Let’s bring the textile industry—and fashion—home.

Do you know where your clothes came from?

No, not the store, the label, or the brand. Or China, India, or Vietnam.

I mean, do you know who made your clothing? Do you know what your clothes are made from? Or where the fiber in your clothing came from? The cotton, the polyester, or the acrylic?

Chances are, you don’t. And that’s a problem. It’s difficult for people to have respect for an item or the people who created it when they don’t know where the item came from or how it was created in the first place.

For instance, did you know your athletic gear is probably made from plastic? And that 94 percent of U.S. drinking water has plastic lint from our clothing in it? You’re literally washing the plastic from your yoga pants into our water systems. Polyester, acrylic, nylon, spandex—it’s all plastic. Ninety-eight million tons of oil was used in the textile industry in 2015. By 2050, that number is expected to be 300 million.