It ain't fashion, if it ain't sustainable

Lululemon Athletica

Climate Crisis / Decarbonisation

21 May 2024

4 minutes

Transparent reporting on supply chain renewable electricity sourcing remains limited. From the 20 manufacturing companies who report on any kind of renewable electricity sourcing, 13 (65%) reported purchasing RECs. RECs have been shown to have a limited impact on real decarbonisation.

Top Brands Fare Dismally in Latest Climate Ratings; Only H&M and Puma above Average; Shein Scores 2.5/100

Fashion has some bad news for the planet. Most brands are actively “greenwashing” their emissions with none of the companies assessed reporting transparently on the terms, value invested or availability to suppliers, says a new Stand.earth report.

Staff Writer

Fracked Fashion / Stand.earth

22 April 2024

10 minutes

With less than a decade to prevent global climate change from reaching irreversible levels, the time to push for largescale climate and environmental solutions is now. For the fashion industry that means moving away from petro-fashion.

Stand.earth: Waging a Relentless Battle for Fossil-Free Fashion as Brands Drag Feet on Climate

It’s been a newsy April for greenwashing. What does an activist think-tank have to say about it all? texfash.com talks to Todd Paglia, Executive Director of the unrelenting and unapologetic nonprofit Stand.earth.

Richa Bansal

Interview

Greenwashing / Lululemon Claims

15 February 2024

4 minutes

Lululemon had scored a ‘C-’ in Stand.earth’s 2023 Fossil Free Fashion Scorecard, which evaluated the company’s performance in taking steps to deploy renewable energy in its supply chain, how its climate targets stack up against others, its state of progress in transitioning from fossil fuel-based fabrics to low-carbon materials, and its actions to reduce fossil-fuel pollution from shipping.

Complaint Filed Against Lululemon over Greenwashing

Advocacy nonprofit Stand.earth has filed an anti-competition complaint against leading Canadian fashion brand Lululemon claiming that the latter’s ‘Be Planet’ campaign misleads customers about its environmental impact.

Staff Writer

Energy Practices / Renewables

17 January 2024

4 minutes

Methodologies for calculating downstream emissions for the fashion sector are broadly inconsistent, depending on whether companies account for indirect product use-phase emissions, such as emissions associated with the use of washing machines for washing clothes sold. It did not consider downstream energy and emissions in the analysis.

Top Fashion Brands Score Low in Both Transparency and Integrity on Renewable Energy

Renewable electricity strategies of some major brands fall woefully short and standard-setters provide limited incentives and sometimes even barriers to increase ambition, says a study by the NewClimate Institute.

Staff Writer

Textile Waste / Cambodia Hazards

21 November 2023

3 minutes

Workers have previously reported impacts including cough, cold, flu, nosebleed and lung inflammation. Nearby communities have also reported that the practice damages their crops and farmland.

Waste from Global Fashion Brands Contributing to Rights Abuses and Environmental Hazards in Cambodia: Investigation

Pre-consumer garment waste at some operational and permanently closed brick factories from as many as 19 international brands were found to be fuelling the kilns in Cambodia, exposing people to toxins and causing negative health and environmental impacts.

Staff Writer

Fossil Fuel Fashion / Trends 2022

14 December 2022

2 minutes

Brands have still not changed communication across their online channels. The Changing Markets Foundation investigation revealed high levels of greenwashing through the use of vague and unsubstantiated claims with regards to ‘sustainable’ materials, ‘preferred fibres’, ‘environmentally friendly fibres’ or ‘better’ materials.

Fashion’s Fossil Fuel Fancy: Boohoo Most Reliant on Synthetics, Nike and Inditex Biggest Users, Just 1/55 Brands Shows Promise

A thorough examination of the fashion industry’s climate targets has revealed that brands are not as ambitious as their barrage of press releases and net-zero marketing campaigns would lead us to believe. The 'Synthetics Anonymous 2.0: Fashion’s persistent plastic problem' report from Changing Markets Foundation, published today, has uncovered this and more.

Special Correspondent

Climate Action / Lead Funder

17 November 2022

2 minutes

A group of men in a rural valley, using working horses to move felled timber, in traditional forest management. Apparel Impact Institute is building a $250M Fashion Climate Fund (combined industry and philanthropic sources) to unlock a total of $2B in blended capital towards verified impact solutions, thereby removing up to 150 million tonnes of CO2 from the apparel supply chain.

Target Corp to be New Lead Funder of $250 million Fashion Climate Fund

Target Corporation would be a new lead funder of the $250 million Fashion Climate Fund of the Apparel Impact Institute, which is working towards meeting the fashion industry's step towards reducing carbon emissions.

Staff Writer

Climate Crisis / LuluCoal

19 September 2022

4 minutes

Lululemon’s factories are almost entirely reliant on coal (and other fossil fuels). Every year the company grows without cleaning up its supply chain, it just continues to lock in more fossil fuels in the places where its factories are, like Vietnam, Cambodia and Bangladesh—countries which are bearing the brunt of climate impacts.

Lululemon's Sustainability Report Fails to Hide It Increased Climate Pollution by 60%: Stand.earth

Athleisure major Lululemon’s second Impact Report has inadvertently revealed that the Canadian athleisure giant has increased climate pollution from manufacturing its products by a shocking 60% in just 12 months. This was followed by the company's founder donating CAN$ 100 million to a conservation non-profit.