment you could very well be one
person up here giving a TED talk and you
don’t know how many people you’re gonna
impact doing that so what you choose to
do every single time you buy wash or
discard your clothes
ten and we’ll help save our environment our planet and change the world
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