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SUSTAINABLE FASHION CAN HELP SAVE THE WORLD
Around 66 per cent of consumers value sustainability when purchasing luxury products, reports The Business Research Company (2020), while multi-brand online luxury shopping site, Lyst, has seen a 37 per cent increase in searches for sustainability-related items. Simultaneously, fast fashion retailers have seen a drop in sales (LIVEKINDLY, 2021), with shoppers increasingly aware of the link between their behaviours and global warming. The problem is so vast that individuals sometimes feel that they can’t make a difference, yet the future is not as bleak as they think. Many companies are making great strides in lowering their carbon footprint. Indeed, ‘Go green or go broke’ is the motto that any entity wishing to stand the test of time will have to adhere to. Read on to discover the advances being made in this sector. WORDS MARISA CUTILLAS
PLASTIC (NOT SO) FANTASTIC Approximately 8.8 million tonnes of mismanaged plastic enter the world’s oceans every year and the vast majority of it is singleuse. Discarded fishing nets are one of the most dangerous forms of plastic pollution since they injure or kill over 650,000 aquatic animals annually. California-based company, Bureo, has come up with a brilliant solution. Working alongside fishing communities in South America, the company collects, cleans, and shreds fishing nets in Chile, recycling them into NetPlus® – a material that provides supplemental income to local communities while also providing raw material for the wares of fashion companies
68 / OCTOBER 2021 ESSENTIAL MAGAZINE
