Fashion’s carbon footprint

Before an item gets to you, the consumer, it will have passed through several companies and individuals that are all part of its supply chain. This supply chain forms the first part of an items carbon footprint. The last part is up to you, regarding how you use a garment and what you do with it when you no longer need it.

This supply chain forms the
first part of an items carbon footprint.

The fashion that produces the biggest carbon footprint is fast fashion. The purpose of fast fashion is to create the quickest possible route from designer to consumer. This means that they tend to not be sustainable, as they are trying to reach the deadlines for garments to hit our high streets. Manufacturers, production, and the stores selling them are therefore not using or finding sustainable solutions to make their clothes.

Excess stock is one of the biggest contributors to fashion’s carbon footprint. Over production means that the carbon footprint of unnecessary garments, that already have the emissions from its production, becomes waste that has never been worn. Greenhouse gases and harmful microplastics are then released as the garment breaks down, in reality the garment should never have been made in the first place.

Clothing companies need to make sure they are doing everything they can to make their product more sustainable, including which companies they choose to be part of their supply chain, the amount of each product they create and the materials they use.

As a green consumer you must
also make sustainable choices.

As a green consumer you must also make sustainable choices when it comes to fashion to lower our own carbon footprints. For example, through only buying items that you need, wearing items more than once, donating clothes you no longer want instead of throwing them away, and also choosing sustainable brands.

If you choose a sustainable brand over a fast fashion brand, you are sending a message to unsustainable clothing brands that they need to change the way they make their clothes if they wish to keep their customers.