4 June 2022 | New Scientist | 5The leader
FOR an industry that supposedly thrives
on creativity, fashion has been appallingly
slow to innovate to reduce its distinctly
uncool environmental footprint.
On all three fronts in the planetary
crisis – climate change, nature loss and
waste – manufacturers and retailers of
textiles and clothing could, and must,
do better. Their carbon emissions are
enormous, thirst for raw materials
unsustainable and waste management
systems rubbish. As just one example,
every year we send 350,000 tonnes of
clothing to landfill in the UK.
There are growing pockets of green
creativity in the industry, but for the
most part high-street brands seem intent
on doubling down on the “fast fashion”
business model that has done so much
to line theirs.We as consumers must also shoulder a
large portion of the blame, gladly stuffing
our wardrobes with cheap, shoddy and
unsustainably manufactured garments,
destined to be worn a few times and then
unceremoniously dumped. Most people
on Earth participate in this grotesquely
wasteful cycle, helping to make clothingone of the most environmentally
destructive industries (see page 38).
Unlike some other damaging consumer
choices, such as buying animal products
and flying, it isn’t really possible to simply
opt out of clothes shopping. But of course
there are ways of consuming that are lessharmful. Indeed, consumers have
disproportionate leverage in this sector.
If patterns of demand change, such as
shifting to brands that run buy-back
schemes for unwanted clothing, the
industry will respond. More powerfully,
we can simply choose to wear our clothes
for longer. Keeping a garment for an
extra year can cut its environmental
footprint by 30 per cent.
That, of course, requires a shift in
our mindsets. But such things can and do
happen. A few years ago, plant-based diets
were the choice of the unconventional
few. Now they are commonplace.
We need the same revolution to
happen when it comes to clothing
choices. Here’s to a make-do-and-mend
mindset becoming mainstream – and
even fashionable. ❚Make do and mend
The fashion world must change its environmentally destructive ways
“ Keeping a garment for an extra
year can cut its environmental
footprint by 30 per cent”Chief executive Nina Wright
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