EARTHX AND FED BY THREADS CREATING A SUSTAINABLE APPAREL INDUSTRY BY SUSAN LANIER-GRAHAM
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his April marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. When the first citizens took to the streets in 1970, they hoped to mobilize the world’s citizens to change the planet’s future.
businesses interact with sustainability,” explains FBT president and partner Skya Nelson. He sees the partnership as the ideal way to educate, innovate, and change the apparel industry and beyond.
FED BY THREADS PROMOTES SUSTAINABLE FASHION
“Fifty years ago, the first Earth Day took place because one senator was troubled by the lack of attention being paid to environmental issues,” says Tony Keane, CEO of EarthX.
Nelson established FBT to counter the exploitative fast-fashion industry. With the advent in the 1990s of so-called “fast fashion,” people have more clothing than ever before. This leads to excess waste, pollution, and massive amounts of water use. According to EKOenergy, “the incomprehensible scale of the fashion industry and the sheer quantity of fabrics that are produced for clothing each year is what makes the fashion industry so destructive.”
EarthX began as Earth Day Dallas. Today, it is the world’s largest environmental expo, conference, and film festival, covering five blocks in the Dallas Arts District over one weekend in April. The EarthX mission is to “connect a global community to create a sustainable world for all life and future generations.” Keane expects Earthx2020 to be the biggest event yet. “Earthx2020 will pay homage to the half century of planetary advocacy that followed and leverage the power that hundreds of thousands of people coming together can bring to championing a better planet for future generations.” Trammel S. Crow, a Texas-based environmentalist and businessman, founded EarthX in 2011 to promote environmental awareness and impact through conscious business, nonpartisan collaboration, and community-driven sustainable solutions. Tucson-based Fed By Threads (FBT)—an organic sweatshop-free boutique apparel maker—shares this hope and vision. It is one of the sustaining sponsors for Earthx2020 and has a three-year agreement with the organization. “EarthX, under Crow and Keane’s leadership, changes the way
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greenliving | March 2020
Tony Keane, CEO of EarthX Skya Nelson, President & COO of Fed By Threads
The first problem is the massive amount of textiles in landfills. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, textiles accounted for almost 17 million tons of waste in 2017 alone. The production process is also destructive. That includes the manufacture of synthetic fibers, excessive water used for raising cotton, massive amount of electricity for running machinery, and emissions from coal-powered manufacturing plants. In contrast, FBT promotes sustainable eco-friendly apparel. The company’s ethical Supply Chain Aware (SCA) manufacturing from dirt-to-shirt offers guilt-free fashion. The FBT clothing uses sustainable, recycled, and organic fabrics. FBT is introducing an exciting new line of hemp apparel from inside the Earthx2020 Hemp Pavilion in April.
FBT PROMOTES SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH THE USE OF HEMP Nelson always thinks of solutions to problems when designing products. greenlivingaz.com
