Sustainable Fashion - Op Ed

Switching to a more sustainable lifestyle: A(dress)ing Change

With landfills overflowing with waste, industrial chemicals polluting our waterways, and emissions from factories and vehicles adding to global warming, our planet is in crisis. If we don’t make drastic changes to our behavior, we will leave a disaster for our grandchildren. Fortunately, over the past few decades, sustainability has become a major topic of interest. People are finally wondering if they truly need all that they purchase, and if they can re-use or re-cycle items instead of throwing them out. Nevertheless, it is clear that individual changes will only make a small dent in the problem, that real change needs to take place on the industrial level. The production of clothing, especially in large quantities, not only can emit toxic chemicals into the water and air, but also can be unethical and harmful to developing countries and their residents. And yet, clothing companies are ramping up efforts to make people feel they need to stay current, to purchase shoddily constructed, super-trendy clothes to wear for only short periods, and to base their self worth on their outward appearance. We consumers must work to minimize over-consumption by recycling or reusing old clothing, or if needed, purchasing items from sustainable companies, in order to balance the harmful impacts the textile industry has on the environment.  

For starters, we must reject what has become known as “fast fashion.” We must shun retailers such as Forever 21, Zara, Shein, and H&M, who, according to Nicholas Gilmore, a staff writer and editor for The Saturday Evening Post, “flood clothing markets with quick-turnaround trends and cheap threads.” This clothing is mass-produced as cheaply and quickly as possible, with no concern about durability; items quickly fall apart or appear out of date, and thus end up in landfills just months after they are purchased. As author Marc Bain notes, these retailers manipulate consumers’ emotions, helping them feel good when they shop, make trendy purchases, and look fashionable:  “If seeing items you want and getting a bargain both elicit waves of shopping joy, you couldn’t engineer a more pleasurable consumer culture than the modern, globalized West.” Quick changeovers in these stores bring in shoppers at frequent intervals and make it cheap and easy for us to replace “outdated” items with new, more current, purchases. To make matters worse, most fast-fashion retailers don’t care about the damage they cause to the environment. Patsy Perry, a Senior Lecturer in Fashion Marketing, states that for these companies, the “pressure to reduce cost and the time it takes to get a product from design to shop floor means that environmental corners are more likely to be cut.” It’s important to know how these trendy, cheap, articles of clothing are made. Perry does her part by listing the harmful steps in creating fast fashion: how dyes are made with toxic chemicals; how the process of dyeing textiles is the second worst polluter of clean water; how polyester, when washed, adds plastic fibers to oceans; and how growing cotton necessitates harmful pesticides. The negative environmental impacts should, for, all, outweigh the attraction of “newness and nowness.”

We must also think before we toss out unwanted clothing. What else could we do with items that we no longer want or need? Gilmore of The Saturday Evening Post suggests that we could recycle, instead of throw out, much of what seems outdated or too damaged for further use. This change in behavior is essential because the EPA estimates 9 percent of solid waste is made up of textiles, rubber, and leather - materials often used in clothes, shoes, and purses. It is mind-boggling to consider that, according to Gilmore, every year most of us toss out 81 pounds of clothing. Sure, we take bags of old shirts and pants to thrift stores, but surprisingly, they toss out much of what they receive. Fortunately, some companies have begun to specialize in recycling and the reutilization of old clothing.

A third solution, and perhaps most important solution is for clothing manufacturers to engage in more sustainable practices. As consumers, instead of shopping at fast-fashion retailers, we must research which companies practice sustainability, or which sell cool recycled clothing that wasn’t manufactured in an unethical way. Dr. Anna Brismar, founder and writer for Green Strategy, writes that some companies and designers focus on environmentally conscious methods, while others urge consumers to recycle, reuse, borrow, or even rent clothing instead of making unnecessary purchases. She notes that “all strategies promoting more environmentally, socially and ethically conscious production and consumption are important steps towards a more sustainable industry.” We should support companies like Patagonia, which specializes in rugged outdoor clothing. On its website, Patagonia acknowledges that the human race has the power to save our planet, and the company engages in activities to raise public awareness of that mission. In a now-famous ad placed in the New York Times on Black Friday 2011, Patagonia presented a photo of one of its most popular coats, with large black letters stating, “Don’t Buy This Jacket.” Next to the photo, the company outlined its “Common Threads Initiative,” urging consumers to reduce (buy fewer articles of clothing), repair torn or damaged items, reuse items (pass unwanted clothing to others), recycle (Patagonia will find new uses for unwanted items), and “REIMAGINE…TOGETHER... a world where we take only what nature can replace.” To promote the positive work of companies such as Patagonia, Jessica Davis, digital editor assistant for Harper’s BAZAAR UK, goes one step further by listing and promoting 22 trendy, high-quality, sustainable brands, claiming that it’s possible to “look good with a clear conscience.” She provides links to each designer’s website, so readers can directly shop and support those companies. It is up to us to follow those links, to ensure the success of companies that are actually working to save the planet.

We must take responsibility for our actions that impact the environment. We must be more responsible about the way we shop; we must buy fewer items, and keep them in circulation by repairing and recycling them. If we continue to live carelessly and give our money to fast fashion companies, which engage in dangerous and unethical practices, we will continue to inch our way towards extinction. So, the next time you see an advertisement telling you that you need to buy a certain product so you can look like whichever celebrity, think to yourself… ‘Do I really need this product or do I just want it?’ The next time you decide to go shopping, think to yourself… ‘Would it be more sustainable to go to H&M or Zara or somewhere like Patagonia? Can I save money, and the environment, by hitting thrift shops instead?’ If we adapt to more sustainable methods of shopping, we might reverse some of these “nonreversible” environmental effects.