Sustainability and Fair/ethical trade Andrew Greenall Environmental Coordinator Solihull Council
Stuff I know about: • MSc – Sustainability • Career in environment • Messages and Stories
Who am I?
Stuff I don’t know about: • Fashion • Retailing • Selling This is your area
Your course ‌.
Evolution of the fashion industry! What is influencing the fashion retail environment Developing ranges for fashion‌
Sustainability = Future= Change 1986 – when I was your age… • Mobile phones • Cashpoints • Clothes in supermarkets • Internet • Cheap clothes • Fast fashion
What do you think the retail world will be like in 2046?
Sustainability is about YOUR FUTURE
Why is this relevant to you? • Who wants a job?
• Who wants to change the world?
Where does business fit in Sustainability
What happens if we remove an outer ring?
Impact of the Fashion industry: • 7000litres of water per pair of jeans • 135,000 tonnes of textiles burnt - Netherlands
• Fashion is 2nd most polluting industry • Cotton uses 24% of insecticides • 90% of textile waste in landfills recyclable
UK sales of clothes – 1.5m tonnes/year 20kgs per person! “Fast Fashion”
Society • People consume • People make products
• People grow the raw material Fairtrade? Ethical trading?
Business depends on • People/Society
• Environment
Businesses looking at their processes and supply chains – Corporate Social Responsibility
Reasons businesses are looking at sustainability – environmentally friendly/ethically/socially responsibile… • Secure supplies of essential materials • Ensure quality • Cost • Unique selling point (cynical?) • Business ethos • Customer value/values
• Filippa K
Fairtrade is one element of Sustainability
What is it? A system where a premium is paid to producers to ensure a fair price is paid… securing: • Healthcare • Education • A reason to invest in their own future
What products? • Bananas. One in three • Chocolate. ... • Coffee. ... • Flowers. ... • Sugar…
• Gold. ... • Beauty Products. ... • Cotton!
BUT also include:
• ethically traded • organic • fair-trade (not necessarily Fairtrade) • Rainforest Alliance – Coffee And own commitments: • Hotel Chocolat • Body Shop
Solihull has Fairtrade Borough Status and needs your support‌.
Thank you for helping : )
You efforts directly support the stuff we need to do‌. www.solihull.gov.uk/fairtrade
Which I could go through…. But there’s the application online if you want to know more… • Stalls • Cake Competition
• Talking to schools • Providing information
Which I could go through…. But there’s the application online if you want to know more… I want to get to the fun stuff! How do we market Fairtrade? • To 16-25’s – young adults? How do we engage in them in thinking about where they get their stuff? MUD
I’m the expert in sustainability… I know about Fairtrade, fair trade and ethical trading… Now its over to you… you’re the experts in promotion, retail and fashion What are your ideas?