Sustainable Solutions to Fight Fast Fashion
Did you know that each year, tons upon tons of discarded clothes wind up in landfills?
The cause of this is, among other things, "fast fashion," cheap clothes that people discard after a relatively short period of use.
On top of landfills teeming with cheap textiles, clothing manufacturing often comes with a big carbon footprint. The planet suffers every time a cheap outfit is created, bought, and thrown out. Sure, everyone loves buying a new look on the cheap, but it's really at the Earth's expense. So, what can we do? It starts with a being informed. When we talk about fashion nowadays, we should also talk about sustainability in fashion.
While there are great ways for individuals to curb their own clothing waste, like donating or upcycling items, the major impact on reducing waste will occur at the corporate level.
May's Copenhagen Fashion Summit seeks to encourage circular fashion and closing the loop. "Circular fashion" means that an item is designed with a long life in mind, produced with as waste-free as possible, and can eventually be repurposed or recycled.
In addition to companies and thought leaders coming together to make great strides in sustainability, there are a lot of exciting innovations already at work combatting fashion waste.
Fabrics of the Future
Can you believe that cow dung can be turned into clothing? Yep! The Mestic Manure-Derived Bioplastic was invented by Dutch artist and entrepreneur Jalila Essaïdi.
Bionic Yarn turns plastic water bottles into thread.
AlgiKnit creates fabric made from seaweed. The fabric is kind to the environment to create, and it is also biodegradable.
How You Can Help
If you want to help the charge toward sustainable fashion, considering shopping from Earth-friendly brands. Rothy's makes shoes out of plastic water bottles, and the shoes are themselves recyclable. H&M offers a Conscious collection made from organic fabrics. Alternative Apparel's lines are all made from organic, fabric, too. These are just some examples; both larger companies smaller and start-ups are getting in on the eco-friendly fashion game, so do a little research before buying a new outfit to see if you're supporting a company committed to sustainability.
If more and more innovators think of new ways to make clothes, and if individuals donate and upcycle, we can make great progress in saving the world from fast fashion and even look good doing it.