Planet
Planet Earth was badly affected by an ecological crisis that was made by the production industries during the 19th and 20th centuries. Sustainably irresponsible production and consumption have led the 21st-century population to the point of the “final call” to save the planet from climate catastrophes (M.McGrath, 2018). A UN report states: “We have 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe… Urgent changes needed to cut the risk of extreme heat, drought, floods, and poverty” (United Nations,2018). The fashion industry has a major contribution to world pollution and climate change as only its textile production causes 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions annually (European Parliament. 2020). It is true to say that the UN’s IPCC report “Climate crisis “unequivocally” caused by human activities” is a red code for humanity and the industry as a whole must act fast to avert global disasters (D.Carrington, 2021).
The fashion industry as the second most polluting industry in the world (V.Friedman, 2018) started to implement ways of tackling its social and environmental impacts in the product lifecycle by introducing the circular economy tool. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation in 2017 defined CE as not merely diminishing negative impacts but representing a “system shift that builds long-term resilience, generates business and economic opportunities, and provides environmental and social benefits” (G. Alison, 2014). It is interesting to note, that MacArthur Foundation emitted the report “A New Textiles Economy: Redesigning Fashion Future” which was developed in conjunction with big players in the market H&M and Nike. The model for the sector prioritizes garments and textiles being kept at their highest value during use and re-entering the economy after use, never ending up as waste. The main principles of the Circular Economy are: to design out waste and pollution, keep products and materials in use, and regenerate natural systems (G. Alison, 2014).
However, the CE model makes the fashion industry look beyond and consider the use phase. Use phase – the owner of a purchased item becomes responsible for its care and maintenance while the product goes through wearing, washing, drying storing, and most important extends to repairing (G. Alison, 2014). For example, the brand “Early Majority” made its membership model, which allows its brand members to send back their previously purchased items to get a discount on a new collection. This helps a brand to not waste resources and gives the garment second life by being remodeled, plus graft the idea of sustainable consumption (G. Moran, 2022).
This business model resonates with one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals which were created by the United Nations for the world’s better future. Goal “12. Responsible consumption and production” reveal the idea of CE the most, as it is considering the entire supply chain and sustainable consumption and production pattern. It involves people working within the supply chain, the use of resources, and design assumptions (United Nations, 2015). Sustainable actions within this goal are made the most in the Fashion industry, as the industry decreased its production waste by 6.4% since 2015 (United Nations, 2021).
Bibliography:
D.Carrington, 2021: https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/09/climate-crisis-unequivocally-caused-by-human-activities-says-ipcc-report (accessed 06.10.2022)
European Parliament. 2020: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20201208STO93327/the-impact-of-textile-production-and-waste-on-the-environment-infographic (accessed 06.10.2022)
G. Alison, 2014 book “A particular guide to sustainable fashion”: https://libsearch.arts.ac.uk/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=1452170&query_desc=kw%2Cwrdl%3A%20Gwilt%2C%20A.%20(2014) (accessed 05.10.2022)
G. Moran, 2022: https://www.drapersonline.com/guides/collaborating-for-change-sustainability-report-2022 (accessed 05.10.2022)
M.McGrath, 2018: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-45775309 (accessed 07.10.2022)
United Nations, 2015: https://sdgs.un.org/goals (accessed 07.10.2022)
United Nations,2018: https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/10/1022492 (accessed 07.10.2022)
United Nations, 2021: https://sdgs.un.org/goals (accessed 08.10.2022)
V.Friedman, 2018: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/fashion/fashion-second-biggest-polluter-fake-news.html (accessed 07.10.2022)