PLANET BLOG
The fashion industry is built upon four pillars: planet, people, profit and purpose. Today I am focusing on “planet” and why it is so important to fashion, business and our future. Let me start with some staggering facts about the fashion industry and these may, hopefully, make you want to change your shopping habits and open your eyes about the harsh reality of the fashion industry and its impact on our world on a global scale.
There are just over 8 billion people on our planet today and we all can’t just walk around in our birthday suit so we must dress ourselves and most of us like to dress in style and care about what we wear. We all have favourite brands we like to buy from, and they are forever changing and adapting to trends on a yearly, even seasonal, basis and this creates a large amount of pollution and waste every year from the vast amount of production. This industry is one of the largest polluters to the world, it is responsible for 8-10% of the humanity’s carbon emissions which is more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. Around 20% of industrial wastewater pollution worldwide originates from the fashion industry. The equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles are released into the ocean each year from clothing production. Before 1940 only a few thousand tonnes of synthetic fibres were consumed, it rose to 60 million tonnes in 2018.
These are some devastating facts about the world of fashion that need to be acted upon as soon as possible as this is not a sustainable production method, especially on the year on year growth. We must redefine sustainability and use the “re” practices: reduce, repair, reuse, recycle, repurpose, restore and regenerate. This moves me on to talk about the circular economy. What is circular economy you ask? The principles are to eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials at their highest value and regenerate nature. This is so important as the current system will always produce pollution which is only going to create catastrophic affects to the global climate sooner than it should ever happen. Something that all fashion businesses should focus on is adapting to a more effective way to tackle climate change and the irreversible damage this current system is causing.
Some things fashion businesses can focus on to be more sustainable are using materials that are biodegradable or natural fibres so these materials will grow with no fertilizer use and consume less energy and water thus reducing the overall carbon footprint of the brand. Using a business model where you can resell the clothes from previous collections from the consumers themselves so no clothes will go to waste, and they will be used and bought again from someone else which is a great way to reduce waste and keep a close connection with the brand and its customers. Brands like depop and vinted are reducing the mainstream brands sales. Examples of fashion businesses that have a resale platform are Canada Goose, Carhartt, Levi’s, Lululemon, Patagonia and so many more are jumping onto this business model as it is so successful for reducing waste and production of new clothing.
Lets move onto talking about SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) there are 17 of these the United Nations work on, I want to specifically focus on number 17, partnership for the goals. I’d like to emphasise how important it is for brands to really focus on working collaboratively towards a more sustainable business model. Encouraging effective partnership between workplaces is so important, working closely with suppliers, for example, and communicating with them about future targets should be a main priority and this would also increase more recognition to their consumers as everyone wants to be more sustainable. For a respected brand to focus on this topic also brings more favour to them without greenwashing and comes from the companies morals and recognition to climate change.
I’d like to finish with saying although the industry is at an all-time low with being sustainable, it can only go up from here. My generation (Gen Z) is here to redesign the fashion world to be more aware of the current situation and its effects on the environment and my aspiration is to do so.
Bibliography
GENEVA ENVIRONMENT NETWORK https://www.genevaenvironmentnetwork.org/resources/updates/sustainable-fashion/
VOGUE BUSINESS https://www.voguebusiness.com/sustainability/sustainability-where-fashion-is-heading-in-2022
FORBES https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2023/01/02/the-state-of-sustainability-in-the-fashion-industry-and-what-it-means-for-brands/