While it has been long-known that plastic packaging, fossil fuels and meat farming are all major contributors to our eco-suicide, its only recently that the fashion industry has come under inspection. According to Ecowatch, the fashion industry is the worlds second-biggest polluter, outdone only by the oil industry.
A number of brands have been trying to become more sustainable and each has its own method of reducing its ecological footprint: many use strictly organic materials, eschew pesticides and avoid exploitative labor practices.
Banana Republic
The use of organic cotton is one of the most widely proliferated practices in sustainable fashion, but according to statistics from 2012, it comprised only 0.7 percent of total global cotton production.
H&M
Fast fashion has been widely named and shamed in recent years as the dirtiest player in the global clothing industry. Its high level of output creates masses of waste and its cheap prices are maintained by cutting the cost of labor and scaling back on ethical practices.
Realizing that a lot of fast-fashion clothing end up in the trash, some brands, H&M in particular, have recycling programs where customers can bring in old clothes from any brand that can be recycled into something new. Although it may sound like a miracle idea, according to a recent article by Newsweek, only 0.1 percent of all the clothes recycled by charities and take-back programs end up being recycled into new textile fibers.
Mango
As a very good example of a company using sustainability strategies, there isnt a clothing brand on the planet that has done more for the environment than Patagonia. Aside from utilizing sustainable materials and employing ethical practices such as the use of torture-free goose down, its Worn Wear program actively encourages people to bring their battered old Patagonia products into stores to have them either repaired or re-sold. This is part of their much-lauded anti-growth strategy, where rather than manipulating its customers into consuming more or seducing new ones into its orbit through aggressive advertising, it helps them get maximum use out of their purchases, thus reducing demand for new ones.
Stella McCartney
If elements from the Patagonia model could be standardized across the entire clothing industry then sustainable fashion could make a meaningful effect on environmental conservation. But, as things stand, its little more than a vanity project that cleanses the conscience rather than an effective strategy.
Ann Taylor
WindowsWear is the official media partner for this elevated gathering in Portland whereby brands will get together with leaders in the print and manufacturing world to discuss sustainability specifically in regards to printed retail marketing, visual displays, and packaging. Other topics will include designing into sustainability, creating closed-loop programs, upcycling, in-store recycling, and the use of recycled content.
This event will be hosted by the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP), which is the only certification of print facilities that focus on sustainable print manufacturing operations.
This will be an exciting night, in a beautiful space, with a great group of your retail peers. As we know, sustainability is all about collaboration!
