Is our obsession with shopping for new clothes ruining the environment?

In some parts of the world, going shopping is a major past time. Huge shopping centres are a leisure destination. We feel that buying a new item is a treat, and that wearing new clothes makes us feel smart, clean, and attractive. But the production of new clothes has a huge environmental cost. Growing cotton uses many litres of water and lots of pesticides which escape into rivers, killing off fish and other sea life. Worker in garment factories are paid low wages and suffer from inhaling toxic fumes. Synthetic clothing does not biodegrade. Could there be a way around this? Wearing secondhand clothing is a way to extend the life of a garment that a person is bored with. It has always existed, but in the last few years has become fashionable and labelled not second hand but vintage. Remade clothes are also an option, where second hand clothing is altered to make new clothes. And if we insist on wearing new clothes, it is preferable to use fibres like bamboo, which can be grown quickly, with much less water than cotton, and will biodegrade once the clothing is unwearable. Or choose organic cotton, which at least has no pesticides.