Hello, we are Shane, Orna and Michelle and we have come together as a group with a shared interest in understanding sustainability within fast fashion.
One of the biggest contributors to pollution and global warming is the fashion industry. The scale of this pollution is often underestimated, as so many elements go into producing clothing.
With an increasing awareness of the effects we are having on the planet, people are attempting to change their day to day behaviours. Many people have embraced making small changes such as reusable cups for takeaway coffees to reduce waste going to landfill, or eating less beef in belief that this will contribute to less co2 emissions.
The fashion industry is the second biggest polluter globally and we all actively contribute to this with very little thought. With increased understanding, it is likely that consumers will take more responsibility for their actions. Fast fashion in particular has a big hill to climb to do better, but there are people and businesses trying to improve the model and this is a guide to help you understand sustainability in fashion before you shop.
Fast Fashion is the mass-production of cheap, disposable clothing.
Although the fashion industry contributes significantly to the world economy, many consumers are either unaware or refuse to acknowledge the negative impacts of the fast fashion industry, including the exploitation of workers, child labour, unsafe working conditions along with the devastating impact it has on the environment.
Today’s fashion consumers are on a perpetual path to purchase when it comes to new clothes. Over the last 30 years, the old Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter traditional cycle has been completely transformed by the growth of the internet and fast fashion business models.
For 18-30-year-old fashion shoppers, they have not lived in a world without e-commerce and social media. This has resulted in very different attitudes towards buying fashion, that not only shape the industry today, but will have a big impact on its future going forward. (www.thinkwithgoogle.com)
The ability to browse and shop anywhere, anytime, is changing the way shoppers identify and adopt new styles. Everything you want to buy is literally at your fingertips.
It is easy, as a result, to forget the monumental energy and effort that goes into producing the item you have just checked-out of your basket and expect to arrive at your door next day!
Despite the negative social, economic, and environmental impacts of fast fashion, consumption is on the rise.
"Generation Y and Z represent the largest target market for fast-fashion sales, as they are growing both in size and in purchasing power." (Hill & Lee, 2012)
Consumers are in a state of constant discovery. Through technology, people are happy to receive personalised recommendations based on their behaviours. Advertising is targeted to make the most of this knowledge for fast fashion brands and consumers are purchasing more as a result.
There is a constant pressure for the pursuit of newness particularly for Gen Y and Z. Although these audiences desire to be more sustainably-minded, their behaviours, are contradicting this.
Social media is also responsible for driving growing pressure to continually refresh wardrobes. Influencers are constantly in new clothing or advertising clothing "hauls" and purchases, however this conflicts with many influencers and consumers emerging desire to become more sustainable in their lifestyles.
Clothing is an essential part of our everyday life. Not only are they important from a practical point of view, but they also allow us to express ourselves and help shape our identity.
Clothing represents more than 60% of the total textiles used globally.
In last 15 years, clothing production has doubled. At the same time, clothing use has declined by almost 40%. Both developments are mainly due to the ‘fast fashion’ phenomenon, with quicker turnaround of new styles, increased number of collections offered per year, and often, lower prices. (Fashion and the Circular Economy, Ellen MacArthur Foundation)
Our excessive fashion consumption means production far exceeds need. “Around 100 billion items of clothing are produced around the world every year. Collectively, the world’s population buys 400 per cent more clothes than we did 20 years ago” (Sustainable Living - UNICEF Ireland)
Unsurprisingly, as we now own more clothes than we could possibly need, clothing is massively underutilised. Globally, the average number of times an item of clothing is worn, has decreased by 36% in comparison to 15 years ago. (www.euromonitor.com)
Piled high and sold cheap has been the business model for many of the main high-street brands. The objective that the end cost to the consumer needs to be cheap to ensure their loyalty. The quality often ends up compromised as a result and the consumer then needs to discard and replenish, adding to the cycle of fast fashion.
Encouraging this demand, retailers will often buy too much in order to secure the cheap cost and inevitably end up having to reduce cheap clothes further for end of season sales in order to move the stock on to make space for new styles. This further encourages the consumer to want clothes cheaper and cheaper.
