Fast Fashion

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has published a report describing how and why the rate of textile waste in the country has changed in the last two decades, and suggested federal actions to reduce textile waste and advance textile recycling.

Changes in consumer habits, new technologies and legislation can each help reduce demand for unsustainable fashion. The cost of cheap clothes worn a few times also adds up. Next time you buy clothing, think about the long-term value to you and the planet.

Generation Z, "the sustainability generation", craves engaging ways to receive sustainability-related content. But there are complexities surrounding their shopping habits which often fail to align with their values.

More than 11 million tonnes of textile waste end up in US landfills yearly. The problem is getting worse, but the apparel industry has the power to be part of the solution. It is with this thought and the urgent need to rein in the fast fashion pollution that Congresswoman Chellie Pingree launched the Congressional Slow Fashion Caucus to create climate-smart policies to reduce, repair, rewear, and recycle textiles.  She outlines her plans in this exclusive to texfash.

In a landmark move, members of the US Congress have launched the first ever caucus dedicated to curb waste and check the continuing onslaught of fast fashion pollution by introducing climate-smart policies that exhort repair, reduce, rewear, and recycle of textiles.

AI-powered climate service innovations enable easier adoption of innovations that reduce environmental impact of business activities while improving energy and material efficiency and managing climate-related risks and opportunities. They also facilitate mitigation by reducing the carbon footprint, says a new study.

Garments traverse a complex global supply network by the time they reach stores thousands of miles away. Workers are caught in this web, exploited by factory management. Western brands escape the scrutiny of their governments by outsourcing production to low-cost countries and absolve themselves of direct responsibility. This complex system makes it hard to assign ethical responsibility, because everyone, and therefore no one, is guilty.

Multilateral government oversight of working conditions (at the point of production) combined with further regulations encouraging ethical supply chains (at the point of import), may be a more effective way to reduce the chances of another Rana Plaza.

The European Union has launched a social media campaign targetted at youngsters and influencers in a bid to weed out fast fashion. The multilingual campaign – ReSet The Trend – is meant to engage Europeans in the battle against fast fashion and raise public awareness about the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles. 

There is an urgent need to resuscitate the textile industry in a post-Brexit UK. Reinvigorating it could also help address problems related to emissions, waste water and fair workplace.