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I want to tell you a story. I was shopping for jeans for my daughter at a store in Australia. Before us was an array of rainbow colored jeans. Naturally, mesmerized by the pretty colors, my daughter ran towards them. But, when I got close, the chemical stench caused me to jump back. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my daughter became one of my first reasons to support sustainable brands.
We went home empty handed that day and after story and bath time I hit the internet to learn why the jeans had that chemical smell. What I found sent shock waves down my spine. There are nearly 8,000 different synthetic chemicals used in our clothing. Upon further research I realized that the smell that made me jump back was most likely formaldehyde, a chemical used to preserve the colors in clothing. Worse still, I learned how these clothes were affecting our health and that of our environment. Since that day I’ve been catapulted into a lifestyle that my friends would call ‘crunchy luxe’ and I later learned was known as sustainable.
That brings me to where I am today, a woman who helps others live sustainably and support ethical, green brands. (I know, there’s probably a well deserved eye roll here because so many buzzwords are used back-to-back). So, I asked several people why they don’t support sustainable brands. One thing I learned was that a lot of the answers were the same. So, I picked out 4 of the most common to respond with answers why we should. Or, if you include my story above, that makes 5 reasons why we should support eco brands- your children’s health.
Greenwashing
Similar to the way I felt when I saw that Pepsi ad, I was stumped as to how H&M was now a conscious label after watching models frolic around a barn for one of their ads. Models holding flowers don’t make a brand sustainable. Their image in my mind worsened when I read their sustainability report riddled with pledges, but lacking clearly defined action plans. But, I guess that was kinda the point. When brands begin to notice customer patterns shift, they find the cheapest method to meet their demands. In this case it was marketing. It’s a lot cheaper to shoot a model among blades of tall grass than it is to audit, replace, and disrupt your entire supply chain to meet ethical and sustainable standards set by third party organizations.
Unfortunately, those slack methods loose brands money in the long run and hurt other brands’ reputations as well. And, there’s the added legal problems too. In 2022, the federal court of Missouri filed a class action lawsuit against the fast fashion retailer for its “unlawful, unfair, deceptive, and misleading business practices” via its “self-proclaimed sustainable clothing line called the ‘Conscious Choice’ Collection.”
It’s hard to shift through all the marketing and greenwashing to find what’s truly sustainable and ethical.
Reader’s Comment
Yes, greenwashing does make it harder to find and support brands that are engaging in sustainable production practices. But, researching, finding and supporting those brands is integral to reduce water waste and pollution, landfill accumulation and CO2 emissions. And, these are just a few of the impacts that the fashion industry has on our livelihoods.
- The carbon footprint of the clothing industry could be reduced by 63% by switching to renewable clean energy sources.
- Making fashion a circular economy could reduce 33% of the CO2 emissions associated with textile production.
- Textile treatment and dyeing accounts for 20% of global freshwater pollution.
You Need To Read Sustainability Reports
So, how can we tell a greenwashing campaign from truthful reasons to support sustainable brands? I’ll be honest, if a brand doesn’t have a sustainability tab at the top or bottom of their website, I’m usually off the site within a few seconds. Sometimes, I might reach out to them for an interview or search their website for other ways that they’re sustainable. But, there really isn’t much thrill in the hunt to find out whether or not a brand is sustainable. The thrill should be in finding new clothes. I’ll also admit that if a company paints themselves as picture perfect, I’m suspicious. But, if they’re honest about the ways that they are and aren’t sustainable, but moving towards improvement, then I’m more willing to be a customer who will support them while they meet those goals. Being transparent goes a long way in building customer’s trust.
Often there’s not enough data or information (or it takes too long to find that info) to make an informed decision.
Reader’s Comment
A few brands that do this well are Birdsong, Sezane, Stella McCartney and Reformation. If you need reasons to support sustainable brands, here’s one, these brands spell out the materials used in their collections (the materials that will go onto your body). Reformation even goes as far as breaking it down to percentage points. Carbon emissions, water and general wastage are also spelled out in graphs and percentages. If you’re concerned about a company’s ethics, there are maps showing where their clothing is made, organizations who audit these factories and some even list the minimum wage for their workers.
Using What You Already Have Is The Greenest Option Of Them All
I can’t get over how much clothing is already in landfills and second hand stores, etc.
Reader’s Comment
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 16.9 million tons of textiles were discarded into landfills in 2017. Fast fashion houses like H&M have also come under fire for reports like a 2018 quarterly stating showing they had $4.3 billion in unsold clothing. But, that didn’t stop the retailer from producing more collections and clothes for us to consume, or leave unsold. All of this production is costing our planet dearly. “Our collective consumption currently exceeds by 70 percent what our planet Earth can renew,” Mathis Wackernagel of the Global Footprint Network, gave his thoughts to Deutsche Welle about how unsustainable our production industries are.
One solution for finding the thrill in what we already have is to shop resell sites like Vestiaire Collective, the Gen Z favorite Depop, and The Real Real. All of these online retailers focus on the circular economy by reselling preloved items in new campaigns and stylish editorials. Another solution are brands that use deadstock or recycled textiles in their designs. Brands like Adidas and Allbirds have made ballet flats from recycled plastic bottles. Mara Hoffman and Stella McCartney are other brands using recycled nylons (sourced from plastic bottles) in their designs.
Why Spend $85 For A T-Shirt When You Can Spend $5?
The true cost of a T-shirt is quite grim. For you and me, it’s $5, but for someone else it could be their life, their livelihood and freedom. Factories in South East Asia have been making our cheap garments on salaries that are below their country’s livable wages. Children work to sew on embroidery or worse are forced to work in gold mines. And, the jeans whose vibrant indigo hues you and I hold in high esteem have polluted 70% of the rivers in China. You can watch a few documentaries on the unethical side of fashion HERE. That’s the true cost of cheap fashion.
What’s with the higher price tag higher price tag for words like “organic”, “sustainable”, “eco-friendly” and “vegan”.
Reader’s Comment
Natural fibers, dyes, and livable wages for factory workers are a few of the reasons why some brands have a higher price range. Brands that use innovative materials such as recycled plastic water bottles or seaweed also pay a premium sourcing their manufacturer. There are several affordable sustainable brands like Reformation, Birdsong, Pangaia, Dedicated and Poeme who are transparent about their prices and have reasonable prices. Personally, I enjoy sourcing a few pieces from these brands and filling my wardrobe primarily with preloved items. And, as mentioned above, I always check the brand’s sustainable efforts before handing over my hard-earned dollars.