Planet
Our planet is home to 7 billion people, yet we have 100 billion garments (Igini, 2022) that are made, consumed and wasted each year. ‘Planet’ is a pillar here at the Fashion Business School that we aim to incorporate not into just our academic studies but something that we aim to implement into our practices outside our studies. The Fashion Industry currently runs off a linear construction of creating, consuming and then wasting garments, which has created a domino effect in which our industry alone we take up 10% of human-made carbon emissions in the world (Richards, 2021).
Sustainability within the Fashion industry as a whole, we need to think more effectively in a way we can reduce carbon emissions, which will effectively cut costs, increase profits, and promote living in a way we can adhere to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN, 2015). With carbon emissions increasing and consumers demanding new garments more than ever, a proposal to use a circular way of creating garments is a way we can help our planet to grow in a way that we aren’t destroying it to fit consumer demands.
Upcycling and reusing garments are the way forward in a bid to cut these emissions. By upcycling we reduce pressure on Cotton Farmers, reduce landfill and stride to break the current linear model we currently follow. However, the issue with this is that to lead by example we need larger brands and industries to follow suit.
In the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Fashion Industry must take accountability for the way they use fibres, energy and water in order to meet the regulations of the ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’ values of the UN’s Goals. For say, due to the hazardous chemicals that are put into fibres to make garments, approximately 43 Billion tons of these chemicals go straight into waters across the world (The World Counts, 2022). As a result of this, it makes it increasingly harder for residents of these areas to have clean water and access to food sources such as under water life that is used for food. As a result of these chemicals being released into the waters, it has a detrimental knock on effect on the eco systems that we use to simply stay alive- which strikes against the UN’s Goal to End Food Poverty (UN, 2015).
As an Industry, we need to recognise and change the way we create, consume and make Garments to adhere to a healthier, safer planet for all.
REFERENCES
Igini, M., 2022. 10 Stunning Fast Fashion Waste Statistics | Earth.Org. [online] Earth.Org. Available at: <https://earth.org/statistics-about-fast-fashion-waste/> [Accessed 5 October 2022].
Richards, E., 2021. Fast Fashion’s Carbon Footprint – The Carbon Literacy Project. [online] The Carbon Literacy Project – Relevant climate change learning for everyone. Available at: <https://carbonliteracy.com/fast-fashions-carbon-footprint/> [Accessed 5 October 2022].
heworldcounts.com. 2022. The World Counts. [online] Available at: <https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/consumption/clothing/cotton-farming-water-consumption> [Accessed 5 October 2022].
Sdgs.un.org. 2015. THE 17 GOALS | Sustainable Development. [online] Available at: <https://sdgs.un.org/goals> [Accessed 5 October 2022].