Fast fashion and its associated production, waste, and emissions contribute significantly to the triple planetary crisis. The constant change in seasons and styles encourages people to buy more clothes, often at a cheap price, and dispose of them quickly. This behavior exacerbates the environmental problems caused by the fashion industry.
The annual Black Friday sales, which are held on November 25th, serve as a reminder for people to reflect on their consumption habits and the negative impact they have on the environment.
While sustainability in fashion and circularity in the textile industry are possible, consumers worldwide continue to buy more clothes and dispose of them at an alarming rate, contributing to the environmental crisis. The trends in fashion change quickly, and people tend to use their clothes for a shorter time than ever before.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) is leading an initiative to achieve zero waste, and they have partnered with Kenyan spoken word poet, Beatrice Kariuki, to identify high-impact areas where consumers can make a difference.
In a video, Kariuki emphasized the need for a recycling industry that can rejuvenate old clothes, streamline packaging, and encourage the reuse of materials. Providing durable yarn is also crucial to this initiative.
According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which is a partner of the Environment Agency, the textile industry is producing a huge amount of waste. It is estimated that one truckload of waste textiles is dumped in landfill or incinerated every second. At the same time, people are buying 60% more clothes and using them for half as long. This is causing a lot of environmental problems, such as pollution of the oceans with plastic fibers, discharge of wastewater and toxic dyes, and exploitation of workers at low wages.
However, experts suggest that there is another way: a circular economy in the textile industry. This means reducing waste, reducing pollution, and promoting reuse and recycling. To achieve this, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the non-profit organization “Global Fashion Agenda” (GFA) held a meeting titled “Promoting a Net Benefit Fashion Industry Circular System” at the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt in November 2022. The event invited industry leaders to discuss how to achieve a circular economy in the industry.
The Environment Agency and the GFA are consulting the fashion industry to identify a path towards “net benefit”. This means that the industry should give back more to the world than it takes away. UNEP is also working on a plan to make the textile industry value chain sustainable and circular. The focus is on transforming the industry’s narrative to examine the role of consumption to promote sustainable fashion communication.
Consumers are pressuring the fast fashion business model for change. They are demanding resilient clothing from sustainable industries, a goal also supported by the United Nations Sustainable Fashion Alliance.
Patagonia is a great example of an apparel company that has actively adopted circular economy principles. The outdoor clothing brand won the United Nations Champions of the Earth Award in 2019. Earlier this year, Patagonia announced that it would transform into a charitable trust and use all profits from its annual sales of US$1.5 billion to combat climate change, making the earth its sole shareholder. Many other businesses in the industry are also making important shifts.
This week, the United Nations Environment Program is hosting a webinar titled “Shifting the Fashion Narrative: Rethinking a World of Overconsumption,” which you can watch here.
To combat the widespread impact of pollution on society, the United Nations Environment Program has launched the #PlasticFight campaign. The strategy highlights the impact of pollution on climate change, loss of the natural environment, and biodiversity, as well as human health. The campaign aims to move towards a pollution-free planet for future generations.
