fashion and carbon footprint

 

One more year, the change of closet.

 

It seems that autumn is coming and the first thought of our developed society is the clothes we are going to wear in this new season.

 

The stores are full of current garments, cheap and accessible fashion in many cases, unfortunately in many cases disposable garments.

 

So the malls fill up with consumers and our closets change their contents.

While in other parts of the world, cascades of used clothes from faraway places flood the beaches. This is the sad reality.

The fashion industry is hyper polluting. It has a tremendous carbon footprint: because of the materials it uses, the supply chain, the production processes, the distribution of the final garments and the high turnover of the garments.

Fortunately in recent years many sustainable fashion initiatives are emerging: recycled or eco-friendly materials, second-hand clothing platforms (VINTED, PERCENTIL,…), and fashion sharing with monthly subscription plans (“fashionsharing” such as ECODICTA, OHLUX, PANOPLY or the pioneer RENT THE RUNWAY). Industry is also investing in new production processes that consume fewer resources (water, energy) or generate less pollution or waste by using less polluting materials.

fashion and carbon footprint

 

But we consumers are the final link in this unsustainable fashion chain, known as “fastfashion”.

 

So it is up to each one of us to decide whether to consume less fashion or to consume more sustainably.

 

If we prioritize our real needs when changing our closet, if we choose more durable garments, if we choose more sustainable garments in terms of materials or production processes, we will be doing our bit to be part of the solution and not part of the problem.