Fashion Industry
Introduction
Clothing drives significant ecological impact including water pollution, air pollution, and even slavery.
Apps & Resources
For Companies
Sustainable Brand Platform "The platform for fashion brands and manufacturers to have access to reliable sustainability performances measurements." "Our solutions leverage technology and science to provide a data infrastructure helping fashion companies control their sustainability data and effectively use them to engage and collaborate with stakeholders across the supply chain." "A suite to support brands in having a comprehensive and detailed understanding of their sustainability performances and hotspots across multiple levels."
"Sustainable Brand Platform supports fashion brands in their journey towards full data availability and regulatory compliance. For this reason, all our solutions are created in compliance with existing legislation and the ones to come.
We created a wide range of digital solutions for fashion companies to measure their product's environmental sustainability based on primary data, international standards, science-based methods, and supply chain collaborations, such asCarbon Footprint Calculator
Product iD Card"
High-Impact Textiles
Animal-Derived
Leather
Wool
Synthetic
Most synthetic materials are derived from petrochemical (fossile fuel byproducts).
Polyester
Solutions
Legislative
Eco-Friendly & Ethical Products
Sustainable Materials & Brands
Upcycle
Upcycling uses less energy and less resources that breaking down products to be fully re-cycled. Dad's old shirt can become anything from a cleaning rag to a throw pillow, baby clothing, dog coat, or a new stuffed toy. An old curtain can become a prom dress or reusable shopping bags. Mum's stained or torn dress can be used to make reusable period pads, or a smaller set of clothing for a smaller family member.
Dress Up
Some of my favorite dress-up clothes as a kid were "fancy" hand-me-downs like old night dresses and scarves/shawls that have since served my siblings and cousins for many an imaginary adventure or tea party.
Recycle
This may be the hardest step listed, since we throw away such large percentages of items like clothing, rugs, and furniture, but very few systems exist to handle textile recycling. In fact, since COVID began, many recycling drop offs have closed with no plans to open in the foreseeable future.
To anyone wondering what kind of business they should start to help the environment, please be aware that this would provide jobs, reduce pressure on our landfills, save resources, AND fill a desperately needed niche that is necessary for a truly circular economy.
DIY Clothes & Textiles
A Garden to Dye For walks you through basic safety for at-home dyers, non-toxic materials, and useful topics from making and using mordants as well as colour modifiers. Learn how to collect and make your own mordant from fallen acorns, how to do cold dye baths, hot dye baths, and even solar dying with jars left in the sun. The author started out as a gardener, and walks you through how to sustainably harvest anything from roots to flowers, how to make mordant from rusty metals, as well as kitchen waste that offers pretty colours including coffee, onion skins, and soak water from black beans if you want blue or purple!
Restyle & Restitch for Little Ones shows you simple ways to turn old adult clothing into free or affordable baby clothing. The Swedish author provides pretty photos showing where pieces were cut from, traceable patterns in the back pages, the front pages are full of useful tips for total beginners and intermediate crafters. If you don't understand any of the instructions, look for step-by-step guides online as there are many with photos as well as videos that are great at demystifying sewing terms and techniques. One of the bags is sewing machine free, and several ideas in this book could be sized up for older children of even adults.
Click the Clothing button to learn more about specific types of materials, understanding what makes clothing "quality" vs just badly-made fast fashion, and more!
Grants
International
Awesome Foundation "Every two months, the Vegan Chapter of the Awesome Foundation grants $1000 to an awesome vegan project, no strings attached."