Planet
Why fashion affect planet？
In the past few decades, the fashion industry has taken a huge part in global pollution. These causes of waste and excessive resources are partly due to the promotion of fast fashion, seasonal trend changes, leading to premature product replacement and fashion obsolescence, and another important reason is the lack of management and distribution channels of the second-hand clothing market, which puts a lot of high-quality clothing that can still be used for a long time into landfills.
Reasons for fragmentation of the industrial chain
The most important reasons include the fragmentation of the industrial chain, from the place of materials to the place of production, and then to the place of distribution, the huge consumption of transport and energy costs, for example, from the completion of the production of a piece of clothing to the distribution of dozens of steps, multiple layers of over-packaging, the need for hundreds of employees, and as people look at the huge global fashion industry, the subsequent generation of a huge textile waste disposal problems has already appear. (Radačičová, 2020).Such a phenomenon can be categorised as a break in the circular economy.
Climate action
Pollution to the environment can be reduced from the start of fabric making, and some textile manufacturers have started to make more textiles that are free of cancer-causing chemicals than some of the already familiar OIL-BASED TEXTILES, which have wastewater released into the environment without having to be landfilled into the soil, thus reducing the harm to the environment. (Why Fashion Matter, Frances Corner, 2014, pp.2)
Example of industrial chain problem solving—circular economy repair
The famous fast fashion brand HM has carried out practices regarding sustainable supply chains.H&M uses efficient, low-emission modes of transport to reduce excess wasted energy. Currently, sea or rail transport is H&M’s main mode of transport from suppliers to distribution centers, accounting for more than 80 percent of the total transport volume. The result is a reduction in CO2 emissions of more than 700 tonnes per year. To reduce carbon emissions, H&M has established an intelligent transport system, reduced the number of transit warehouses, reduced the volume of air and sea transport to 40%, and increased the volume of products transported by rail. (Sustainable Fashion Supply Chain: Lessons from H&M, BIN SHEN, 2014)
Necessity of second-hand shop-responsible consumption
For another way to reduce waste, Oxfam research estimates that if half of the next wardrobe for all adults in the UK was second-hand, the emissions reduced would be equivalent to an airplane flying around the world more than 17,000 times. （NN(2023)Discover how you can reduce textile waste for Second Hand )
conclusion
A major reason for the huge amount of pollution generated by the fashion industry is the fragmentation of the industry chain, where workers in different factories do not have uniform production standards and management systems, resulting in the quality of most of the products not being able to be used by the public for a long time. In addition, most people do not realize that the popularity of the second-hand market can reduce a large part of the waste of the environment, therefore, the lack of the two steps of recycling and reuse has caused the fashion industry to continue to pollute the earth.
reference list
Matušovičová, M., 2020. Sustainable fashion as a part of the circular economy concept. Studia Commercialia Bratislavensia, 13(45), pp.215-223.
Corner, F., 2014. Why fashion matters. Thames & Hudson.
Shen, B., 2014. Sustainable fashion supply chain: Lessons from H&M. Sustainability, 6(9), pp.6236-6249.
Matušovičová, M., 2020. Sustainable fashion as a part of the circular economy concept. Studia Commercialia Bratislavensia, 13(45), pp.215-223.
NN.(2023).Discover how you can reduce textile waste for Second Hand September,Climate,Rubbish,recycling and environment,https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/news/2023/discover-how-you-can-reduce-textile-waste-second-hand-september(3.October.2023)
Corner, F., 2014. Why fashion matters. Thames & Hudson.
Shen, B., 2014. Sustainable fashion supply chain: Lessons from H&M. Sustainability, 6(9), pp.6236-6249.