Planet

Planet is one of the four pillars of sustainability used to allow the rise of sustainable development in the fashion industry. The pillar planet follows the UN’s seventeen sustainable development goals which were implemented as guidelines to aid the planet, the people of the planet and prosperity (Rimarcikova, 2023). These sustainable development goals are enforced and should be followed throughout the production, selling, use and end of life period within all garments and textiles used in the fashion industry. One way of reducing products’ impacts on the environment is through circular economies. With its rising popularity, especially through coronavirus lockdown and a considerable surge of second-hand clothing apps and websites, circular economies prioritises garments and textiles being at a high quality throughout its life cycle, especially reentering the economy and not losing any value (Gwilt, 2014). By doing this, it reduces waste and pollution caused by the garments especially during the end-of-life phase. Circular economies particularly emphasises how textiles are treated and used after they have been disposed of, whether that be by the garment being recycled, reused or repaired. This is consistent with the UN’s Goal 13, climate action, which states that urgent action must be taken to fight against the effects of climate change (United Nations, 2023).

The use of Goal 13 is parallel with the attitude of circular economies. Within a company, all aspects of the production process must be carefully studied to assess how an impact on the environment can be reduced or eliminated. By doing this it can assist in the reduction of consequences from sourcing materials, waste from garment construction, effects from use of the garment or even the end of life phase for the garment for the first customer. It looks at all aspects of the production process of clothing (Gwilt, 2014). By using the assessment, the company can affectively be transparent in showing that it is trying to reduce its negative outcomes such as reducing: the use of fossil fuels, having a high amount of waste materials or how the garment will affect the environment after it is sold. These ethical changes are also following Goal 12 in the sustainable development goals as this states that brands should be more responsible with their production and consumers should be more responsible with their consumption (United Nations, 2023). For example, Stella McCartney launched the first commercial fully circular parka in January 2023, made from plastic waste and unwanted fishing nets, making it 100% recycled material (Chan, 2023). This is a significant step in aligning the fashion industry with the sustainable development goals as the garment has a considerably low amount of negative impacts on the environment.

By following Stella McCartney’s example, companies cannot be accused of greenwashing their brands as they are actively trying to solve the problem from within. Greenwashing is described as untrue or misleading information released from a business about positive environmental and ethical practices (Lindwall, 2023). Untrue statements, especially ones involving the environment, are a large problem in the fashion industry currently as having an ethical brand gives the company a competitive edge. This is especially true in Generation Z, who are trying to push for more action against climate change and will support businesses claiming to be sustainable.

Bibliography:

Chan, E. (2023) ‘”We Can Replace Bad Business With Clean Business”: Stella McCartney Shares Her Hopes for the Fashion Industry in 2023’, Vogue (Online) Available at: https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/stella-mccartney-sustainable-fashion-2023 (Last Accessed 4th October 2023)

Gwilt, A. (2014) ‘A Practical Guide to Sustainable Fashion’, Fairchild Books Library, Bloomsbury Visual Arts. (Online) Available at: https://www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.arts.idm.oclc.org/encyclopedia?docid=b-9781350067059 (Last Accessed 3rd October 2023)

Lindwall, C. (2023) ‘What is Greenwashing?’, Natural Resources Defence Council (Online) Available at: https://www.nrdc.org/stories/what-greenwashing#:~:text=What%20does%20greenwashing%20mean%3F,of%20a%20product%20or%20practice. (Last Accessed 3rd October 2023)

Rimarcikova, K. (2023) ‘Planet Earth & Fashion’ (PowerPoint Presentation) Planet. Available at: https://ual-moodle-sitedata.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/c6/51/c65101fe12c52fe834a680d4ed0f4a9de6182af3?response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3D%22WK2%20L1-Monday%2012.15-1.15%20%20PLANET%20%20FASHION_KR_2023%20.pdf%22&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA2PCH3OG65JHUZNKL%2F20231007%2Feu-west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20231007T154007Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21593&X-Amz-Signature=3599279fac924b821c198e5cb75884853d29290f4e61e774f001cfa7a151796f (Last Accessed: 2nd October 2023)

United Nations. (2023) Sustainable Development and Climate Action, Sustainable Development Goals. Available at: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/ (Last Accessed 6th October 2023)