Retailers and designer brands are often left with huge amounts of surplus stock which they either need to discount further or more shockingly, destroy.
Do consumers want to change?
The price of clothing has been decreasing for decades, while the human and environmental costs have grown dramatically. There is a gap between what the growing trend towards wanting to be more responsible and sustainable v's real consumer behaviour.
Some research shows 55% of shoppers claimed sustainability was more important than value (40%) and quality (38%). Yet people's real behaviour, when researching their actions rather than what they claim in a survey, showed sustainability on its own (at 59%) was substantially less important than value (84%), quality (84%) and style (83%). (Ayto & Hayeon, 2020)
As part of our research carried out 66% of people would be more likely to purchase clothing if it had sustainable attributes however 53% of people surveyed are not prepared to spend more for sustainable garments and 28% of participants do not want to spend more than €5 on a basic cotton t-shirt.
There is a real gap in what consumers claim compared to action. Education has to be key in changing the behaviour but in reality consumers have become so accustomed to the developing world creating cheap clothing for the developed world. It would appear the end cost to the consumer also has to be the driving factor in implementing real change in the sector.
GREENWASHING
Greenwashing is “the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how a company's products are more environmentally sound.” (Kenton, 2021)
The growing interest in sustainability is not a passing trend. Retailers be-aware the ethical stories that our clothes tell are becoming important to us. If a brand is to sell itself on its sustainable attributes it needs to be genuine and authentic.
Many brands may claim organic or sustainable fabrics and packaging are used with all or some of their offer. The truth is anyone can make these claims and disguise a product to appear this way.
If a fast fashion brand is legitimately using organic and sustainable materials they will have the relevant internationally recognised labels and symbols to promote this.
THE PROBLEM WITH FAST FASHION...
FASHION IN THE AIR
The fashion industry is the second largest polluter in the world after oil.
The apparel industry accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions. It is also responsible for considerable greenhouse emissions, “In 2015, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from textiles production totalled 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2." (Climate Change and Environment 2016 Insights – Analysis - IEA)
The global fashion industry contributes a lot of greenhouse gases due to the energy used during its production, manufacturing, and transportation of the estimated 100 billion millions garments produced annually.
Synthetic fibers (polyester, acrylic, nylon, etc.), used in the majority of our clothes, are made from fossil fuel, making production much more energy-intensive than with natural fibres such as cotton.
The industry supply chain operates in an almost linear way, putting a huge strain on non-renewable resources, polluting the environment. Most of our clothes are produced in China, Bangladesh, or India, countries still heavily powered by coal. Coal is one of the worst culprits for air pollution.
It is estimated that the industry will contribute more than 26% of the world’s annual carbon budget by 2050 if it continues on current path of industrial growth. (Fashion and the Circular Economy, Ellen MacArthur Foundation)
The industry’s impact on the environment extends far beyond the use of non-renewable resources.
How can we do better...
- Try to buy clothes made in countries where environmental laws are adhered to and sustainable energy is encouraged.
- Try buy clothes made from organic fibres and natural fibres or part synthetic fibres that do not require as many chemicals to be produced.
- Buy less.
- Buy better quality or the best you can afford.
- Rent, swap and sell the clothes you need and or don't want anymore.
FASHION IN THE ENVIRONMENT
Clothing has clearly become disposable. As a result, we generate more and more textile waste. A family in the western world throws away an average of 30 kg of clothing each year. Only 15% is recycled or donated, and the rest goes directly to the landfill or is incinerated. (www.sustainyourstyle.org)
Much of what goes to landfill is not biodegradable as garments contain synthetic fibres like polyester.
On top of that there is the packaging. To simply ship a garment to a highstreet warehouse uses labels, stickers, hangers, protective plastic and a cardboard box. Then to sell it in the store or online requires the removal of the shipping packaging to be discarded and replaced with a courier or shopping bag and the printed receipts to accompany them.
All this packaging has to be produced and disposed of.
How can we do better...
- Buy less.
- Buy better quality or the best you can afford.
- Try before you buy, know your size and know it fits eliminating unnecessary returns.
- Rent, swap and sell the clothes you need and or don't want anymore.
