Home → Blog → Resources → Sustainability in the Fashion Industry – 9 Ways Fashion Brands Can Be More Environmentally Friendly
Sustainable fashion is a phrase that is on the tip of everyone’s tongue. It’s something every fashion brand is concerned with and an idea that consumers are more and more interested in. Historically, the fashion industry has not had a good sustainability track record. But things are starting to change and there are plenty of measures businesses can adopt to make them more environmentally friendly and better placed to take advantage of the growing sustainable fashion market.
From integrating odor-eliminating freshness solutions into textiles to switching to cleaner manufacturing processes, here are our top nine ways fashion brands can become more eco-friendly.
Sustainable fashion refers to an approach to fashion manufacturing and the wider fashion industry that emphasizes environmental and social concerns. It focuses on reducing carbon emissions, relying less on environmentally damaging resources, and promoting ethical labor arrangements.
It also attempts to shift attention away from the ‘product as a purchase’ and broaden our perspective so that it addresses a product’s entire lifespan, from design through production and distribution to recycling and disposal. Eco-friendly fashion emphasizes the need to minimize the negative environmental and social impact of fashion products at each stage of this process.
Consumer attitudes towards sustainability in the fashion industry are changing at a remarkable rate, and the market for brands with an eco-focus is growing considerably. Currently, the sustainable fashion market is worth approximately $6.5 billion. However, that is expected to reach $10.1 billion by 2025 and $15 billion by 2030 (TheRoundUp). Recent research also suggests that products marketed as eco-friendly will grow 5.6 times faster than those that are not.
This reflects broader shifts in consumer attitudes and a greater interest in sustainability amongst the general public. For instance, 67% of consumers argue that using eco-friendly materials is a significant factor in their purchasing decisions (McKinsey). It is also indicative of a generational shift. More than any preceding generation, Gen Z-ers prioritize clothing sustainability over brand name when making a purchase (World Economic Forum), and their behavior is now beginning to influence other generations.
While the fashion industry still has a long way to go, it is making significant steps towards becoming more environmentally friendly. As consumers become increasingly aware and educated about environmental issues, brands need to ensure they are implementing sustainable practices and publicizing their eco-credentials. These factors will only become more critical as consumer attitudes continue to develop.
From material choice and manufacturing techniques to minimizing packaging waste and carbon offsetting schemes, here are nine ways fashion brands can become more environmentally friendly.
Using more environmentally-friendly materials in fashion products is arguably the most crucial way brands can transition to a more environmentally friendly business model. Unsustainable materials, most notably cotton and polyester, require remarkable quantities of resources to produce or have a disastrous impact on the environment at the end of their life. This is particularly damaging when brands emphasize a fast-fashion approach and manufacture short-life consumables rather than long-term durables.
More eco-friendly materials include organic cotton, which is much less resource-intensive and is grown without using harmful pesticides and fertilizers; fabrics made from recycled polyester and nylon or post-consumer waste; and other natural fibers, including hemp, bamboo, and linen. The crops that produce these natural fibers are generally more kind to the environment.
Sustainability in the fashion industry is not just about the materials brands use; it also concerns the ways they use them. In other words, manufacturing processes significantly impact how environmentally friendly a business is. In most cases, implementing more environmentally-friendly manufacturing techniques and practices can drastically reduce a company’s environmental footprint, helping to develop its eco-credentials and attracting a more eco-aware demographic.
Examples of more environmentally friendly manufacturing techniques include utilizing renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind, which reduces carbon emissions at manufacturing plants. Water-saving dye technologies, such as digital printing or air dyeing methods, can minimize energy requirements while limiting pollutive byproducts.
In recent years, the concept of sustainability in the fashion industry has expanded to encompass labor practices. Adopting a broader perspective on sustainability makes sense, as environmental concerns are often tied up with social concerns. For instance, low-quality, resource-intensive materials are often grown and harvested by workers who are brutally exploited. These environmentally damaging materials are only financially feasible because workers are underpaid and exposed to dangerous working conditions.
As such, brands must ensure workers are paid a fair living wage and benefit from safe, healthy, and secure working environments. In most cases, exploited workers are not employed directly by fashion brands but by their suppliers. To account for this, businesses must adequately vet their suppliers and develop ethical supply chains that avoid poor labor practices.
Many businesses are guilty of producing significant amounts of waste. Companies have to dispose of this waste – often in environmentally unsound ways. However, this waste also increases the required materials, increasing costs and resource use. Reducing waste is a win-win for most companies. It makes both economical and environmental sense and is one step further to improved sustainability in the fashion sector.
For instance, if fashion brands implement zero-waste pattern making and create patterns that minimize fabric cut-offs or, better yet, use cut-offs for other products, the business saves money and reduces its environmental impact. Recycling programs are also incredibly popular and effective, allowing customers to return old garments for use in new ones. Packaging waste is also a big issue. Brands can take one of two approaches to minimizing packaging waste. They can either reduce the amount of material they use for packaging or switch out environmentally unfriendly materials for recycled or biodegradable materials. This reduces the amount of packaging that ends up in landfills.
