Sustainable fashion
Certainly in recent years, you have somehow heard of the term "sustainable fashion", or otherwise sustainable fashion. But do you understand what exactly it means? Some consider it to be nothing more than a simple trend. But in reality it is much more, something that definitely came to stay. To understand exactly what "sustainable" fashion means, we need to analyze some facts and facts concerning fashion in general, as we knew it until today.
Today's fashion
For the last twenty years the dominant business model in this field has been that of "fast-fashion", where designers and manufacturers of clothing renew their collections at regular intervals and promote them at very affordable prices, with materials, on mostly low quality. This trend encourages us consumers to buy (and discard) more and more clothing, creates the need for the new and devalues the old. We now live in an age of trends, where the average person buys 60% more clothing than 15 years ago. Think about how many times you bought something, wore it once and then it stayed in your closet forever.
Fashion and environment
According to the UN, the fashion industry is considered the second most polluting industry in the world. In terms of CO2 (carbon) emissions it is responsible for more emissions than those from aviation and shipping, together! It's nature that pays the price for the low prices of fast fashion, considering that 7,500 liters of water are needed to make a pair of jeans. This equates to the amount of water that the average person consumes for seven whole years. In addition, about half a million tons of microfiber, equivalent to three million barrels of oil, reach the ocean each year.
Fashion and human rights
A large percentage of companies make their clothes in countries with very cheap labor, in order to maximize their profits. If we look at the people behind our clothes, we will definitely not like the image. In addition to the lack of medical care, workers are forced to work long hours without breaks, with wages that fail to meet their basic needs. They work in buildings that, for the most part, do not meet safety requirements and are exposed to harmful and carcinogenic chemicals used in the manufacture of clothing. A typical example is the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh in 2013, which housed several garment factories.
What can you do;
Somewhere here comes the concept of "sustainable" fashion, that is: fashion that respects humans, animals and the environment. The fashion that focuses on quality instead of quantity, on timelessness instead of temporary trends. The solution is one: we must realize the enormous power that each of us has as a consumer. Every one of our purchases is like a "vote". For each brand in which we choose to spend our money, we automatically "vote" in favor of its practices and values. So it is 100% in our hands who we choose to support. Supporting sustainable fashion is not just a random choice, it is a way of life. And for those who ask: "why such" fear "now with this sustainability?" The answer is: sustainability is the future, because the Earth's resources are not infinite, but limited. The sooner we realize this, the better for us and our planet.
Source: Fashionmanifesto.gr
