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A more sustainable future for fashion

by 9 Mar 2010

Fashion is often blamed for the severe ethical and environmental impacts of our throwaway clothes culture and obsession with the latest trends. Yet this year’s London Fashion Week celebrated how our love for clothes could be making a positive difference to the future of the planet and its people.

The headlines may have been full of news of Naomi Cambell’s high-profile fundraiser for Haiti, but in a less conventional event, Ministers met fashionistas in marking the first anniversary of the Sustainable Clothing Roadmap, a joint initiative by government, industry and NGOs to reduce the environmental and ethical impact of our clothes.

The Sustainable Clothing Roadmap

The roadmap, launched by Defra in London Fashion Week 2009, recognises that fashion plays an important role in our economy and the nation’s sense of style, with over two million tonnes of clothing purchased each year in the UK. However, the roadmap aims to address the social and environmental issues in the clothing supply chain and encourage consumers to be proud to wear, and keep, ethically sourced, low impact clothing.

So far over 300 organisations have been involved in the roadmap, over 40 of which have committed to the action plan, including many high street brands, who see sustainable practices as fundamental to business success. Businesses lose two per cent of their profits every year through inefficient use of energy, water and waste; a more sustainable approach can offer commercial benefits, through efficiency gains and meeting consumer demand for ethical fashion.

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Fashion’s footprint

The production of clothing uses vast amounts of water and energy and contributes to waste; cotton production alone is responsible for one quarter of global insecticide use.

Up to 80% of our clothes’ total climate change impact is accounted for after they’ve been purchased, by our washing and drying them. Not to mention that once worn, over one million tonnes of clothing are thrown away each year, with half this amount ending up on landfill. There are also significant social impacts from the clothing industry, which has long been criticised for its poor ethical standards in global workforces.

Green is the new black

The roadmap’s Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP), led by Defra’s Sustainable Consumption and Production Programme, sets out agreed stakeholder actions from the industry and support organisations to improve the sustainability of clothing. Over 40 have now committed actions in the Action Plan, with initiatives addressing the impacts across the lifecycle of our clothes, from take-back recycling schemes in stores to carbon labels and use of organic materials.

Successful initiatives under SCAP include one supplier’s 90% reduction in their carbon footprint through switching to wind energy at their manufacturing plant in India, using organic materials and communicating messages to consumers through their online retailer. Closer to home is Oxfam’s Clothes Exchange scheme which gives customers clothing vouchers in exchange for bringing in old clothes has raised approximately £2.2 million for the charity whilst saving four million garments from landfill.

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International efforts

The roadmap also recognises the international nature of clothing supply chains. The Department for International Development (DFID), has launched a pioneering initiative to help clothing manufacturers improve working conditions for their producers in developing countries. The Responsible and Accountable Garment Sector (RAGS) fund will make £3.5 million available over three years for organisations who want to make the clothing business more ethical and contribute more strongly to development in poor countries. International Development Minister, Gareth Thomas, said the aim was for “responsibly and ethically produced clothing to be the norm in the UK.”

Fashion futures

Joining the clothing road map this year, were Forum for the Future, the sustainable development NGO, who released their Fashion Futures report. The report, launched with Levi Strauss & Co, sets out the challenges we will face as a society in 2025 and outlines four possible scenarios of how the industry may look in the future. The scenarios cover a range of solutions for the industry from ‘less is more’ uber-sustainable fashion to low carbon, cheap clothes with a quick turnover. The full report is available online from Forum for the Future’s Fashion Futures project page.

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