Sometimes it feels like the world is about to explode. Climate is changing, plastic is polluting oceans, forests are disappearing, and people are slowly running out of water. What else is going to kill us this week? Jokes aside, humanity is very guilty of what is going on with our planet these days. Many industries we can’t imagine our life without are ruining ecosystems and making the Earth a less beautiful and safe place. Fashion is not something crossing our minds immediately when we speak about detrimental human influence on the planet. Yet, it is one of the most polluting branches.
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The clothing industry is dirty and is a big contributor to the damage we cause to our planet. How? Because we have too many garment items. The clothes prices have decreased dramatically over the last decades. People started buying more and, as a result, companies have begun to produce more. Nowadays, this industry needs a lot of cheap labor forces. As a result, many people in developing countries must spend months at work without any days off to produce everything we need. It doesn’t lead to a reduction in poverty. Horrible working conditions cause poor health conditions. Besides, producing garments requires much water and electricity. It also increases our greenhouse emissions. Ultimately, with a worrying trend of fast and extremely fast fashion, companies make more clothes than people can buy. As a result, it ends up on the dump heap. It takes years to decompose all this tremendous amount of fabrics, while the new items arrive every day.
However, people came up with a solution to the problem described above. The concept of sustainable fashion is slowly but surely conquering the consumers’ world. It refers to the garment designed, created, and distributed in ways that don’t cause much environmental harm. Sustainable fashion is an umbrella term that doesn’t refer only to choosing fabrics or manufacturing products. It means the general idea of clothing as something that meets people’s requirements and makes them feel comfortable and good, yet doesn’t pollute the planet. This movement tries to solve the carbon footprint problem, and reduce air and water pollution.
In today’s article, we would like to list the reasons why sustainable fashion matters and is worth following.
Sustainable brands are based on natural fabrics that are easy and cheap to recycle. Such fabrics require less chemical processing, energy supply, and water. For example, linen, organic cotton, wool, or hemp are biodegradable and constitute a great alternative to artificial fabrics. On top, you can wear them longer and thus, reduce consumption. One basic cotton shirt is worth several garments. It will look good and fresh even after years of intensive wearing. Although modern clothes made of artificial fabrics have brighter colors, they are unlikely to last long.
Sustainable fashion encourages equal labor rights
If you are sure that slavery is a notorious attribute of the past, we have some bad news for you. Unfortunately, people around the world keep experiencing severe violations of their rights and working in unsafe and detrimental conditions. Legislations of the countries where the biggest industries’ capacities are located prohibit workers from gathering in labor unions and defending their rights together. Fast fashion requires fast speed. As a result, people often get subjected to physical and mental abuse, work long hours, and can’t quit their job without severe consequences.
If the brand claims itself sustainable, it should be ready to provide customers with a detailed description of the working conditions their employees have. Working as a sustainable brand means you need to provide your team with sufficient salaries and a social package. Without a good level of well-being of people working for the company, it can’t claim itself to be an eco-friendly or sustainable one.
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Sustainable fashion makes you appreciate clothes more
Many people say they have nothing to wear for a special occasion. Meanwhile, their wardrobe can’t get closed due to the number of garments in it. It’s ok, you shouldn’t be heavily criticized for buying stuff you like. However, do we wear everything we buy? It’s a good question, one people have to ask themselves more often. Clothes always look gorgeous in the store because there are special people who know how to present them most attractively. Try it on before buying and make sure it fits you perfectly. Don’t forget that the industry often encourages us to buy certain things just because they are on trend, not because they are nice and look good on our bodies. Sometimes fashion is absolutely ridiculous. Does it mean we have to follow it blindly? By paying more attention to sustainable clothes, you learn to understand that less is more. Things including clothes do bring much fun and happiness but when you have too many items this feeling goes away. The concept of sustainable fashion is about enjoying simple things and just as much as we need. This idea goes beyond the clothing industry and can become a full-time life philosophy.
As we see, sustainable fashion is a deep and multidimensional concept that offers solutions to pressing problems of the environment. Some affordable ethical clothing brands consistently support this idea and explain to customers the necessity of more mindful shopping. Tastes differ, yet nowadays more and more companies are choosing quality over quantity, meeting clients’ requirements, and introducing the idea of reconsidering fashion. They try to slow it down. It seems to be a really good idea.
