SEASON 1
Fashion
Environmental responsibility in fashion
How to make fashion more environmentally responsible?
Over-production of clothing, the messiness of reverse logistics… is environmentally responsible fashion at scale possible?
How to make fashion more environmentally responsible?
Over-production of clothing, the messiness of reverse logistics… is environmentally responsible fashion at scale possible?
How to make fashion more environmentally responsible?
Over-production of clothing, the messiness of reverse logistics… is environmentally responsible fashion at scale possible?
Many boutique fashion brands are pushing sustainability in their materials and manufacturing, but this is far from the norm of the industry. The big challenges from an environmental perspective are materials manufacturing, over-production, transport, and end-user waste - not helped by the complexity of making reverse logistics less wasteful. It’ll take materials innovation and recycling, reeducation of consumer behaviour, and out-of-the-box logistics solutions to make it possible.
What are the most environmentally damaging elements of the clothing industry? What are the most effective changes currently being made? Is recycling textiles impactful? Is it effective for businesses to offer a “sustainable edit” range of clothing, or is that greenwashing? What are the challenges of reverse logistics, and has anyone cracked this? Are there learnings from other industries that could help?
The fashion industry is one of the most highly polluting in the world. The strain on human lives, energy use, water use, to produce the world’s clothing, the environmental degradation to source materials, and the scale of waste - which in turn produces waste problems and shadow markets in developing countries - are significant. While small fashion labels are leading the way, we need an industry-wide shift to create less damage.
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