Fashion is a huge part of our society. Every person wears clothes, some spend thousands on a single garment, and some find their career paths in the ever changing trends. Something that I didn’t know until recently, is that most clothing isn’t recyclable. This took me by surprise, as wool and cotton is from natural sources. However, before being fully manufactured and put into consumers closets, producers weave nylon or polyester fibres into the clothes to make them more dense, stretchy and cheaper. The issue with this is, that once these materials are combined, they are no longer recyclable.
We are currently living in the era of Fast Fashion, where trends go in and out faster than most people even realize. With that, clothes become outdated faster and consumers have a ridiculously fast clothing turnover.
We’ve spoken about Patagonia almost regularly when thinking about fashion and the environment, but there are many more companies that have been endeavouring into the sustainable fashion industry. Patagonia obviously surrounds itself with using the most ethical materials and advertising that consumers should only purchase what they need, not what they want. But what about other companies? What do they promote?
Reformation is a clothing brand from the USA, that put sustainability at the top of their priority list. Their clothes are delicate, feminine and recycled. They provide customers with free shipping labels and boxes to send their used clothes to Reformation for recycling purposes. An average of 30 kilograms of clothing is discarded per person per year in the US, making this recycling program so much more viable. Additionally, the brand sources it’s fabrics locally when possible, or follows the highest environmental and ethical standard when sourcing from suppliers. The company is a certified B Corp, allowing them to combine the power of their business with sustainable practices. 100% of their electricity is generated through wind power, and their light comes from Energy-Star rated LED lighting. On a regular basis, Reformation invests profits back into the environment, by offsetting the water and waste created from the clothing manufacturing, and reinvests in clean water projects or tree planting.
What I wanted to share, is that there are many more companies that endeavour in sustainable practices. Some companies, such as adidas are now starting to incorporate waste management and fabric recycling into some segments of their business. Reformation however, has sustainability right at the heart of their business. Join the Reformation.
https://www.thereformation.com/
Hello Lucy! I believe your post is one of the most interesting I’ve read so far. I personally have been an active shopper, even if I would like to say I am not. What I normally do with used clothes is to donate them to the charity. However, we could take sustainability fashion into a next level and buy from the beginning sustainable clothes. The question is, would the quality be the same? Trends are changing every day, so there is a need of fast fashion to adapt towards these changes. However, I believe there is a change in our generation. Millenials tend to save money to travel or know new cultures. Hopefully, we will be the generation that saves the planet. -Maria
Thanks for this interesting article! I totally agree with Maria, this topic is a burning one: we sure are consuming too many pieces of clothing.
I usually give them away too, but several companies are now collecting the used pieces of clothing to recycle them.
The first company that talked to me about recycling clothes was “& Other Stories”. Based on what they are saying on their website, they are managing to recycle clothes though, whatever the fabric! I would be very interested in knowing if they really are managing to do it.
http://www.stories.com/fr/Next_Chapter/Recycling