Planet Blog Post
The four fundamental pillars that dominate the sustainability of fashion are the planet, people, profit, and purpose. These four concepts form the basis around which all brands and companies base their operations. As a result, this week’s emphasis is on the pillar ‘Planet’ and how the fashion business alters the environment in which we live.
The enormous quantity of pollution that is created throughout the process of farming resources, manufacturing clothing, and shipping garments is one concern with fashion for the environment. According to statistics, the fashion sector contributes 8–10% of the world’s emissions (Stallard, 2022). This is due to the production process and the transport and distribution of clothing, all producing significant amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. For instance, it requires a lot of energy to produce textiles, including raw materials (such cotton), process the fibres, and making garments. It entails burning fossil fuels, which release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere such as carbon dioxide and methane, both of which cause global warming. The risk of greenhouse gas emissions also exists throughout the stage of transportation and distribution. Global supply chains are crucial to the fashion industry as they enable the long-distance movement of raw materials, textiles, and completed garments. Therefore, additional emissions result from this. On the other hand, attempts are being taken to address these challenges, such as the creation of eco-friendly materials, the promotion of circular economy practises, and sustainable and ethical fashion movements. However, there is still much work to be done to mitigate the fashion industry’s impact on climate change.
Circular economy and “sustainable movements” were previously mentioned. Sustainability is the process of making, consuming, and discarding clothing in a way that has the least negative impact on the environment and society and has the greatest positive effects on people. The circular economy is one strategy for achieving sustainability in the fashion industry. The circular economy seeks to reduce waste while extending the life and value of garments and textiles. To achieve this, the circular economy is based on three principles: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials, regenerate nature. An example where a brand is leading the way in the circular economy is Stella McCartney. Stella McCartney is a luxury fashion brand known for its strong emphasis on sustainability. They incorporate circular principles into their designs, by promoting repair and resale and using sustainable materials. Therefore, by adopting a circular economy approach, the fashion industry aims to reduce its environmental footprint, conserve resources, and promote a more sustainable and responsible way of producing and consuming clothing.
SDG 12: “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns” is one UN SDG that is highly relevant to the fashion industry. SDG 12 is about ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns, which is key to sustain the livelihoods of current and future generations (United Nation , 2023). SDG 12 has an impact on the fashion industry as it asks for more environmentally friendly production practises, making it essential for the sector to reduce its environmental footprints. This might be accomplished by using less energy or water (Malone, 2013) since a T-shirt requires 2700 litres of water to produce.
Bibliography:
Malone, J., 2013. It Takes 2,700 Liters of Water to Make a T-Shirt. [Online]
Available at: https://www.triplepundit.com/story/2013/it-takes-2700-liters-water-make-t-shirt/54321#:~:text=The%20growth%2C%20manufacturing%2C%20transporting%2C,the%20t%2Dshirt%20once%20purchased.
[Accessed 06 February 2013].
Stallard, E., 2022. Fast fashion: How clothes are linked to climate change. [Online]
Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60382624#:~:text=Producing%20clothes%20uses%20a%20lot,the%20aviation%20and%20shipping%20combined.
[Accessed 29 July 2022].
United Nation , 2023. Sustainable Development Goals. [Online]
Available at: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-consumption-production/#:~:text=Goal%2012%3A%20Ensure%20sustainable%20consumption%20and%20production%20patterns&text=Goal%2012%20is%20about%20ensuring,of%20current%20and%20future%20generations.
[Accessed 2023].