Sustainability in fashion. Why it really matters now and top 4 tips for conscious fashionistas.

Sustainability and Fashion

When it comes to fashion, the second larger polluter in the world after the oil industry, our individual decisions can have a huge impact on the future of our communities, biodiversity and ecosystems .

According to a 2020 research by GFA and McKinsey & Co, the fashion industry is responsible for 4% of the global GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, contributing with 2.1 billion tones of GHG emissions towards atmospheric warming.

If we don’t take action now, we are expected to miss our emission reduction targets by 50% in 2030, leading to increased global warming beyond the 1.5 degrees targeted by the Paris Agreement. If that happens, we should expect to face extreme environmental phenomena such as intense heatwaves, droughts, flooding and rising sea levels (to name a few), threatening our ecosystem's prosperity.

Shifting Behavior within the Fashion Industry

With Covid-19 and everything else that happened in our world during the last 2 years, both consumers and members of the industry have started showing an investment in the subject of sustainability, and its related social and environmental topics.

It is a great opportunity for each one of us now, to reflect on, rethink and reshape our behavior within a wider range of perspectives, including fashion. According to the 2020 GFA research, sustainable consumer behavior during the use and end-of-use phases, could have a 21% reducing potential of the fashion industry’s total GHG emissions.

So, how can we, as consumers of fashion become more conscious and environmentally sustainable through our buying choices and end-of-use patterns?

Our top 4 tips for a more sustainable closet in 2021:

1. Support Slow Fashion Businesses.

Slow fashion brands (us included), are based on utilizing high-quality sustainable materials and local, low-impact manufacturing models, on a made to order basis. That means that slow fashion brands only produce garments after they receive an order, which allows them to offer fairer working conditions, minimize their leftover stock, fabric waste, excessive energy consumption and consequently their overall carbon footprint.

Unlike fast fashion, slow fashion is a quality-based concept that encourages people to invest in pieces that may take a little longer to produce, but will also last longer because they are more well-made. That’s an added value for the final customer.

You will be surprised by both the quality and the customer service that these brands have to offer.

2. Choose Sustainable Materials.

There is a plethora of alternative, sustainable materials and fibers today that are: biodegradable, vegan, less water intensive, pesticide-free, recycled, up-cycled, or reused. As technology grows, more and more materials are becoming available that are both eco-conscious and functional. Organic cotton and rPET (fiber made from recycled plastic bottles) for example, are half as emission intensive as regular cotton or polyester due to their pesticide-free, or recycling focused production, while other fibers like Bamboo and Lyocell are biodegradable due to their closed-loop production methods.

Choosing the right materials for your clothing can be quite challenging however, as not many brands use them due to cost and sourcing issues, especially within the fast fashion sector.

Consumers need to be extra cautious and spend a good amount of time on research before proceeding to such purchases, as many brands are not as transparent as they might seem.

3. Embrace Circular Economy Habits

Whether it is clothing-rentals, repurposed, refurbished or up cycled, there are many options out there today to choose from. All these business models require limited energy consumption (and consequently emissions) and support a wider sustainable concept called circular economy.

Refurbishing whenever possible not only can save you money, but with the right skills can provide you with a totally new and unique garment.

Clothing-rentals is another great business model that helps consumers become more sustainable. Given the fact that up to 85% of textiles end up into landfills each year, renting could help reduce GHG emissions of the fashion industry significantly. This comes extremely handy for those occasions that we need a special garment that we’ll probably end up wearing once or twice in our life. Sounds familiar?

4. Reduce Washing and Drying.

Last but not least, be mindful when it comes to washing and drying your clothes. And here’s another tip within our last tip: always read your clothes’ caring instructions. Not only will they provide you with useful information on how to preserve your clothes better but also help you become a more sustainable consumer.

Did you know that reducing our monthly washing loads just by one, washing on 30 degrees or below, and substituting just one of our monthly machine dryings with an open-air drying, could lead to a further GHG emission reduction by 186 tonnes?

To sum up,

• supporting slow fashion businesses,

• buying clothes made from sustainable materials,

• developing circular economy habits, and

• reducing washing and drying,

are 4 key consumer strategies that can truly help protect our environment. 4 small adjustments that will prevent us missing our GHG emission limit agreements, protecting the future of our ecosystem and communities.

Learn how we approach the subject of sustainability at The NP Studio.