We propose the following challenge: open your closet in front and look from top to bottom and from left to right. Don't forget what's inside. Watch carefully everything you keep and (sincerely) answer the question: How many clothes have you not worn in a year?

According to the Ellen McArthur Foundation, the consumption of citizens has grown by 60% in the last fifteen years and 30% of what is in European cabinets has not been used in the last twelve months. Whether or not you are part of this percentage, this data shows that we consume beyond our needs, with exceptions, of course. Proof of this is that some clothing brands, usually cheap and of low quality, present 52 seasons or clothing collections annually (approximately one weekly).

The fast fashion industry is based on mass production of clothing, is inspired by the latest trends and has a limited duration, so it is absolutely unsustainable. On the one hand, because it is the second most polluting industry, behind fossil energies: According to the Clean Clothes campaign, the fashion industry annually generates 92 million tons of waste and 1.5 trillion liters of unusable water, which accounts for 20% of global sewage. On the other hand, it needs enormous means to produce clothing, but these resources on the planet are limited. As if it were not enough, it is unsustainable because it hides the 70-hour days (80% of workers in the sector are women), offensive salaries, the use of techniques and chemicals harmful to health and workshops away from compliance with health and safety conditions.

The Zero Poverty Platform of San Sebastian is composed of sixteen organizations and social movements of the city, and we believe that this reality should lead us to reflect on how we consume. Less, and if we consume more responsibly, sustainably and consciously, we will have positive effects on our environment and elsewhere far away. Consumption is a powerful weapon to transform the world.

However, we believe that public institutions should provide courageous, urgent, supportive and fair answers to be part of the solution. We propose that you work by binding laws to protect people and the environment and get businesses to respond to the negative impact of their activity. We demand that they promote quality local trade, and not large areas that grow exponentially in our cities, because they encourage this kind of excessive consumption. We call on them to strengthen development cooperation policies, which are part of the solution to the global crisis we are experiencing.

We are aware that the causes of this problem are multiple and different, and they are the result of political and economic decisions. We are therefore convinced that solutions must be global and work in many sectors. Faced with the challenges and threats our world has, we cannot be stuck. We therefore invite citizens to participate and mobilise in the initiatives we have organised on 17 October, International Day against Poverty and Exclusion. In particular, the intense demand we have made this Sunday 22. Starting at 12:00 from the Wind Comb to the Beautiful Look of San Sebastian, under the slogan The real cost of fast fashion.

Donostia Zero Poverty Platform