A Guide for Practicing Sustainability in the Fashion Industry
Across the globe, more people strive towards living healthier, more ethical, and sustainable lives. Consideration to everything from the foods they eat to the cars they drive and how it affects the world is accounted for when making purchases. Although slow to come around, the fashion industry is also inching closer to a commitment to sustainability. Continue reading to discover ways the fashion industry is moving towards a practice of sustainability as more shoppers look into ethically-centered fashion choices.
Educate
Sustainability initiatives focused around teaching designers and everyone involved in the fashion industry strategies and tools to transition from traditional fashion design and manufacturing to sustainable fashion smoother. Everywhere from fashion schools to fashion houses are teaching zero waste, researching new fabrics, creating minimal waste patterns, and doing a lot more to reduce fabric waste and waste in general. Innovation is also guiding designers to bridge the gap between chemical research and design training to understand sustainability better.
Fashion designers understand that the trade-off for dealing with the critical issues of ethical living and sustainability now will result in a more trusted brand.
Create an in house green-team.
Instead of stopping at education, placing a green team to research and implement changes is as essential as everything else in creating ethical fashion. Your green team will focus on your company’s operations and continuing education for employees. They will encourage employees and find new ways to cultivate cohesiveness and unity towards sustainability.
Get to know your supply chain.
What difference would it make for designers to practice sustainability if their supply chains didn’t consider their products’ socio-economic and environmental aspects? Get to know your supply chain and where the fabrics come from to ensure that the product life cycle is ethical from beginning to end. The supply chain doesn’t simply involve fabrics when it comes to the fashion industry. It includes, but is not limited to the following:
- Environmental awareness
- Safe and hygienic work conditions
- Humane treatment
- No discrimination
- Appropriate working hours
- Fair pay
Offer remote work.
Remote work benefits employees, allowing them more flexibility and a lot less time commuting, which is excellent for the environment. However, from a company standpoint, remote work means saving on lights, heat and keeping the office space adequately cooled. Remote work offers benefits to the employee and the company and should be considered when considering sustainability in the fashion industry.
Use sustainable packaging.
Shipping packages in sustainable packaging has tons of benefits that make being sustainable and not shipping that way seem sinful. In addition to a reduced carbon footprint, using sustainable packaging also is responsible for the following benefits:
- Reduces the space used for packaging products
- Sustainable packaging products are free of toxins and allergens
- Increases sales
- Reduces energy, solid waste, water usage, electricity, and emissions
- Saves money with earth-friendly packaging
With more people across the globe living ethically sustainable lives, the fashion industry is coming around and inching closer to a commitment to sustainability. Consider purchasing fashion from sustainable companies which is more relevant and made easier by the fashion industry’s increased practice of sustainability.
