Planet
The first fundamental aspect of sustainability is the planet pillar. This pillar covers the environmental impacts and how communities can strive and work together as a collective to tackle the current circumstances and simultaneously make a change. The fast fashion industry is one of the biggest contributors to global warming, significantly harming the environment by releasing extensive amounts Co2 emissions from over-production of garments. This over-production of garments causes masses of product waste to end up in landfill. According to Drapers Magazine 2022, ‘The fashion industry is one of the most wasteful on the planet, and much of this is down to overproduction.’ When decomposing, textiles generate methane gas and dyes which soak into the groundwater and soil. The only way the problem can be terminated is by all working together as peoples attitudes to the brands producing fast fashion need to change as the brands are ever going to go away.
In order to make this significant change, fast fashion brands needs to make radical changes in order to address their carbon emission output. Adopting the circular economy ethic allows for these much needed changes to be made. The circular economy is an economic system constructed on the reuse and regeneration of materials, taking into account continuing production in an environmentally friendly way. Materials within this cycle never become waste. By following this, products and materials will be circulated allowing for the regeneration of nature.
Sustainability within fashion relates to the production of garments in an ethically responsible way. This method is only effective if it ensures that fashion is working, to an extent, to protect the environment. This includes sourcing renewable resources in a way that doesn’t contribute to the effects of global warming. Sustainability is a concept that many brands struggle with, but all are aware of and taking action accordingly. As stated by Alison Gwilt, ‘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’.
The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals are a universal call to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure everyone enjoys peace and prosperity. Providing quality education is vital as the more the topic is spoken about, the more aware us as a community become. Education provides the knowledge to be able to make more positive choices when it comes to being more sustainably aware.
Bibliography
Geissdoerfer, M., Savaget, P., Bocken, N.M.P. and Hultink, E.J. (2017). The Circular Economy – A new sustainability paradigm? Journal of Cleaner Production, 143(143), pp.757–768. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.12.048.
Gwilt, A (2014) Chapter 1, page 27. Rethinking Fashion Design. Publisher: London; Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2020.
Moran, Graeme. “Collaborating for Change: Sustainability Report 2022.” Drapers, 28 June 2022, www.drapersonline.com/insight/drapers-bespoke/collaborating-for-change-sustainability-report-2022. Accessed 5 Oct. 2023.