By Bailey Kelley
Trends come and go like the seasons, but that doesn't mean everything should be thrown out as the weather changes. The ever-evolving fashion industry is one of the world's largest polluters contributing to 10% of global CO2 emissions, 20% of the world's industrial wastewater, 24% of insecticides and 11% of pesticides use, according to forbes.com. Consumers today are purchasing 60% more than what they did 20 years ago. Thanks to the rise of fast fashion, clothing waste is increasing at an enormous rate. According to the United Nations Economic Commision, 40% of developed countries closets are never worn. So how can the fashion industry change its fast-paced and short-lived cycle?
Sustainable fashion has grown in popularity, along with its criticism over the past decade. But what does it really mean for fashion to be sustainable? Sustainable fashion is environmental, social and ethical conscious production and consumption of clothing and textiles. Green Strategy broke it down into seven categories.
The seven forms of sustainable fashion by Green Strategy 2016.
If the lifecycle of a garment is truly sustainable it will follow all seven of these steps. So it would start out as a custom-made garment that is timeless and high quality, made in an environmentally conscious way. The item should be repaired or upcycled and once it's no longer desired it should be swapped or donated. If the garment is no longer usable it should be taken to a collection site, where the garment is then recycled into a new item. But of course, every step most likely will not take place. That's why fashion needs to be more sustainable, if every consumer did just one of these actions, we could drastically change how the industry works and the fate of the world.
So I challenge you to look into your own wardrobe and see if you can incorporate just one of the seven forms of sustainable fashion above. Think you can do more? Great! Every small action taken will help change our planet.
Come back for my next post where I discuss some of the best sustainable fashion brands and just how they do it.
Sources:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgkell/2018/06/04/can-fashion-be-sustainable/#5b0fe2e0412b
http://www.greenstrategy.se/sustainable-fashion/seven-forms-of-sustainable-fashion/
https://globalnews.ca/news/4173055/sustainable-fashion/
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