Sustainable
Fashion
I
don’t know if you’ve been on social media recently, but if you have, you will probably have heard that we’re currently in the middle of a climate emergency. The globe is warming, the climate is changing, and there is plastic in all the places that plastic does not belong. Thankfully, a growing number of people are actually getting quite anxious about the state of our planet and are taking action in our daily lives to reduce our impact and live sustainably.
choices for the planet, and they’re willing to pay more to do so. But not all sustainability pledges are created equally, and greenwashing gimmicks are proving profitable.
In the fashion industry, sustainability is the new buzzword. Clothing companies have picked up on the fact that their customers want to believe that they’re making the right
As the demand for sustainable fashion grows, companies are trying to give themselves a more ethical and sustainable public image by changing a few things here and there for
5 | nervemedia.org.uk
In the fashion industry
sustainability is the new buzzword.
customer approval, but are they going far enough? Take H&M; the Swedish fast fashion company has made some very positive changes in the way it operates to become more sustainable. H&M uses renewable energy in many places along their supply chain, they have a clothes recycling scheme which allows customers to turn in old items, and they are part of the Better Cotton Initiative, which aims to reduce the environmental impact of cotton production. And yet, H&M’s entire business model is based on updating stock as frequently as possible and making sure that customers only wear items a few times before buying more. Fast fashion creates a race to the bottom in terms of
