SUSTAINABLE FASHION refers to designing, manufacturing, distributing, and using clothes in a way that is environmental-friendly. Although most brands are only using the concept as a marketing campaign, some individuals, governments and brands like Patagonia are already making sustainable and eco-friendly decisions to improve the climate.
Patagonia is pledging 1% of sales to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment. Allowing you to buy and sell, trade-in and fix your worn and torn gear through prioritising durability results by consuming less energy, wasting less water and creating less trash. Since 1993 the brand has been producing fleece jackets using polyester from recycled bottles thus being a good exemplifier of how brands can get on the “save the earth” train.
Price of a Masterpiece.
As we grapple with our current environmental state where 10% of all green house emissions are from the fashion industry And textile dyeing is the second largest water pollutant globally. Pollution to water bodies from color dyes. Half a million tons of plastic microfibers are dumped into the ocean annually, the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles flow through and settle into the water bodies.
Animals and other living organisms are becoming more extinct for their skins, horns, and body parts. These are considered essential in creating fashionable masterpieces. Human beings on the other hand face exploitation from cheap labour, are at risk of contacting chronic diseases and health complications both from work and home due to the microfibers discarded into water bodies. The kind that cannot be extracted and thus spread throughout the food chain.
The gravity of the Fashion industry’s contribution is deeper than perceived. — enough to meet the consumption needs of five million people. Around 20% of wasted water worldwide comes from fabric-dyeing and treatment. It is estimated that the fashion industry’s greenhouse gas emissions will surge more than 50% by 2030 if nothing is done in the next few years. But in order to stop that from happening, and to avoid passing down a deserted planet to the next generation, what can we do? From the consumer to the designer and customer.
WHAT A CONSUMER CAN DO
Buy recycled clothes from stores that are environmental considerate, with programs that are involved or supporting the betterment of society.
Repair your old clothes to make new ones, for example, cutting the leg’s off from an old trouser and putting them on another one, or turning an old trouser into shorts.
Donate clothes that you no longer use to people that will wear them, thus keeping giving them a longer shelter life.
Buy your clothes from a second hand shop. There are now many new second hand store that sell nice, original clothes at a cheapper price.
Buy high quality, more durable clothes that you can envision yourself wearing again and again throughout the years (although it’s a little more expensive, clothes will last for years)
Quality over quantity. Every additional year a garment is worn means less pollution. Cheap clothing often doesn’t survive the wash cycle, meaning that in the long run you don’t save money compared with buying better quality garments
Engage with your favourite brands in a climate change dilogue to find out what they are doing, and suggest what they can do to protect the environment.
WHAT BRANDS CAN DO
Using natural organic materials or biodegradable materials , like biodegradable dyes, engineering patterns that create zero waste as these materials can be decomposed back to the oil.
Human safety, of all workers and workers environment. Away from the inviolate stores
During production, use more environmentally favorable energy like electricity than petroleum. Minimize the amount of water and energy used in the manufacturing process. Reduce waste by eliminating excessive plastic packaging when transporting from the manufacturer, to the warehouse, and to the customer; and/or ship in bulk.
Recycle, yes you have heard this word again and again but using recycled thread, materials like buttons from recycled plastic bottles, and other materials to create accesories.
Support human capital through creating a fair pay and creating fair working conditions for tailors.
88% of your consumers want to change the world, but they need your help doing just that. By engaging consumers according to a this study by future the problem is that they don’t know exactly how. For example giving a discount to customers who choose eco-friendly products.
CONCLUSION
Prolonging the life of your clothes by taking care of them well, mending and tailoring as needed, and making alterations to modernize their looks to match your current tastes. When you can nolonger wear them, instead of trashing them with the garbage, you can take them to exchange shops or recycling shops to be turned into something new.
For designers and producers of fashion, it is the small changes we incorporate in the system that generally improve the environment, from water to air and not forgetting other species and humanity. Alone we may do so little, but together we can do so much. What are you going to do now, to save the environment.
In a comment below, share some suggestions on how we can engage in climate change.
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