Recent global weather extremes have brought a new worldwide focus on the environmental issues affecting our planet. It's not just climatologists or scientists who are noticing changes, they are now very clear to see to the laymen that our world is in crisis.
'Sustainable fashion' has been a term steadily growing in the industry for a while now, but why is it so important that the fashion industry as a whole addresses this problem? Why do consumers need to be more responsible?
Of course, most consumer goods industries also suffer from these problems but what makes the fashion industry so immensely damaging is the frantic pace of change that, not only exists, but also is so strongly encouraged. Shoppers are impelled to buy more in order to keep up with rapidly changing trends.
That mesh tee you bought last summer? Mesh is out. So last season. Slinky is the new mesh, buy more slinky! And so it goes on...
So what can companies actually do?
Textiles 2030 is encouraging businesses to come together to take cohesive and collaborative climate action. Main targets include:
Reduce the aggregate greenhouse gas footprint of new products by 50%, sufficient to limit global warming to 1.5°C in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change and achieving Net Zero by 2050 at the latest
Reduce the aggregate water footprint of new products sold by 30%
Design for Circularity: agree good practice design principles, including durability, recyclability, use of recycled content and minimising waste, and implement them as appropriate to their business model and customer base, to lower the impacts of products placed on market in the UK
Implement Circular Business Models: pilot reuse business models as appropriate to their product ranges, share learning, and develop large-scale implementation to extend the lifetime of clothing in the UK – and decouple business growth from the use of virgin resources
Close the Loop on Materials: set up partnerships to supply and use recycled fibres for new products, accelerating the commercialisation of fibre-to-fibre recycling in the UK.
Businesses should also focus on the following:
The best thing that we can do from a consumer perspective is: Buy less.
Recycle more, by 2nd hand, fix your old clothes, buy less stuff!
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