How sustainable can fashion be? Can it be sustainable at all? 100% sustainable fashion is almost impossible - and yet there are some things to consider in order to make your own consumption more sustainable.
How sustainable can fashion be? Can it be sustainable at all? 100% sustainable fashion is almost impossible - and yet there are some things to consider in order to make your own consumption more sustainable.
The clothes we wear, the fashion we consume, is responsible for a tenth of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. The impact is fuelled by fast-moving offerings from manufacturers and fashion designers. But consumers also contribute to making "throwaway fashion" such a big problem.
The enormous range of sometimes very cheap clothes tempts consumers to have an overflowing wardrobe - full of items that are rarely, sometimes never, worn. Even teenagers, fuelled by fashion influencers, succumb to the shopping frenzy in the branches of the big chains. This makes it difficult to reject the business model and to think about the effects of "fast fashion".
The fashion industry produces around 10% of globalCO2 emissions and almost 20% of wastewater. The industry's energy consumption is higher than for aviation and shipping combined!
Long supply chains, enormous resource consumption
Because the clothes we wear come to us via very complex and long supply chains, from the production of the materials to the processing and sale. And even when we dispose of them or the trade gets rid of yesterday's trends, garments travel long distances again.
To illustrate the consequences of this, consider that one kilo of cotton is needed for a single pair of jeans. This one kilo requires between 7,500 and 10,000 litres of water. That corresponds to the drinking water needs of a human being for about 10 years! Added to this are the processes for dyeing and bleaching.
Certified articles and BioCouture
Consumers don't have to give up their jeans completely, but a look at the label can already help. Certified products that comply with the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) are still not perfect, but help customers choose less impactful products.
Even more problematic than cotton are synthetic garments. Two thirds of the clothes we wear contain polyester. This consumes about 70 million (!) barrels of oil every year.
However, the popular material, because it is easy to care for, is also durable - so durable that microfibres and microplastics are not only released when the material is recycled, but even with every wash cycle.
In the meantime, innovative companies have taken up the issue and offer "BioCouture". Consumers also want fashion made from natural, less environmentally harmful materials. And in processing and dyeing, there are now also less polluting processes.
Consumers can do a lot themselves!
But the customer also has a responsibility. After all, we can control the way we shop and consume fashion. Behaviours that can be influenced as a consumer include:
- Buy more consciously online - and return less
- Buy fewer products overall, but of better quality
- Wear the clothes you buy longer and more often
- Also incorporate second-hand fashion into your own wardrobe
Buying less and more quality-consciously leads to a change in the way one deals with one's own clothes and to thinking about the mechanisms of consumer society that make "fast fashion" an addictive factor. Freeing oneself from impulsive purchases, whether as a "reward" or as status symbols, is good for the soul and also for the wallet - and not least for the environment.
Wash less, throw away less
Changing the way you use the washing machine also lowers thecarbon footprint of your own wardrobe, reduces water consumption and microplastic emissions. Often it is enough to air worn clothes thoroughly, for example on a hanger in the balcony, to be able to wear them again or even twice. If you have the possibility to hang the laundry out to dry and thus do without the tumble dryer, you are already doing a good thing.
And when it comes to throwing away clothes, many things can also be given a second life - on the one hand by mending and wearing them for longer, and on the other hand also by passing them on either to recycling or to institutions that collect second-hand clothes for charitable purposes.
The necessary changes in favour of the planet and nature must of course be implemented by the big names in the fashion industry. But consumers certainly have the opportunity to set these changes in motion - with their own behaviour.
Since the beginning, NIKIN has pursued the goal of fair and sustainable fashion as an affordable alternative to fast fashion. By now, most of our products are from guaranteed fair and sustainable production in Europe. Wherever possible, we work with more sustainable alternatives and never let up in our search for adequate producers, although this search is always very time-consuming. We have been able to convince many of our producers to introduce more sustainable production and materials. Our textile products are largely made from "sustainable organic cotton" and other sustainable materials such as recycled PET material or recycled cotton fibres.
Hand on heart, of course we are not perfect yet. But we want to create awareness and show that things can be done differently. We want to serve as a role model and encourage people to shop more consciously. Quality always comes before quantity.
1 comment