Planet
There is no life on a dead planet. The biggest crisis facing the fashion industry is the detrimental effect it is having on the health of our planet, significantly harming the environment through the tonnes of waste, discharge of microfibres, harmful chemical toxins, and vast CO2 emissions that come from the manufacture, distribution and disposal of fast fashion.
Sustainability in fashion is about the production and consumption of clothing in an environmentally and ethically responsible manner ensuring that fashion is working to, as far as possible, protect the environment. This includes sourcing materials in a way that doesn’t contribute extreme environmental damage. According to Yorke, S. (2022). “Sustainable fashion is a term for items of clothing made taking the human and environmental impacts of production into account to support a more just supply chain”. Sustainability is a one of the biggest challenges for the fashion industry. According to Gwilt, A (2014) “textile waste is most often discarded into landfill or incinerated. However, a number of approaches can be used to delay this or divert garments away from landfill, such as reuse garment schemes and material recovery approaches that employ mechanical and chemical recycling to develop recycled fibres and materials”.
Figure 1: Circular economy systems diagram, Ellen Macarthur (2019)
One step in helping to reduce the amount of damage fast fashion is causing to our planet, is for fashion businesses to support a circular economy. A circular economy is a production cycle maintaining materials and products by recycling, reusing and refurbishing for an extended life. The circular economy is based on three principles: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials and regenerate nature. Ellen Macarthur Foundation (2023)
The United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are made up of 17 goals to help put a stop to poverty and environmental damage. Goal 6 ‘clean water and sanitation’ is a major concern for the fashion industry. Textile industries are notorious for the amount of water usage involved to produce clothes. “To make just 1 cotton t-shirt it takes 2,720 litres of water, this is as much water as a single person would drink over three years”. Chan, E (2020). Because of the processes historically used by the fashion industry, harmful toxic chemicals used to dye and finish clothes along with microfibres from the processing and washing of garments are released into our streams, rivers and ultimately our oceans. To reduce its damaging impact, designers should choose fabrics that are either made of natural and organic fibres such as wool, silk and cotton or try to use fabrics that are recycled from natural materials to better protect our environment and make a positive impact to our planet.
Figure 2: Sustainable Development Goals United Nations
Bibliography
Yorke, S. (2022). Oxfam GB | 7 Facts about sustainable fashion. [Online]. Oxfam GB. Available at: https://www.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam-in-action/oxfam-blog/7-facts-about-sustainable-fashion/ [Accessed 6 October 202]
Gwilt, A (2014) Chapter 1, page 27. Rethinking Fashion Design. Publisher: London; Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2020.
Ellen Macarthur Foundation (2023) The Circular Economy in Detail. [Online]. Available at: https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/the-circular-economy-in-detail-deep-dive [Accessed 6 October 2023)
Chan, E. (2020). The Fashion Industry Is Using uo Too Much Water – Here’s How You Can Reduce Reduce Your H2O Footprint.[Online]. Vogue India Available at: https://www.vogue.in/fashion/content/the-fashion-industry-is-using-up-too-much-water-heres-how-you-can-reduce-your-h2o-footprint (Accessed 6 October 2023)
United Nations (2023). The 17 sustainable development goals. [Online] United Nations. Available at: https://sdgs.un.org/goals [Accessed 6 October 2023)