How Cashmere Production Is Turning Our Planet Into a Desert
Is your winter jacket turning our planet into a desert? If it’s made of cashmere, the answer is “yes”. Cashmere holds the dubious distinction of having the most destructive environmental impact of all animal-derived fibres.
Six Goats Are Needed for One Cashmere Jacket
Let’s bring it back to basics. Cashmere comes from the delicate undercoats of goats. Considering that a single goat produces a mere 250 grams of hair annually and a cashmere jacket requires the hair of at least six goats, you can imagine the scale of the cashmere industry and how many animals it exploits.
Mongolia: The Land of 27 Million Cashmere Goats
Mongolia is one of the world’s largest cashmere producers, and the industry has a far-reaching and devastating impact – not only on goats but also on the land and its inhabitants. Mongolia is home to 3.3 million humans and a staggering 27 million cashmere goats.
The numbers are shocking. Imagine the vast grasslands required to feed these herds, and consider that each goat requires 10% of their body weight in food daily and that goats consume entire plants, including the roots, which prevents them from growing back.
From Grasslands to Desolation: The Devastating Effects
The consequences are dire. As the grasslands are stripped bare and the soil loses its vitality, Mongolia’s landscape rapidly deteriorates. A shocking 65% of the country’s grasslands are already degraded, and an alarming 90% of the land is at risk of desertification.
Have you noticed the surge in reported dust storms? These unsettling phenomena are a direct result of the desertification process triggered by cashmere production. As the land loses its ability to hold on to moisture and vegetation, it becomes increasingly susceptible to erosion and the relentless forces of nature.
Goats Cry Out in Agony Then Are Killed
Each of these millions of goats is a living, breathing individual capable of feeling pain and fear just as we do. Yet the cashmere industry treats them as merely disposable.
PETA Asia documented goats screaming in pain and terror as workers tie their legs together, pin them down, and tear out their hair in a process that can take up to an hour, sometimes leaving them with bleeding wounds.
Once the goats no longer produce enough hair to be profitable, workers bash them on the head with a hammer and slit their throats. At one slaughterhouse, goats were seen moving for four agonising minutes as they slowly bled to death.
Never Buy Cashmere
Next time you go shopping, remember the gentle goats who cry out in agony and the lands that silently turn to dust. As consumers, we wield remarkable power. By avoiding cashmere and embracing sustainable vegan fashion, we are rejecting this catastrophic environmental exploitation and cruelty to goats.
Let your voice be heard. Please take a moment to send a message to Burberry and other brands still selling cashmere urging them to cut ties with this abusive and damaging industry:
