Planet

Week 2 – Please upload your 1^st blog post –Planet by 9^th October 

An enormous crisis is happening to our planet: climate change. Due to the lack of acts in the past with our future, humans never thought that our resources could collapse and our living environment would become toxic to live in; industries of all kinds made it happen, including fashion which is one of the most polluting. Besides the mass production ,the way us humans consume is not helping either. A circular economy is a sustainable way of never letting the final product go to waste; you can give them another significant instead of just buying-using-discard, as in the typical linear fashion cycle. After they lengthen their use for a more extended period, they can be returned safely to the biosphere, not polluting the soil and environment. This economy has many benefits for us and the planet; it can help climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. One phrase Orsola said on Monday’s seminar that got me rethinking a lot about the fashion industry is that we can do so much more than wearing the clothes; they become our “chosen skin” we speak with them. With that, let us resignify the fast trends to more sustainable ones, showing how cool it is to buy clothes just when needed, giving them meaning and purpose.

Fashion has so much impact on our planet, as the way of producing and consuming, as much as we blame them, we are guilty as well for how we consume. The industry is responsible for 8% of carbon emissions (UNEP, 2018). If the fashion sector continues on its current trajectory, that share of the carbon budget could jump to 26% by 2050 (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017), resulting in chaotic global warming, which will not be possible to save in the future. That is why the fashion industry aims to change and is the second most polluting industry after the oil and gas sector (Geneco, 2022). Since luxury brands to fast fashion are changing the way, they produce and act. To achieve a better and more sustainable future, The United Nations created 17 SDGs for all the world’s industry goals until 2030. I believe the environment pillar is the most needed for the industry. For example, the 14 SDG, life below water is completely linked. The water usage in production is absurd; they use 80 billion cubic meters of water annually (geneco, 2022). A brand that is trying to them more water positive is Levi’s; by 2025, all cotton will be 100% sustainably sourced, and their facilities will be run on 100% renewable energy. Levi also aims for a 50% reduction in water use in water-stressed areas by 2030. Also, they created a buy-back program customers can trade in their old denim items to be repurposed by the company. Buying a pair of used Levi’s saves over 80% of carbon emissions while drastically reducing water consumption simultaneously. ( Flynn, 2021)

Reference:

Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2017)  What is circular economy https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org

Geneco (2022) Fast fashion and its impacts. https://www.geneco.uk.com/news/fast-fashion-and-its-impacts

Flynn, C (2021) how the worlds biggest brands are water positive. https://planethome.eco/how-the-worlds-biggest-brands-are-water-positive/