Why is Sustainable Fashion Important? Connecting Sustainability & Fashion

Sustainability & Fashion

Why are sustainability and fashion joining hands? Because that’s just what the world needs right now. Sustainable fashion focuses on minimizing all the environmental and social effects of the fashion industry.

Sustainable clothing brands want to reduce the negative impacts of the industry. They are making clothes that create less waste and more value.

It is opposed to the more widespread ‘fast fashion.’ Fast fashion is about the rapid production of clothes that are inexpensive but trendy and popular. This rapid and constant production causes environmental damage, worker exploitation, pollution, and high carbon generation.

This way, the fashion industry, just like many other industries, causes huge negative effects on the environment. Unfair labor practices and unethical sourcing harm workers and communities. Microplastics produced by fast fashion keep damaging the environment.

So, we do understand that something needs to be done. Let’s discuss further.

1. Understanding Sustainable Fashion

What is sustainable fashion? And how will it help the world? As we mentioned in the beginning, sustainable fashion means socially and environmentally responsible fashion. Its main principles are ethical production, eco-friendly materials, fair wages, and less wastage.

Sustainable fashion aims to:

Utilize environmentally friendly materials
Reduce energy and water consumption
Reduce wastage
Lower carbon footprints
Practice fair labor
Maintain transparency.
Ethical sourcing of materials

This type of fashion challenges fast fashion. So, it is also sometimes also termed ‘slow fashion.’ The term sustainable fashion first emerged in the 1990s. However, environmental concerns about fashion are not new.

It started in the 1960s and 70s with the rise of the counter-cultiural movements. It started with the Hippies and Punks of that era who refused to consumerism and chose natural fabrics for clothing.

The actual birth of this form of fashion happened in the early 2000s. Consumers became more aware of the negative impact of fast fashion on society. This fashion focuses on organic materials, natural fabrics, more transparency, and cleaner supply chains.

One thing is certain. This fashion movement is here to stay! The fashion industry is going green.

2. Environmental Impact of Fast Fashion

The impacts of fast fashion on the environment are many. The fast fashion industry is the second-largest water consumer in the world. Moreover, more than 10% of the carbon emissions in the world are caused by this industry.

The most important factor that contributes to a huge amount of carbon emissions is the huge distribution network spanning the entire world. However, unlike other industries, the problems of the fashion industry are overlooked very often.

This industry is also a very large water pollutant. At the same time, around 85% of all clothing produced goes to the dumps every year. Washing your clothes releases around 500,000 tons of microfibers into the earth’s oceans. Now, that’s equal to a whopping 50 billion plastic bottles.

A report by Quantis International in 2018 suggests that there are three main things that drive pollution in the fashion industry.

Dyeing/finishing drives 36% pollution
Yarn preparation drives 28% pollution
Fibre production drives 36% pollution

The United Nations (UN) says that pollution from the manufacturing of clothes is going to increase by 60% by 2030. So, the fashion industry poses a huge threat for the environment if not controlled properly.

That’s not all! The industry has also led to the exploitation of labor, unfavorable working hours, and income inequality between male and female workers.

3. Global Fashion Industry’s Ethical Concerns

Just like we pointed out above, there are many different ethical concerns that surround the global fashion industry. These are some of the major concerns, right now:

Labour Exploitation

Unfair wages and bad working conditions have affected the industry for decades. Many large fashion brands mainly use factories in developing countries for producing their clothes. These factories provide low wages and very unsafe working conditions. Working hours are long and hard. Many times, women get paid less than men.

Child labor is a big issue that affects clothing factories. Cases of forced labor have also been known.

Another major issue is the lack of transparency regarding the production process, supply chains, and environmental impact.

Environmental Impact

The industry is eating up resources around the world very fast. It is using a lot of water, cotton, and energy for producing clothes. Moreover, it is causing a huge amount of waste every year. This waste ends up in landfills and pollutes entire localities.

Harmful chemicals are released due to the textile production processes. They pollute the air, water, and land.

Cultural exploitation and consumerism

On the one hand, fast fashion wrongly represents different cultures. On the other hand, it is also creating a consumerist mindset among people, leading to overconsumption. It means that the industry creates harmful stereotypes about indigenous and other cultures.

Moreover, it is not inclusive of different cultures. It tells people to discard their old clothes faster and go for new clothes, causing more wastage.

So, we can understand why sustainability and fashion are better ideas.

4. Benefits of Sustainable Fashion

Sustainable clothing brands are trying to change whatever is wrong in the fashion industry. The best part is that they are addressing all the problems at different levels.

Production of fashion goods is likely to triple by 2050. However, this production would mostly take into consideration polyester and plastic. These are the items used for producing cheap fashion items. So, the industry is set to generate more microplastics and pollutants.

Sustainable clothing brands want to change this production process around the world. They can be the answer to all the problems of the fashion industry. Here’s how:

Less waste: Slow fashion would generate less waste as 90% of the decisions for sustainability would be taken during the design stage. Clothes would be designed for less waste.

Less pollution: New dyeing techniques are being used to reduce harmful pollutants from the industry.

Better materials: Sustainable brands are using materials that are more eco-friendly. They are using natural materials like hemp, bamboo, etc. instead of cotton. New materials like organic cotton are making their way into the industry.

Good working conditions: Sustainable clothing brands are also focused on the human aspects of the industry. They are building factories and production areas with more human conditions. For example, Patagonia makes sure that their workers work in safe conditions. Moreover, they provide benefits like healthcare and education to employees.

More companies are now recognizing their responsibilities towards the environment and society.

5. How Consumers Can Support Sustainable Fashion

As a consumer, you hold the greatest support for sustainable fashion. At first, you need to be a responsible buyer. Understand how sustainability and fashion are both very important for the future.

Consumers can buy less clothing and always choose quality and durability of materials. They can go shopping for second-hand clothing to reduce clothing waste. Here’s a number of things you can do:

Buy less and choose quality products
Support sustainable clothing brands
Choose products made from eco-friendly products
Buy from brands that have fair wages, safer working conditions, and ethical practices.
Support local fashion designers and smaller companies
Recycle and donate your old clothes.

Conclusion

So, at the end of this blog, we are now able to understand why sustainable fashion matters. Fast fashion is causing many problems for the world that need to be solved very soon. We understood how normal fashion has created many environmental, human, and cultural problems.

The benefits of sustainability are far many, considering the problems of the present industry. So, it is important that brands and customers come together to create a better world.

For a better future, all fashion needs to be sustainable fashion. Sustainability and fashion should not be two different words. They should be one wholesome idea for a better-fashioned future.