Sustainability - fashions dirty secrets

It is becoming no longer a secret about fashions dirty footprint that its leaving on the planet. After recently watching the BBC Stacey Dooley documentary- fashions dirty secrets, I was even more shocked by the effects of fashion on the earth, and also shocked by my lack of knowledge.

I am someone who, judging my my choice of degree and interests will probably end up working in the fashion industry. I have always felt almost guilty about this, due to what I knew about the impact it has on the environment. However after watching the documentary I feel even more of a responsibility to educate myself on the topic, and rather than feeling guilty, try and find out how I can make a difference.

Not only do I see myself working in fashion at some point, but I am also a keen customer in many off the high street chains causing the damage. Stacey makes it very clear that one of the main problems is fast fashion. There used to be just four seasonal releases a year for most brands in retail. Today brands have as many as fifty two releases of new stock every year (weekly). I knew that fast fashion was fast, but even I didn’t realise it was quite so shocking. Brands are in increasing competition to create new products at these shocking rates, but really it is impossible for us consumers to consume so much so quickly.

Due to this constant flow of new fashion, and the wear once and throw it away mentality, six out of ten garments end up in landfill within a year of production. Surely if there is a trend appearing of this happening, we need to stop making those six extra garments. Of course its nice to have the choice of ten, but is the choice of ten really worth it.

In the documentary I learnt to my horror about the disappearing Aral sea in Aveckstan. The Aral sea was once the fourth largest lake in the world. Mainly Due to the fashion production industry the amazing lake home to 24 species of fish, and supporting countless fishing communities, has almost completely dried up (area the size of Ireland).

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I think that for me the biggest shock, and moment of feeling stupidly ignorant was discovering that the main cause of this particular effect on the environment, was the growing of cotton. As Stacey mentioned I have always seen cotton as it is marketed, as a soft, gentle, pure and generally good quality in a garment. When in fact it has become the opposite. It can take around 1,800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton for just one pair of jeans, that is before any other dying or production pollution. With the amount of drought and famine in the world I was really upset to discover this, and annoyed as to why it isn’t more public knowledge. I live in jeans, and definitely have more than I need. They are a fashion staple in my opinion, but there has to be another way.

Levis are a leading denim and jeans brand, who are starting to face up to the impact their production has, and looking at new ways of allowing us to still have our favourite everyday staple. Levis launched the ‘water-less’ project ;

 “The Water<Less™ process approaches the decisions made in the design process in a different way, reducing the amount of water used in the finishing process. It’s not rocket science, but it is innovative. For instance, by simply removing water from stone washes or combining multiple wet cycle processes, we can significantly reduce water usage — up to 96 percent for some styles. At the same time, we still deliver the same great look and feel that you know and love.”

Since launching the project in 2011, they have been able to save over one billion litres of water, which is amazing. If a cotton based company can reduce its water usage, what is really stopping companies that only make a few cotton garments from making this change.

Lots of suppliers to these big companies in foreign countries are also illegally using rivers as sewers for toxic and polluting waste from production. Affecting the environment directly affects the people living in it, but never more have I noticed this than the example used in the documentary. In a river in Indonesia, by products of garment production such as mercury and other heavy metals, are being released into the surrounding rivers. These rivers are used by locals for all their water needs eg; drinking and irrigation. Heavy metals like mercury can go as far as affecting the brain and can majorly stunt development. I found this fact the most upsetting.

It is clear that something has to be done, and lots needs to change. After watching the documentary I felt that the best way to make a difference was starting to tackle fast fashion. Less releases, means less garments, meaning less waste, and less overall production, resulting in less pollution. Although Fashion is a fun and exciting way of expressing yourself everyday, we need to think if we even wear half of the clothes in our wardrobes. I think that for most of us the answer would be no. I think that fashion has actually become over saturated, we are bombarded with ever changing trends, that we loose track of what our style is, and what we enjoy wearing.

If we went back to the simple four seasons of fashion, people may argue we loose the choices, however I disagree, I think that it would help us make better choices. It would help us narrow down, and avoid those impulse buys that we brought in the sale, and that live in the back of the draw never to be worn. By simply avoiding these, we could be saving the planet.

I also think that it is time to bring back the old fashion idea of more permanent fashion. We need to encourage people to invest more in classic items, they may come back slightly different each year but at least they can reappear each year. These clothes tend to be worth investing in a bit more, but if you think of all the cheaper fashion that you wear for a few weeks and never again the investment is worth it, it could also make a big environmental difference.

This is one of the ideal solutions to the sustainability crisis in fashion. It does not account for the massive loss that fast fashion companies will have, in the end it is all about money for the bigger retailers. However where do we draw the line? With examples like these, clearly showing the impact of the industry on the environment, only becoming more common, something needs to click. I hope that one day if I do work in fashion I can make some positive change in the direction of sustainability. I  also hope that the next generation going into the fashion industry all make small changes until all together substantial changes like my ideal solution becomes reality.