Planet
In the 19th and 20th century, planet Earth was so badly treated that when the 21st century started, humanity was threatened with getting to the limit of its resistance (Fletcher K. And Grose L., 2012). Action was needed, so the UNEP defined “Environment” as one of the basic pillars for human existence and the UN created 17 SDGs to try to safeguard it. Six of these goals are directly linked to environmental care, consisting basically in achieving ecological stability (Gwilt A., 2020).
This means changing the conventional linear economy that consists in taking, making and wasting, and conversing it into a new circular economy that makes a responsible use of what it takes, keeping resources in use for as long as possible (Lench A., 2022).
Fashion industry is one of the most affected by this change, as it connects every other one in its production. From the obtaining of raw material to the retail or waste of these used pieces, the whole system is facing the need to change towards a more responsible way of producing. This not only means not creating waste or pollution, it means achieving a production that doesn’t put any other pillar in danger, creating a revolution running towards transparency and consideration for everything that surrounds it.
Given that 80% of the worlds resources are being consumed by 20% of the population (Gwilt A., 2020), this could start by seeking an equilibrium between peoples actual needs and what is produced. More than 100 billion garments are produced each year (Fashion Revolution, 2019), an unbalanced number knowing that there are only 8 billion people in the world.
Focusing on the “Responsible consumption and production” goal could be the trigger for many other SDGs to thrive. In fact, all of these goals are linked to one-another and by simply taking action in one of them, many others could benefit from it. In this case, the challenge that fashion industry currently faces in becoming transparent about their textile sources, worker conditions, usage and after use effects amongst many others, is a very good opening move towards the completing of other goals such as “clean water”, “good health and well-being” and even “peace, justice and strong institutions”.
Todays society has an opportunity to create a pattern of evolution that starts in creating a circular economy fashion-wise but end up in the achieving of all of the sustainable development goals. Because as well as the fashion production is a chain, society’s behavior and customs are one, and the change of an attitude in one segment of the population has a domino effect on everything that surrounds it.
Citations:
AtKisson, A. (2017). With the SDGs, everything is connected. [online] GreenBiz. Available at: https://www.greenbiz.com/article/sdgs-everything-connected [Accessed 5 Oct. 2022].
Constanzo Snow, S. (2016). Sustainable Development – What is there to know and why should we care? Available at: https://www.unssc.org/news-and-insights/blog/sustainable-development-what-there-know-and-why-should-we-care [Accessed 6 Oct. 2022].
Dean, C. (2019). Waste – is it ‘really’ in fashion? [online] Fashion Revolution. Available at: https://www.fashionrevolution.org/waste-is-it-really-in-fashion/ [Accessed 7 Oct. 2022].
Fletcher, K. and Grose, L. (2012). Fashion & sustainability : design for change. London, England: Laurence King.
Gwilt, A. (2020). Practical Guide To Sustainable Fashion. S.L.: Ava Academia.
Lench, A. (2022). Intro to Fashion Sustainability & the Sustainable Development Goals. [online] Available at: https://moodle.arts.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/1469932/mod_label/intro/FBS%20Intro%20to%20Fashion%20Sustainability%20and%20the%20SDGs%20%20%20%281%29.pdf.