Shopping sustainably can seem next to impossible these days, especially when many high street and online brands are so opaque regarding their complex supply chain activities. The exposure of many popular brands over the past decade or so has called us to question the manufacturing process of lots of our favourite clothing companies, while documentaries and research papers have highlighted the damaging, polluting effects of fast-fashion. While most of us condemn the corrupt practices and environmental issues concerning many popular brands, a lot of the time we continue to buy cheap, fast fashion because it’s easily accessible and keeps us well-stocked with the current trends. Furthermore, the research involved and often higher cost of shopping sustainably can cause the resistance and reluctance of individuals to change their fashion consumption.
Here, we’ll provide a guide on how to quickly overcome the hurdles that prevent us from committing to sustainable fashion choices. With just a few pointers and tips, you can be well on your way to forming a fully sustainable wardrobe!
1. Don’t buy what you don’t need
Even as poor students, sticking to budgets and “just browsing” in stores and online can be difficult to discipline ourselves to. Often, only the super frugal among us succeed! However, a lot of us can also admit to owning a fair amount of clothing that we never ever, or at least rarely, wear. At the back of my closet, I can count sparkly dresses, ‘going out’ tops and even jackets and coats that I’ve only worn once or twice. Some items have even been tossed straight to the back of the closet after getting home and deciding I don’t like it as much as I did in store. The problem with these shopping habits is that so much clothing goes to waste, as we chuck masses of clothes away to make room for the new!
This process of fast consumption and then disposal has shortened the lifecycle of clothes to extreme points; for example, the average person buys 60% more clothing than the average person did 15 years ago, but only keeps it for half the amount of time. Most of these clothes end up on landfills or in the sea, where the synthetic fibres used to make a lot of modern clothing causes substantial pollution. So to take some classic advice from the loveable Marie Kondo only buy items that ‘spark joy’, be selective in your purchases and think carefully about how much you’ll really be wearing it (then you can avoid all her sorting and throwing away tips). Furthermore, when it comes to getting rid of worn clothes, charity shops provide useful rag recycling schemes!
2. Buy second-hand
When people think of second-hand clothing, they immediately think of charity shop bargains. While some of us relish a bit of thrifting and finding those second-hand steals, some of us are reluctant to invest the time in searching for the trendy needles in the charity shop haystack. However, it is important to remember that there are many other sources of second-hand clothing that can immediately direct us to the more contemporary, in-style items we desire.
Great places to find second-hand clothes that still fulfil the needs of fashion lovers include Asos Market place, eBay and independent vintage stores (if you’re based in Exeter, Sobeys is a prime spot).
3. Look for natural fibres
While it’s not easy to research the supply chain practices of different brands, it is easy to check the labels to find out what materials clothes are made of. One of the best ways to ensure clothing purchases are sustainable is to eliminate or reduce the polluting properties of them. Good fabrics to look out for include, linen, cotton (preferably organic) and wool, while questionable materials are rayon and modal, and polyester. By demanding the use of these good fabrics in most of our clothing not only does this reduce the synthetic fibres that pollute the ocean, but it protects the exposure of manufacturing employees to harmful chemicals used in production, such as the carbon disulfide used for rayon and modal.
4. Use the research tools available
Luckily for us, researching the transparency of fashion brands doesn’t need to be a laborious, tiresome task, because there are many institutions that have already done the research for us! Tools such as Fashion Revolution’s Fashion Transparency Index (https://issuu.com/fashionrevolution/docs/fr_fashiontransparencyindex2018?e=25766662/60458846), clearly list the top, most transparent clothing brands who accept accountability for their supply chain decisions. Notably, the top brands they list include Addidas, Reebok, Puma, H&M, Banana Republic, Gap and Marks & Spencer. While the brands ranked lowest for transparency include Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, and leading designer brands like Marc Jacobs, Versace, Chanel and Valentino. While lack of transparency doesn’t necessarily mean their practices are corrupt and equally transparency doesn’t mean their practices are fully ethical, transparency does offer a valuable indication of stewardship and acceptance of corporate social responsibility and this should definitely be encouraged by consumers!