Planet
Playing an important role in society, national economy and the environment, sustainable development provides an effective solution for the whole world to protect the planet while receiving the benefits of resources without any waste. It is also beneficial to our future generations. There are important four pillars which were identified by LCF Fashion Business School: planet, people, profit, and purpose. They are also referred to as social, environmental, and economic pillars. This blog will focus on the planet pillar to explore the environmental impact of the fashion industry.
The circular economy, as an effective system in the fashion industry, entails recycle, refuse, reduce, re-use, repair, re-gift, and recover. All materials will end up being infinitely recyclable or biodegradable. (Gwilt,2020) Moreover, according to The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017, the circular economy plays a key role in mitigating the negative impact of fashion consumption and pollution, which acts as a financial buffer. Apart from that, it presents more business and economic opportunities while protecting the environment and creating social benefits.
Regarding sustainability in relation to fashion, The fashion industry is now known as one of the most wasteful industries. (Moran,2022) This is largely attributed to the prevalence of overproduction. According to McKinsey & Company, the scale of clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2014, followed by a further surge. Additionally, there are 500,000 tonnes of plastic microfibres are discharged each year into the ocean due to laundered clothing, equivalent to over 50 billion plastic bottles. (Mccartney,2018)
Furthermore, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Fig1.) were set out by the UN in 2015, which is a move that urges different industries to collaborate in working towards sustainable development. (Zhenmin, 2022) As a huge industry, the fashion industry is linked to many other industries such as the chemical industry, transportation , etc. Therefore, the fashion industry is more related to and influential on SDGs. The first thing that comes to mind is The first thing that comes to mind is the 11 goal, Sustainable Cities And Communities. (Fig2.) United Nations (2022) point out that Cities and metropolises are important areas of economic growth, accounting for around 60% of GDP, therefore this also leads to some negative impacts, for example, they also account for around 70% of global carbon emissions. The fashion industry influences Sustainable Cities And Communities in different aspects such as packing aspect. Due to its dependence on plastic and paper across the supply chain, including paper return labels, plastic packaging for online orders, and polybags in factories. (Brown,2020) Thus, more brands take positive action for 11 goal. For example, British brand weird fish announced in November 2020 the introduction of wood pulp and at least 30% grass fibre eco-straw paper bags (Fig3.) in 17 physical shops in order to replace plastic bags. (Brown,2020) According to this effective action, would reduce CO2 emissions by 75%, which is a good way to reduce the carbon footprint. Another packaging is available on the market, for example, the platform SupplyCompass. Launch biodegradable garment bags (Fig 4.) to retailers (Brown,2020)
References
Brown, H., 2022. Unpacking fashion’s packaging problem. [online] Drapers. Available at: <https://www.drapersonline.com/topics/sustainable-fashion/unpacking-fashions-packaging-problem> [Accessed 9 October 2022].
Division, U., 2022. — SDG Indicators. [online] Unstats.un.org. Available at: <https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2020/> [Accessed 9 October 2022].
Gwilt, A., 2020. A practical guide to sustainable fashion. London ; Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2020.
Liu, Z., 2022. Finding transformative pathways in turbulent times — SDG Indicators. [online] Unstats.un.org. Available at: <https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2020/finding-transformative-pathways-in-turbulent-times/> [Accessed 8 October 2022].
McCartney, S., 2018. H&M, Gap and Stella McCartney Join Forces for Sustainable Fashion. [online] The Business of Fashion. Available at: <https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/sustainability/hm-gap-and-stella-mccartney-join-forces-for-sustainable-fashion/> [Accessed 8 October 2022].
Moran, G., 2022. Collaborating for Change: Sustainability Report 2022 – Drapers. [online] Drapers. Available at: <https://www.drapersonline.com/guides/collaborating-for-change-sustainability-report-2022> [Accessed 8 October 2022].
Unstats.un.org. 2022. Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. [online] Available at: <https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/cities/> [Accessed 9 October 2022].
Figure list:
Figure 1. The 17 Sustainble Development Goals ( United Nations,n.d.)
Figure 2. Sustainable Cites And Communities (Unired Nations,n.d.)
Figure 3. SupplyCinpass (Drapers,n.d.)
Figure 4. Weird Fish (Drapers,n.d.)