In the fashion industry, circular business models are becoming increasingly popular and common. Circular models emphasize decoupling revenue from material production and new garments. Instead, brands should diversify revenue streams, adopting new resale, rental, and repair initiatives to ensure old clothes re-enter the marketplace. Essentially, the idea is to extend product (or material) lifespans, preventing clothes from becoming single-use consumables.
Facilitating the transition from consumables to durables is crucial for improved sustainability in the fashion industry. The current fast fashion model is incompatible with the wider industry’s move towards greater sustainability and needs to be discarded if we are to make progress. Circular business models hint at what could replace it.
Textile technologies that prevent bacterial growth, tackle unpleasant odors, and keep fabrics smelling and feeling fresher for longer can help make products much more environmentally friendly. By minimizing the amount you need to wash your clothes, these textile technologies drastically reduce consumers’ energy and resource consumption, save them time and money, and extend product lifespans.
Polygiene StayFresh™ is an excellent example. A textile freshness solution based on silver ion technology, it prevents the growth of bacteria in between washes, so clothes stay fresh and odor-free. A recent Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for a Polygiene-treated t-shirt showed that, by enabling consumers to skip every other wash, Polygiene StayFresh reduced the t-shirt’s overall environmental impact by a third. This equates to 51 Kwh of electricity and 3,800 liters of water annually.
Most importantly, textile additives like Polygiene StayFresh are easy to integrate into the manufacturing process and offer immediate results. They do not require brands to launch entirely new products or collections and require minimal changes to a brand’s existing manufacturing set-up. Polygiene also provides marketing support to ensure businesses communicate the benefits of Polygiene solutions to customers, maximizing exposure and enhancing the brand’s eco-credentials.
A lot goes into getting a fashion product on the shelves. The businesses that produce them often have dizzyingly complex supply chains that involve numerous organizations and third parties. As a result, it can be challenging to establish just how environmentally friendly a product or business is. They may look like an eco-friendly option, but how do you know they are sourcing their materials from ethical producers?
Making supply chains more transparent ensures consumers know brands are acting in an environmentally friendly way. The easiest way to do this is by obtaining widely accepted third-party certifications from organizations like Fair Trade, OEKO-TEX or bluesign. By obtaining and displaying these certifications, businesses show they are taking positive steps toward greater fashion sustainability. At the same time, it makes it easier to identify those brands that are not.
Many fashion brands include little information on how to care for products, keep them in good shape, or extend their lifespan. This results in products degrading quickly and requiring early replacement. Short-life products are bad for the environment and bad for consumers.
Brands can educate customers about more than care routines, though. They can also provide information on how to make more eco-friendly choices, such as what materials to look for, the benefits of certain manufacturing techniques, and what particular certifications signify.
Carbon offsetting is a potential option for many businesses. However, there has been controversy over some offsetting schemes and their efficacy in recent years. As a practice, carbon offsetting involves investing in initiatives that reduce carbon emissions, help remove carbon from the environment, or increase the availability of renewable energy. This is meant to compensate for a business’ emissions.
Carbon offsetting schemes should be seen as a last resort for brands that cannot implement other sustainability measures or want to complement and supplement their existing initiatives.
At Polygiene, we believe the overall trend in the fashion industry is toward greater sustainability. While there are clearly obstacles to the adoption of more environmentally friendly practices, processes and technologies – most notably product price – there is a recognition that the current fast fashion model is not sustainable. Statistics highlighting the rapid growth of the environmentally-friendly fashion market suggest that making the transition also makes sound financial sense.
However, we also recognize that immediately implementing all the suggestions listed above is not realistic. Most brands will need to take a step-by-step approach, focusing on achievable goals with measurable outcomes and then progressing to bigger changes. Completely transforming a supply chain is not easy work. However, integrating a new textile freshness technology into current products is.
Highly effective and entirely skin-safe, Polygiene StayFresh is shaking up the textiles industry. Easy to integrate into manufacturing processes, it offers around the clock antibacterial protection for a product’s entire lifespan. By preventing the growth of odor-causing bacteria, it keeps clothes fresh and smell-free, ensuring end-users are more comfortable and confident.
At the same time, it makes products eco-friendlier and more sustainable by reducing the amount of washing required. Washing machines are responsible for much of the premature wear and tear clothes experience, so fewer washes drastically extends the expected product lifespan.
Polygiene StayFresh utilizes silver ion technology to tackle bacteria at the source. The active ingredient works in three main ways:
This three-pronged attack is extremely effective, preventing the spread of bacteria and eliminating unpleasant odors on the fabric. Application is simple, and because Polygiene StayFresh is IN textiles, not just on them, the solution provides lifelong protection. The solution is bluesign® approved, OEKO-TEX certified, and compliant with REACH, the EU’s chemicals legislation.
Learn more about our industry-leading Freshness technology on the Polygiene StayFresh solution page. Alternatively, reach out to the Polygiene team if you have any questions.
