Planet Blog
The planet pillar relates to fashion’s environmental impact on the planet. Everyone benefits from prioritising the health of the planet. We all must ensure sustainability is holistic in its ethos and execution. Major trends nurturing our planet include creativity, value creation for all stakeholders, social and cultural responsibility and increased awareness of the importance of education and transparency in business supply chains. For example, online fast fashion retailers ASOS (Asos.com, 2020) and PLT (www.pltmarketplace.com, n.d.) have recently launched marketplaces where consumers can buy and sell unwanted secondhand fashion items, preventing them from going to landfill and extending their product lifecycle.
We must also remind ourselves that the fashion industry is incredibly damaging to our planet’s environment and it has a massive strain on the carbon/water cycles. The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of all global emissions, one t-shirt and one pair of jeans use five thousand gallons of water to produce; contributing to 20% of industrial water pollution globally. Also, over 60% of garments contain fabrics derived from fossil fuels (Thomas, D. 2019); finite natural resources high are in CO2. Consuming fossil fuels at the rapid rate we are currently isn’t sustainable; as the demand is much higher than the supply.
In 2015 Adidas and Stella McCartney launched the first ever garments made with Evrnu’s Nucycle yarn and KOBA fur free fur; a sustainable, recyclable animal alternative made from recycled polyester and plant-based plastic (www.stellamccartney.com, n.d.)
The UN issued seventeen Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. Goal thirteen ‘Climate Action’ aims to “take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”. The mission of the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action aims “to drive the fashion industry to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions no later than 2050 in line with keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees” (unfccc, 2018). Sustainable fashion ensures garments are made in a way that is mindful of many environmental issues. Circular fashion is a sustainable approach which ditches the linear “take-make-waste” model and instead asks the fashion industry to close the loop on production, including responsible manufacturing, use, and end-of-life for every garment. It’s a regenerative system in which garments are circulated for as long as their maximum value is retained, and then returned safely to the biosphere when they are no longer of use. Patagonia has a programme that allows customers to return every one of their products for recycling, to make into new items; “from polyester, recycled nylon, down and wool – this company advocates for the earth at every turn.” (Recycle Coach, 2022).
References:
- Asos.com. (2020). Hot New Brands | Labels & Vintage Boutiques | ASOS Marketplace. [online] Available at: https://marketplace.asos.com.
- www.pltmarketplace.com. (n.d.). PLT Marketplace | Buy & Sell Clothing | PrettyLittleThing. [online] Available at: https://www.pltmarketplace.com.
- Recycle Coach. (2022). 8 Ethical Companies that Recycle Clothes (+Fashion Waste). [online] Available at: https://recyclecoach.com/blog/8-ethical-companies-that-recycle-clothes-fashion-waste/.
- www.stellamccartney.com. (n.d.). Designer Clothing | Latest Luxury Fashion | Stella McCartney UK. [online] Available at: https://www.stellamccartney.com/gb/en/?ad=mainline&ad=RSA&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-fmZBhDtARIsAH6H8qgC3w0YBsgYM6C3Tefm7jOwhtDg8KjUAhd-xeQybU8fnlBPGIA2dwgaAg-0EALw_wcB [Accessed 6 Oct. 2022].
- Thomas, D. (2019). Fashionopolis : the price of fast fashion and the future of clothes. London: Apollo.
- United Nations (2022). Goal 13 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs. [online] sdgs.un.org. Available at: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal13.
- unfccc (2018). About the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action | UNFCCC. [online] Unfccc.int. Available at: https://unfccc.int/climate-action/sectoral-engagement/global-climate-action-in-fashion/about-the-fashion-industry-charter-for-climate-action.