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With every passing day, fast fashion companies introduce new sustainability initiatives to improve their bottom line. They mention the importance of recycled polyester, “circularity” and clothing reuse programs while leaving out many unhelpful truths about these so-called “fixes”. In truth, there is much more to textile sustainability, and sustainability in general, than recycling and organic cotton. Why sustainable fashion is important and why the industry needs to ensure all workers are paid a living wage.
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Why do we need sustainable fashion?
First, let’s discuss why this is important. Why is fast fashion so bad? How does clothing contribute to the climate crisis?
According to the authors of the article “Dying with Garbage: The Case for the Circular Economy of Fashion and TextilesExplain, more than two-thirds of textiles go to landfill after use and 15 percent are recycled. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2018, we dropped More than 9 thousand tons of clothes and shoes, Today compared to 4.5 thousand tons in 2000 We throw away a garbage truck load of clothes every second.
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Case study: H&M
H&M, like many other fast fashion brands, recently added a sustainability section to its website. Under this tab is a category called “Let’s Be Fair” which one It deals with labor issues in the fashion industry. “We are working together to improve our salary management systems to ensure that everyone’s individual skills are taken into account,” he said. However, there is no concrete information on what their garment workers are paid by any of their suppliers. As of 2011 H&M Group“China and Bangladesh are top production markets for apparel.” This is the average salary of a textile worker in Shanghai, China. 71,270 yuan or the equivalent hourly rate of 34 yuanThat translates to 23 cents an hour, or $492 a year. On the contrary The living wage in Shanghai is 4,707 yuan. (US$703) per month.
Note that when major fast fashion retailers such as H&M talk about labor issues, they conveniently refer to “fair wages” rather than wages, hoping to lead readers to believe the two are the same thing. They are not. There is no way to accurately calculate what a “fair” wage is, but there is a way to calculate a living wage. A Living wage it is. of “Wages paid to an employee for a regular work week at a given location to provide an adequate standard of living for the employee and her or his family,” including food, water, housing, education, health care, transportation, clothing, and more.Complete needs. Basically, it’s how much you have to work in your neighborhood to buy the things you need for a relatively comfortable life.
H&M also includes a section called “Close the Loop”. Here, the Swedish multinational discusses its clothing recycling and collection program. After the clothes are collected, they are divided into three different categories, “reuse, reuse or recycling”. In a video titled “H&M and Zara: Can Fast Fashion Be Eco-Friendly?”automaticr Amanda Coulson-Drasner This “close the loop” initiative breaks down why fast fashion isn’t solving the core problem: we’re producing and buying. The only way to make fashion more sustainable is to produce less. Much less. Let’s take a closer look.
Put it back on
Upcycling refers to the repurposing of used clothing on the secondhand market. However, more than half of second-hand clothing is shipped overseas, while the rest is turned into industrial material, incinerated or landfilled. The Global South essentially serves as a dumping ground for second-hand fast fashion. In the year In 2018, the U.S. exported alone. 719 million kg (1.58 billion pounds) per second garment. But what happens to second-hand clothes sent overseas? These are typically refurbished or refurbished by various up-cyclers. However, due to the poor quality of second-hand fast fashion, this is becoming increasingly difficult to do, with the result that most clothing ends up in landfills across the Global South.
reuse
Recycling refers to the conversion of unusable clothes into other products. however, Less than 1% Used clothes will be recycled. It is not clear how much of the clothing was returned to other items.
Recycling
Recycling refers to clothes that are shredded and reused in different ways. Most of our clothes today are made of different materials that are put together. Before a piece can be reused or recycled, these materials must be separated from each other. This, unfortunately, is not an easy process. If you think about a typical pair of jeans, for example, they are made of cotton yarn It is generally mixed with elastane. But it doesn’t stop there. Jeans usually have other elements like zippers and buttons. Moreover, torn clothes cannot be turned into new clothes, because the fibers are not strong enough to serve this purpose effectively. Instead, they can be used to fill car seats. When you see a “recycled polyester” label, this means that clothing items are likely to be made from more than just plastic bottles and used clothing.
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Why is a living wage important to sustainable fashion?
Author Roland Guyer explores how paying garment workers a living wage can reduce the negative environmental impact of fashion and textile production in the book “The Lowdown Business.” Gear energy has no environmental impact, so every dollar we spend on it is a dollar free of negative environmental effects. Elizabeth Klein wrote in her Text “Getting the world’s 35 million garment workers to pay $100 more a week (about what it takes for a living wage in Bangladesh and India) would immediately cut 65.3 million metric tons of carbon 2 from the global economy.”
What can consumers do?
Anyone can contribute to support the sustainable fashion movement. This part looks easier than it really is. Above all, we need to slow down and think about clothes and everything else we use. First of all, we need to stop buying so many clothes. Maybe take it. No new clothes pledge. Finished on ReMake and don’t buy any new clothes for three months. Or try a no-buy year. When buying new clothes, spend more money on high-quality items that will last longer. Learn how to mend your clothes when they’re torn or turn them into something new. Buy natural fibers like cotton, linen, or wool, so your clothes can be biodegradable when it’s time to retire them. Learn more in books like this It was eaten By Aja Barber, Overdressed By Elizabeth Cline and Stitched up as if Tansy E. Hoskins.
Remember that every garment is sewn by a real person, a person who deserves to be paid enough to support himself. By reducing and buying less quality, we can send a clear message to brands that a batch of recycled polyester won’t change the world, that they need to pay their garment workers.
Image provided by Max Pixel
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