- Recycle clothing that cannot be given away or donated.
- Don't take a shopping bag at the till if you don't need it, use your own long life bag.
FASHION IN THE WATER
In most of the countries where fast fashion garments are produced, untreated toxic wastewaters from fabric dying and textiles factories are dumped directly into the rivers.
Wastewater can contain toxic chemicals such as lead and mercury and many others. These are extremely harmful to the life of the rivers, farming and land that also rely on the rivers and the health of people living and making a living on the rivers. The contamination will also eventually reach the sea and cause further destruction there.
Another major source of water contamination is the use of pesticides and fertilizers for cotton production, which heavily pollutes runoff waters which also affect the rivers and people living on them.
Water is also a high value commodity in many developed and developing countries. Developing countries produce fast fashion and therefore need to re-direct this precious commodity to producing the crops, fabric and end garment to ship to developed countries.
How can we do better...
- Buy clothes made in countries where environmental laws are adhered to.
- Try buy clothes made from organic fibres and natural fibres or part synthetic fibres that do not require as many chemicals to be produced.
- Buy clothing with fabrics that use lower water consumption such as linen and hemp.
- Only wash your clothes when you need to, this uses less water and makes your clothing last longer.
FASHION IN THE LAND
Cotton is the most widely used crop in fashion garments. Most of what we wear everyday has cotton involved. Cotton is a highly important and an essential crop for various products and the economy. "Cotton production alone supports the livelihoods of more than 250 million people." (www.bettercotton.org)
There are three basic kinds of cotton:
- Genetically modified: GM cotton is genetically modified to create a bigger yield off the plant and is cultivated using pesticides and fertilisers.
- Sustainable cotton: Sustainable cotton is not genetically modified. This kind of cotton is cultivated using lower levels of pesticides and fertilisers but it is not completely free from them.
- Organic cotton: Organic cotton does not use genetic modification, chemical pesticides or fertilisers.
Even though there appears to be a high demand for organic cotton, only 1% of farmed cotton in the world is organic. 75% of the world’s organic cotton comes from India.
Fast fashion is also a major contributor to rainforest destruction. Every year, thousands of hectares of endangered forests are cut down to be replaced by large scale plantations of trees used to make plant-based fabrics such as rayon, viscose, and modal.
Any genietically modified crop needs the addition of fertilisers and pesticides. The widespread use of these is the main contributor to soil degregation across the world. This has huge implications for the health of the soil and the people that farm and consume the products from it.
Regenerative farming practices are key to improving the health and wellbeing of the land and people.
“Regenerative Agriculture” describes farming and grazing practices that, among other benefits, reverse climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil biodiversity – resulting in both carbon drawdown and improving the water cycle. (www.regenerationinternational.org)
The key to regenerative agriculture is that it does less damage and actually improves the land. The soil is then capable of producing high quality, nutrient dense food and crops while at the same time improving, rather than degrading the land.
How can we do better...
- Buy from retailers who have signed up to be apart of either Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) or The Better Cotton Initiave. "Farmers who adhere to the Better Cotton Principles and Criteria receive a BCI licence and can sell their cotton as Better Cotton." (www.bettercotton.org)
- Buy products both food and fashion that are traceable to the farm, ideally a farm using regenerative farming methods.
- Buy less.
- Buy better quality or the best you can afford.
- Buy clothing made of BCI cotton or Lyocell/Tencel® instead of GM cotton, rayon, modal or viscose.
FASHION IN THE FACTORIES
The fashion and textile industry employs more than 300 million people globally, contributing massively to the global economy. (ellenmacarthurfoundation.org)
The industry supply chain operates in an almost linear way, putting a huge strain on non-renewable resources, polluting the environment, along with having huge negative societal impacts relating to unsafe working conditions, child labour and exploitation of workers. The industry’s impact on the environment extends far beyond the use of non-renewable resources.
Unfortunately most fast fashion is produced in countries where workers rights are little to non-existent.
Within developed countries the textile industry is responsible for a vast amount of employment, including retail shop workers, warehouse operatives, shipping operatives, designers, buyers and stock controllers along with all the administrative and financial roles associated with each of these processes.
