Circularity: Sustainable Fashion's Holy Grail or Greenwashing?
This mail is kindly sponsored past Tonlé, thanks for supporting the amazing brands that partner with My Green Cupboard!
Awareness around sustainable manner is growing and customers are demanding more responsible products. A recent survey found 67% of consumers consider sustainable materials as part of their purchasing decisions and 63% take a brand's general approach to sustainability into business relationship. And brands are responding to these demands, both with 18-carat efforts but as well unfortunately an increase in greenwashing.
"Circularity" has get a big buzzword with sustainability and while information technology can represent a new, important shift in the industry, information technology's also used in misleading and deceptive means. Companies sticking a vesture collection box in their stores or using a bit of recycled materials does non magically make them "circular".
We need brands to go deeper and brand real, holistic changes that aren't just for marketing and press coverage. If a brand truly cares well-nigh reducing their impact and waste and helping build a better manufacture they need to exist looking at the entire supply chain and life of the garments.
Circularity is so much more than than Recycling
The concept of circularity in fashion is often misunderstood – we typically see it as taking the "waste" or end of a garment'due south life and bringing that back around to the start of the supply chain ie. recycling the materials into a new garment, only information technology'southward so much more.
Tonlé is a brand I love where circularity is threaded through all stages of their business. Dissimilar many "sustainable" brands who utilize an eco-friendly fabric and call it a mean solar day, the brands I really trust and respect are those where sustainably is a core value – brands similar Tonlé who are constantly challenging the status quo and looking for innovative solutions while producing garments with heart, soul, care, and compassion.
Tonlé is a great example and case written report to learn more about circular fashion.
Circularity Starts with Design
Products need to exist designed with intention, for longevity, and with information technology's next use in mind, otherwise there is no chance at a successful circular organization.
From the get-go designers need to be thinking about how the garments can have equally long of a life as possible. This might involve decisions such as:
- Ignoring trends and instead developing a signature, timeless style for the brand
- Paying attending to customer feedback
- Designing with versatility in mind
- Testing and selecting high-quality fabrics
- Possibly opting for seasonless collections
- Selecting high quality sewing and finishing techniques
- Considering options for finish-of-life, extending utilize, and upcycling/recycling
While brands might have dissimilar design directions, the commonality is intentional and thoughtful blueprint which considers the greater touch on of the garments. Tonlé incorporates many of these elements every bit well every bit always looking for means to learn, grow, and offer more inclusive designs.
Your Greenwashing is Showing
With fast fashion, "circularity" initiatives are flawed right from the start – highly trend-driven, poor quality pieces, and a high-turnover model for blueprint, production, and consumption just has no take chances at existence successfully circular and function of a regenerative and restorative system.
If a brand is claiming circularity while constantly having new products in stores or over-producing billions of dollars of unsold clothing, it just doesn't add up.
Materials & Fabrics
When we view fabrics from a circularity standpoint, some key characteristics are:
- Quality – poor quality materials are unfortunately most likely to quickly go waste
- "Waste material" Recovery/Reuse- can materials that might otherwise end upwards as trash be rescued and farther utilized?
- Recycled/Regenerated – can fabrics made from recycled materials be used? (although it'southward important to note that recycling things like plastic bottles into clothing has information technology'south own issues and is more of a interrupted cycle or down-cycling arrangement than a restorative, circular i)
- End-of-life – What happens when the material is no longer usable in it'south state?
- Can it be reused or repurposed in some fashion?
- Will it biodegrade? (clothing that tin can actually exist safely composted is very rare!)
- Tin can it exist recycled into a like or better quality product and not just down-cycled?
Brands can take different paths regarding their material choices and circularity. For Tonlé it ways reclaiming and utilizing offcuts, "scraps", and deadstock fabrics, turning them into cute and useful garments. This not simply saves the resources of creating new fabrics but allows textile waste to circle back into the organisation.
Production
A lot of textile waste material is generated during product from leftover fibres and yarns in the spinning and weaving process, to cutting scraps and snipped threads.
While this is typically trash, brands like Tonlé have an innovative zero waste matter production procedure; cutting scraps are collected and handwoven into unique garment, accessories, and dwelling house decor and fifty-fifty the too-tiny scraps and threads are saved and turned into paper!
Information technology's also important for brands to be mindful about how much they're producing. Modest batch production, made-to-guild garments, or pre-sales are ways that brands can help ensure they aren't producing as well much.
Unwanted, Worn, & Damaged Garments
Information technology's not enough to only put a garment out into the world, sustainable brands should exist conscious of it'south life-cycle and trying to prevent more textile waste from ending up in the landfill. Some ways brands can accept responsibleness for apparel waste are:
- Offering repair services
- Making garments that tin safely biodegrade
- Taking back garments for resale
- Offering upcycling or recycling services
To help address this, Tonlé runs their Open up Cupboard a store for pre-loved Tonlé pieces. People can trade in their used clothes which are resold, repaired, or turned into new pieces. Information technology'southward not but a wonderful way to reduce waste and keep habiliment in the wheel just besides a style to go a cute Tonlé garment at a lower toll point, win-win!
True Circularity Ways an Overhaul of the Industry
Waste material is essentially part of all stages of habiliment manufacturing and employ (even while wearing and washing our garments nosotros're shedding tiny $.25 of waste ). Unfortunately the faster and cheaper garments go the less ability and incentive at that place is to reduce or recover that waste matter and bring it back into the bike.
One example of how the manufacture has inverse for the worse: traditionally fabric cutting would be optimized to employ the least textile possible (patterns were carefully jigsawed together to reduce waste matter and fabric costs), however this takes more time and with the speed of fashion now, it's more of import for factories to get the pieces cut equally quickly as possible instead of efficiently using the material. Tonlé founder Rachel Faller said they often find huge offcut pieces leftover from brands – enough to cut long dresses or multiple garments from!
Rachel besides told me nigh how a lot of the deadstock materials comes from factories over-ordering, (but non at the fault of the manufacturing plant). Due to the quick production pace, factories don't take fourth dimension to social club the advisable amount of fabric after getting all the finalized numbers and info from the make, similar they would have pre-fast way. Instead they demand to have enough material on hand to immediately come across the demands of the make, considering saying, "we can't practice that" or "it volition take longer" could mean a lost contract, not beingness able to pay wages, and the make going to another mill.
Like invitee author Hannah Neumann shared in a recent post, "Not only exercise the producers behind our dress make the to the lowest degree amount of profit within the fashion supply chain, they also have the highest take chances and least protection. "
The insane demands brands put on factories mean and then much unnecessary waste is created simply to save a little time or money.
And then at that place'south as well the misguided emphasis on cloth recycling. Textile recycling is withal very flawed, just fast style brands are using it to encourage guilt-costless shopping. Harmful "Clothing Recycle Repeat" blazon messaging promotes the idea that you can purchase countless amounts of clothing and it'due south sustainable because y'all're recycling it.
We unfortunately have a long way to go regarding true circularity in the industry, new approaches and systems desperately demand to be incorporated to foremost reduce, and and then besides recover and effectively recycle waste.
However information technology's inspiring to come across small, sustainable brands like Tonlé who are forging their own path, collaboratively developing and designing innovative systems, taking on challenges, and continuing to push themselves.
Things tin exist different and circularity in fashion tin can be so much more than a greenwashing buzzword!
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Acquire more than almost Circularity in Fashion: Ellen MacArthur Foundation Towards the Circular Economy Report
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