Planet
The fashion industry plays a crucial role in sustainability as it contributes most to the degradation of resources such as water hence, the emphasis on creating a circular economy. A circular economy is the prolonging of a product’s lifespan through various methods such as reusing, redistributing and recycling to minimise textile wastage. Hence, through the implementation of responsible production and consumption, the twelfth United Nations Sustainable Development Goal can help reduce this problem.
Responsible Production
The creation of materials has caused a strain on resources such as water. For example, the manufacturing of Cotton specifically Cotton irrigated fabrics, a widely renowned fabric consumes a tremendous amount of water. However, this is a struggle due to the high demand in the market due to its affordability. According to the figure below, it states that Cotton irrigated fabrics use 4,000 litres of water per kilogram, a significant amount more than other materials.
Fig 1: Fletcher, K & Grose, L. (2012) Fashion and Sustainability: Design for Change
Next, the design of a product also contributes to textile wastage. According to (Gwilt, 2021) the adaptation of certain techniques such as the zero waste technique can help reduce waste. Hence, such an approach can help reduce the disposal of textiles, reducing land pollution.
Fig 2: Gwilt, A. (2021) A Practical Guide to Sustainable Fashion
Responsible Consumption
“Designing clothes with future lives requires a radical overhaul of the way we currently deal with waste” (Fletcher & Grose, 2012) highlights the importance of the stage of responsible consumption as it is the main stage of sustaining the product which can be done through a circular economy. Healthy disposal of textiles also significantly plays an important role, for example, through redistribution such as donating it to charity shops and reusing, the upcycle of clothing. Lastly, recycling clothing can be done, since most fabrics take many years to degrade or never as some fabrics such as synthetic fabrics are non-biodegradable. Hence these methods can expand a garment’s lifespan contributing to the circular economy.
In conclusion, the fashion industry should try to be as conscious as possible as a “one-size-fits-all ‘universal’ solution” (Fletcher & Grose, 2012) is hard to implement as it is a global issue. Hence, sustainability in the fashion industry plays a crucial role in order to protect our resources.