A huge amount of jobs are created for the production of clothing, many jobs most people in developed countries are un-aware even exist. Every process requires a skillset some more expertise than others. Garment workers will generally initially start working in un-skilled positions eg: picking and sweeping to graduate to more skilled jobs such as dying, steaming and packing, the high skilled jobs include printing, cutting, sewing, pressing, quality control and labelling some of these jobs require many years of training and expertise and each job within the factory will have a pay tier. It is still vitally important to protect these jobs.
How can we do better...
- Buy better quality or the best you can afford. Generally the better the quality of the garment means a more compliant factory with regards health and safety standards.
- Take note of the county of origin, buy from countries that have better human rights standards and track records in place.
- Hold retailers to account to be transparent as to where and who produces the garments. If retailers know customers are concerned by this they will be more motivated ensure best practice is being used on anything with their label.
- Learn how to fix and mend your clothes, many people in the developed world no longer hold basic skills such as fixing a button on a blouse, you will have a deeper appreciation of the work involved and respect it more as a result.
- Watch the below video to understand the process.
FASHION IN YOUR LIFE
Easy ways you can adapt and change your consumer behaviours:
RENT/SWAP/SELL//MEND
Rental models such as Rent the Runway are proving hugely successful for providing customers with access to a variety of clothes including high end designer looks but with the benefit of decreasing the demand for new clothing production. Short term rental models also serve the appetite for trends and newness for Gen Y and Z without the waste.
Swapping pre-loved clothing is also on the rise. Among friends you can hold swap events that benefit all of you. it is a great way to clear out unwanted clothing guilt free and knowing that your clothing may get a new lease of life and appreciation.
Selling pre-loved clothing is rapidly on the rise. Huge brands like Asos and Zalando have second hand market places where you can source pre-owned vintage treasures direct with the person who bought it originally. Great for collectors items or one off unique finds. Depop is one of the most successful second hand market places with a global reach whose aim is to make fashion more inclusive and diverse and less wasteful.
Learn how to fix and mend your clothes, many people in the developed world no longer hold basic sewing skills. Fixing buttons, hems, holes and stains are surprisingly easy. You will develop a deeper appreciation of the work involved and respect and value it more as a result.
Care for your clothing better...
Washing our clothes has a significant environmental impact. The average household does almost 400 loads of laundry every year, consuming about 60,000 liters of water. It also takes a lot energy to heat the washing water and run the drying cycle. (www.sustainyourstyle.org)
Wash your clothes at appropriate setting. Almost all clothes can be washed at 30°C without issue. Wash full loads of clothing. Make sure your machine is as efficient as possible.
Don't use the tumble dryer unless really necessary. Clothes last longer when not eroded through this drying process.
Credits:
Created with images by Pexels - "hangers clothing shopping" • PhotoMIX-Company - "shopping mall shop windows fashionable clothes" • stevepb - "shopping mall store retail" • analogicus - "water water pipes drinking water" • farmheritage - "machine machinery tractor" • Snapshot_Factory - "field corn air" • LoggaWiggler - "dyeing color factory" • stevepb - "washing machine laundry tumble drier" • igorovsyannykov - "pegs clothe pegs drying" pexels-daria-shevtsova-1030823.jpg pexels-daria-shevtsova- "white and yellow tops" • pexels-mentatdgt-"1390534". • pexels-buro-millennial-"1438072" • pexels-pew-nguyen-"2892373" • pexels-wallace-chuck-"2973392" • pexels-tom-fisk-"3181031" • pexels-mumtahina-tanni-"3230538" • pexels-cottonbro-"3738075" • pexels-paulo-sergio-zembruski-"3778061" • pexels-sinitta-leunen-"5661240" • pexels-ready-made-"3850512" • pexels-karolina-grabowska-"4210863" • pexels-kelly-lacy-"4394372" • pexels-cottonbro-"5076516" • pexels-pavel-danilyuk-"6461393" • ShaneDunne-"greenwashing" • ShaneDunne-"recyclebin" • ShaneDunne-"retailA"- • ShaneDunne- "retailB" • ShaneDunne-"retailC" • ShaneDunne-"tablesof tees" •