Daily Mail, Thursday, August 8, 2019 Page 55femailMAGAZINE 55
Lissman, who would rather see
brands subscribing to Certified
Organic and Fairtrade.
‘Ticking the lowest denominator
and saying “we’re sustainable”
makes me uncomfortable.’
TOP TIP: Look for cotton labelled
‘Certified Organic’ or ‘Fairtrade’
rather than just ‘sustainable’.ARE OTHER FABRICS
MORE ECO-FRIENDLY?
They are a mixed bunch at best.
Viscose, a cellulose fibre made
from wood pulp, creates more
greenhouse emissions than cotton
production and the annual logging
of more than 70 million trees.
So recent years have seen the
rise of sustainable alternatives like
Lyocell which use less energy than
cotton — and now, in a bid to save
the trees, even newer options are
being produced using proteins
and fibres found in everyday items,
such as milk, orange and coffee.
Nylon is favoured for its durabil-
ity, but it’s made using crude oil
and emits high levels of C0 2.
One new brand, econyl, uses
nylon waste from landfills and
oceans to create an infinitely recy-
clable material, used by the likes of
Prada, and reduces the global
warming impact of nylon by up to
80 per cent. These new options are
eco-friendly, but are considerably
more costly. They aren’t widely
seen on the high Street.
TOP TIP: Don’t buy viscose or nylon— seek alternatives such
as Lyocell and econyl.OUR BUYING
HABITS MUST CHANGE
LaST year, we in the UK sent
235 million items of clothing to
landfill, and this is increasing. a
recent study predicted that this
summer, Britons will spend
£2.7 billion on 50.3 million outfits
they will wear once.
‘The more research that comes
out, the clearer it is that continu-
ally buying lots of cheap stuff is
inherently in contradiction with
sustainability,’ says Lejeune.
Fast fashion has been growing
rapidly, from high Street brands
such as Zara which produces 500
new designs a week, to online
retailers like Boohoo and
Missguided which sell copies of
catwalk clothes for £5. It’s the
main reason so much clothing
goes into landfill.
TOP TIP: Set a challenge to avoid
buying clothes and make use of
what’s in your wardrobe instead.WHY CAN’T WE
JUST RECYCLE?
‘CIrCULar fashion’ is the idea
that we can use unwanted clothes
to create new ones by recycling
fabric. asos has committed to
train all its teams in circular
design by 2020, while h&M
offers customers a £5
voucher in exchange forunwanted clothes, promising they’ll
be reused, reworn or recycled, with
nothing going to landfill.
The company says 50-60 per cent
of textiles are sorted for re-wear,
about 35-45 per cent are recycled, and
3-7 per cent used as combustibles
for energy production.
But Maxine Bedat says it’s not
always the case with other schemes
like this, as typically only 1 per cent
of clothing can be recycled into new
material. even then, it is mostly
blended fabric with some new raw
materials needed.
She advises spending more on
clothing that will last: ‘But if you
do have clothing you want to
recycle, give it to charity as they
can at least get the proceeds.’
TOP TIP: Buy quality not quantity— and give old clothes to charity
instead of recycling.AND WHAT ABOUT
THE WORKERS?
The natural world isn’t the only
issue. With labour conditions,
things are more complicated.
‘you’ve got to benefit people
and the planet,’ says Lissman.
‘The increased interest in sus-
tainability is brilliant, but it’s
also important to change condi-
tions for workers [many of
whom are subcontracted, rather
than directly employed] — even
if that’s harder as it’s something
brands have less control over.’
This difficulty might be why
brands are so happy to focus on
sustainability instead.
h&M has been praised for its
aim to achieve living wages for
staff, but other big companies
have yet even to make promises
about paying workers better.
TOP TIP: ethical fashion apps such
as Good On you show which
brands pay a living wage.ARE WE MAKING
THINGS WORSE?
exPerTS say there are negative
effects of the ‘ethical’ high Street
ranges. That’s because they
create the assumption that it’s
possible to have sustainable
clothes that are also dirt cheap.
Lejeune says this is not the
case: ‘If you factor in the cost of
paying people well enough to
eat and live, and the environ-
mental cost, the cost of
making ethical clothing would
be higher than the price these
ranges are sold for. That’s the
bottom line.’
‘In my experience, these ranges
are often subsidised — sold for
around a third less than they cost
to produce. It’s often with good
intent, because brands want to
demonstrate the range sells, and
don’t want to price it higher than
everything else in store.’
The problem is when brands pro-
duce subsidised sustainable ranges,
customers assume it’s possible to
be green and cheap, so are reluc-
tant to spend more at small busi-
nesses doing best practice with
sustainability, but — by necessity
— charging more.
a h&M spokesperson said the
company doesn’t disclose pricing
information as it is commercially
sensitive but said its pricing method
is consistent across all ranges as
the goal is ‘to democratise all fash-
ion’. asos said it does not subsidise
products or sell at cost.
There are positive examples such
as Topshop, successfully selling
ethical jewellery brand Made at
high prices that reflect production
costs. asos believes its size and
influence are an advantage, allow-
ing the company to push for last-
ing, meaningful change at a wider
scale.
Lejeune praises UK firms such as
Garthenor Organic Ltd, the world’s
first producer of 100 per cent Certi-
fied Organic wool, and Ninety Per-
cent, a womenswear label sharing 80
per cent of distributed profits with
charities and 10 per cent with
workers.
TOP TIP: Seek out smaller retailers
and be prepared to pay more.BORROW, SWAP OR
RENT — DON’T BUY
SWaP rebellion (facebook.com/
SwapRebellion) encourages people
to swap clothes; higher Studio
(higher.studio) loans designer clothes
to subscribers from £85 a month.
Other rental options are myward-
robehq.com from £70, and the high
end frontrow.uk.com which offers
the likes of Versace and Prada for
several hundred pounds a day.
TOP TIP: Look for clothes swaps or
use getswishing.com to set one up.ASOS
RESPONSIBLE
EDIT
H&M
CONSCIOUS
H&M
CONSCIOUS
MANGO
COMMITTED
ZARA
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