Lets Talk Sustainability...

To be ‘sustainable’ means the balance between the environment, equity, and economy, through meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

The Problem

The fashion industry is responsible for up to 10% of global greenhouse emissions every year. The production processes involved, impact the environment in a multitude of ways, including pollution, water waste, animal loss, reduction of soil fertility and loss of natural biodiversity. The total volume of fashion production at global level is estimated to be more than 30 million tons annually, and therefore the environmental impacts of this industry are remarkable. Although the production processes cause detrimental harm, environmental destruct is caused across the whole lifecycle of a garment, from design, through to consumer care and at the end of life. Various ethical issues come as a result of the industry including the requirement for water and land and also complications regarding human rights, working conditions and ethical labouring.

Unfortunately it can be said that the fashion industry isn’t doing enough to tackle these issues, particularly within their supply and source chains, using materials and aesthetic features with harmful production processes. Underwear today relies on synthetically made material, in order to provide features which support the body. It is imperative moving forward, that brands implement better practices in order to work towards a sustainable future.

Did You Know?

Production

Synthetic materials such as polyester are petroleum based fibres relying on the extraction of crude oil and fossil fuels with a high potential of causing environmental damage. These materials develop high volumes of greenhouse gases which are a large contributor to climate change and environmental degradation, including CO2, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, sulphur oxides and carbon monoxide.

Materials

Bras today arguably involve serious engineering, involving the use of up to 25-40 different components. The rise in shape wear and support has seen an increase in design features, offering more complex products.

These components have various properties, which are often created with man made materials, relying on earths limited resources.

Microplastics

The largest impact of textiles occurs when they are being used by the customer, creating 75-95% of total environment impact. This is due to impacts when washing where small fibres called microplastics shed from clothing, which enter water streams. These are made from synthetic material meaning they are unable to decompose naturally, entering the food chain to humans.

Landfill

Within the UK alone, we dispose of approximately 10,000 garments every ten minutes, which when disposed, are sent to landfill. The synthetic fibres our clothes are made of can’t decompose naturally which means they remain for years, releasing ozone depleting gases into the atmosphere.

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