Some large clothing retailers are starting to take notice of the environmental questions and are exploring options.
“Our research shows that customers are getting very concerned about environmental issues, and we don’t want to get caught between the eyes,” said Mike Barry, head of corporate social responsibility at Marks & Spencer, one of Britain’s largest retailers, which helped pay for the Cambridge study.
Consumers spend more than $1 trillion a year on clothing and textiles, an estimated one-third of that in Western Europe, another third in North America, and about a quarter in Asia. In many places, cheap, readily disposable clothes have displaced hand-me-downs as the mainstay of dressing.
The result, women’s clothing sales in Britain rose by 21 percent between 2001 and 2005 alone to about £24 billion ,or $47.6 billion, spurred by lower prices, according to the Cambridge report.