Abstract
Every person every day wears clothes, therefore the sustainability of fashion is very relevant if we want to have a better tomorrow. The sustainability of fashion includes the source of clothing, the production of it, and the disposal of it. There are many options for a greener tomorrow, but easy, cheap access to environmentally destructive clothing is hindering these options. Options for a greener tomorrow can be found anywhere in the life cycle of fashion, but only if humans are willing to invest the time and money for more research and more practices. There are many green options for fashion, such as supporting local businesses by donating old articles, but deeply ingrained shopping habits and industry productions are far too accessible to the average consumer to maintain a sustainable industry. The demands of the industry are being forcibly met by means that are destructive to the environment, yet the supply of materials is not inexhaustible, and will eventually be depleted.
The Sustainability of Fashion
Sustainability is defined by Merriam Webster as “a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged,” but another interpretation of the word sustainability comes from Harvard’s Sustainability Science Program, which approaches sustainability by “advancing scientific understanding of human-environment systems” (Sustainability Science Program). The definition becomes more specific in terms of fashion, defined by Green Strategy as “clothing, shoes and accessories that are manufactured, marketed and used…to improve all stages of the product’s life cycle, from design, raw material production, ….. to use, reuse, repair, remake and recycling of the product and its components” (Green Strategy, 2014). Sustainability embodies all of these definitions, because understanding of the relationship between humans and environmental systems can lead to using said resources in a more efficient, less destructive way for a better tomorrow. I view sustainability as a necessary component to a better tomorrow, because at the rate humans are producing articles of clothing, the resources of the earth will soon be depleted, and the actual land humans can utilize will shrink due to the overgrowth of landfills. In general, sustainability is the key to keeping earth alive, and not a depleted, devoid of resource land. If humans are able to research sustainability and find ways to keep industries in a constant cycle of life, instead of a linear life that just ends in waste, humans have a better chance of maintaining environmental systems.
Fashion is just another component of life; there are many places sustainable practices can be inserted. Like any other aspect of life, fashion has a beginning, a middle, and an end. The beginning of the life cycle of fashion starts with raw products, and while companies do not need to start with completely raw materials, they still do. Companies could opt for recycling old discarded clothing or fabrics, which would drastically cut down costs and consumption of products while avoiding waste. The beginning of the cycle also includes the actual textiles that produce clothes; textile could use sustainable practices, but oftentimes don’t in favor of cheaper production costs. The middle of the life cycle of fashion includes the transportation of finished clothing products. Planes, cars, and trucks are used daily to send finished products that were outsourced to a far away, but cheap, location to the final destination. There are many options to solve this problem, ranging from local production to more efficient and renewable resources in terms of fuel. The end of the life cycle involves the discard of clothes, which usually results in excess clothes in landfills. Solutions as simple as donating to local foundations, recycling, reusing articles, and repurposing materials can solve this problem, and all of these solutions can be done locally, not on a larger scale. As of right now, companies tend to neglect all the aspects of the life cycle of fashion: the production, transportation, durability, and recyclable factor of clothing. In fact, according to philanthropist Trejos, the fashion industry is the second most detrimental in terms of pollution on earth industry (Lane, 2017). All these factors lead to excessive and unnecessary waste that ultimately ends up in landfills. In fact, approximately 21 billion pounds of clothing is thrown out yearly, which clearly impacts the landfills (Fulenwider, 2007). However, if companies make adjustments to their practices, this problem could be avoided. According to Green Strategy, when producing clothes, textiles should promote Fair Trade and adhere to environmental conscious regulation in order to be a better sustainable brand (Green Strategy, 2014). This article also promotes the recycling of clothes, or even just creating clothes that last longer, in order to not only minimize waste when cheap products ultimately wear out, but also to minimize the demand for the production of clothing. Overall, the industry of fashion is an industry so powerful it could be a turning point in sustainable practices, yet the cost of doing so is not one the industry is willing to invest in, therefore, landfills are currently overflowing, and the threat of global warming only becomes more imminent.
Chemistry is the study of the relationship between matter and energy, therefore chemistry is found in all aspects of life. In fashion sustainability specifically there are a plethora of examples of chemistry being utilized to create more sustainable clothes. For example, the company Kering has declared they aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for transportation by half within the next decade (Atamian, 2017). Greenhouse gases are gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, and they have a negative impact on earth, therefore, if the life cycle of fashion includes transportation from location to location, lowering the harmful products of this part of the cycle will help sustainability in the world. Another area chemistry is found in when considering the sustainability of fashion is in the actual material of the clothing. For example, most of the clothes humans produce and consume today are made out of nylon or polyester, which are made from petrochemicals that heavily pollute the environment (Jordan). This is another negative impact on global warming, yet the origin of the cause is from a different stage of the life cycle of fashion. This is where sustainable fashion becomes more complicated: while the artificial materials of clothing are negatively impacting the atmosphere and pollution, natural materials such as non-organic cotton requires intense pesticide treatments that pollution the environment. Obviously, anything that is produces involves chemicals, and clothing is no different. Clothes need to be dyed, usually with chemicals, yet the chemicals that are used to dye clothes often lead to runoff in local water sources and pollute the environment. Peter Waeber, a fashion industry chemist, uses chemistry in his field when dyeing clothes. However, his approach to sustainability is different than the typical approach of sustainability in fashion (Fisher, 2017). Most fashion sustainability chemists only take chemical pollutants found in the finished products into consideration, but Waeber starts with clean chemicals to begin with, chemicals that won’t pollute or negatively impact the surrounding environment. Waeber’s approach is not just reactive to negative consequences on the environment, it is preventative of any potential consequences, which is what the study of sustainability is all about. Chemistry is always involved in productions of any kind of resource, even if it appears in forms that seem mundane to us. Science and chemistry are both key components to sustainability overall, because without methodical studying and research of the relationship between humans and our environment, we would be unable to determine what steps need to be taken in order to preserve a life cycle of an industry.
I believe that sustainability is important to preserve our world. Humans, while seemingly progressing technologically, are simultaneously destroying the earth during the process. Alister Doyle said “rates of extinctions of animals and plants, caused by factors ranging from pollution to deforestation, were 10 to 100 times higher than safe levels” (Doyle, 2015). All these consequences are due to the fact that humans do are not more aware of their impact on the environment. Factors such as transportation, demands of society, and production and textiles all do more harm to the environment than good. I believe that if more humans realized the impact of their actions, the world would have a better chance at providing for us longer. People just have to make minor changes to their daily routines, such as carpooling, eating less meat, or even supporting local businesses that engage in sustainable practices (Kukreja, 2017). I believe I can incorporate sustainability easily into my daily routine. I can shrink my carbon footprint, actively recycle everything, from bottles to clothes, and I can be more aware of all the waste I produce. I could also upcycle my old articles of clothing into new pieces, only shop at environmentally friendly stores, and make sure I am only supporting businesses that promote Fair Trade. In terms of non-fashion related sustainable practices, I could start a compost bin, use less disposable items in my daily life, and use renewable energy sources. I already know I am not doing as much as I could to help the environment, but if I want the future to live up to its’ full potential, and keep the resources on earth bountiful, I, along with the rest of society, have to practice sustainability in every aspect of our lives. In my opinion, one of the reasons the fashion industry has not completely turned to sustainable practices is because of greed. The production costs of cheap material and easy access and transportation seems worth the price, yet the long term consequences are going to be more costly than the current financial cost. Consequences such as depleted resources, polluted lands, and inflated prices are inevitable if humans cannot turn their habits around and start to invest in the future, instead of wasting the present.