Planet

Planet is one of the four pillars to be considered within the fashion industry. Arguably, it is the most vital and relevant to the current climate of the planet. A topical area often closely related to the planet is sustainability. Sustainability can often be described as consuming the planet’s resources responsibly without compromising that same accessibility for future generations. 

The United Nations introduced ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ also referred to as ‘SDGs’ to try and end poverty, inequality and the destruction of the planet. Many ‘SDGs’ are relevant to the fashion industry but particularly the 12th goal ‘Responsible consumption and production’. This specifically relates to the fashion industry due to mass production that uses valuable natural resources. An example of this is a single pair of jeans, that approximately uses 3,781 litres of water to produce- according to figures from the United Nations Environment Programme (The World Bank, 2019). The fashion industry is responsible for “10% of annual global carbon emissions”, more than both the aviation and shipping industry. While many fashion brands strive or claim to be sustainable, in reality it is far more difficult to achieve. It has been proposed that the ‘circular economy’ would be a realistic and accessible way to introduce more environmentally conscious practices to the fashion industry.

The circular economy reshapes the economy upon principles of eliminating pollution and waste to elongate the use of natural resources. It considers both the production and consumption of the goods. For producers of fashion, the circular economy suggests to recycle materials, recover damaged goods and to repair. This would reduce the loss of unused garments to landfill and would ensure that all the carbon emissions used in creating damaged items weren’t wasted.

For consumers of the fashion industry, the circular economy invites them to reuse, recycle, regift, refuse and reduce. In practice, this is buying less and making the most out of what you already have. For example, making alterations to garments that no longer fit or regifting them. As well as this, the services that are involved with buying product such as choosing online delivery with only electric modes of transport or refusing a plastic carrier bag and reusing an existing bag that you already own. For many environmentally aware customers, these recommendations are already being practiced. However, the reliance of changing environmental impacts cannot only come from the bottom (consumers). There is a large reliability for large corporations to make drastic and necessary changes to their practices to receive a large impact on the environment. While this is idealistic, in reality large brands have long standing traditional supply chains that have existed for years and it is difficult to introduce new strategies and to demand change when it is not in the company’s interest to. 

Reference List:

The World Bank (2019) How Much Do Our Wardrobes Cost to the Environment?, Available at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2019/09/23/costo-moda-medio-ambiente (Accessed: 10/10/22).