FASHION SUSTAINABILITY IN EUROPE

*WHAT IS SUSTAINABILITY?

*SUSTAINABLE FASHION -ORIGIN

*HARM

-FASHION & WATER POLLUTION -FASHION & WATER CONSUMPTION

-FASHION & MICROFIBERS IN OUR OCEANS -FASHION & WASTE ACCUMULATION

-FASHION & CHEMICALS -FASHION & GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

-FASHION & SOIL DEGRADATION -FASHION & RAINFOREST DESTRUCTION

*WHY DID I GO TO BERLIN?

*BERLIN SUSTAINABLE STORES -MEOEON

-SHIO -HOMAGE

 

WHAT IS SUSTAINABILITY?

Today, sustainability tries to secure present needs without compromising the future generations. How? Without  giving up any of the three essential pillars: environmental protection, social development and economic growth.

Sustainability is concerned with assuming that nature and the environment are not an inexhaustible resource and so, it is necessary to protect them and use them rationally.

Sustainability  promotes social development, seeking cohesion between communities and cultures to achieve satisfactory levels in quality of life, health and education.

Thirdly, sustainability focuses on equal economic growth that generates wealth for all without harming the environment.

As a fashion designer student I wanted to investigate how sustainability works in this field and how can we bring awareness on how harming the fashion industry can be to the environment. So I decided to go to Berlin, one of the most sustainable cities in the world and also very fashionable.

SUSTAINABLE FASHION

Besides the usual clothing categories, you will find the following:Sustainable: has reached a balance between customers, workers and environment, which means the company will grow in the long term scales with a minimal footprint and social benefits improvement. The best.Organic: focused on natural fabrics and materials, without any chemical, growing with a minimum ecological impact, for plants, soils and animals.Local: locally produced or manufactured. That can also be a Danish brand producing in Europe because itʼs still better working conditions laws that in India or Vietnam.In progress: far away to fill the criteria to be a sustainable brand, those are compa-nies doing some little steps toward a better industry. (Not our focus thought).

ORIGIN

Sustainable fashion came into the public foray in the late 1980s and early 1990s as well-known companies such as Patagonia and ESPRIT brought "sustainability" into their businesses. The owners of those companies at that time, Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins were outdoorsmen and witnessed the environment being harmed by over consumption. They commissioned research into the impacts of fibers used in their companies. For Patagonia, this resulted in a lifecycle assessment for four fibers, cotton, wool, nylon and polyester. For ESPRIT the focus was on cotton, which repre-sented 90% of their business at that time.

FASHION & WATER POLLUTION

In most of the countries in which garments are produced, untreated toxic wastewaters from textiles factories are dumped directly into the rivers.Wastewater contains toxic substances such as lead, mercury, and arsenic, among others. These are extremely harmful for the aquatic life and the health of the millions people living by those rivers banks. The contamination also reaches the sea and eventually spreads around the globe. Another major source of water contamination is the use of fertilizers for cotton produc-tion, which heavily pollutes runoff waters and evaporation waters.

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?

• Choose clothes made in countries with stricter environmental regulations for factories (EU, Canada, US...). • Choose organic fibers and natural fibers that do not require chemicals to be produced.

HARM

The fashion industry has a disastrous impact on the environment. In fact, it is the second largest polluter in the world, just after the oil industry. And the environmental damage is increasing as the industry grows.

FASHION & WATER CONSUMPTION

The fashion industry is a major water consumer. Huge quantity of fresh water are used for the dyeing and finishing process for all of our clothes.  As reference, it can take up to 200 tons of fresh water per ton of dyed fabric.  Also, cotton needs A LOT of water to grow (and heat), but is usually cultivated in warm and dry areas. Up to 20,000 liters of water are needed to produce just 1kg of cotton. This generates tremendous pressure on this precious resource, already scarce, and has dramatic ecological consequences such as the desertification of the Aral Sea, where cotton production has entirely drained the water (see pictures above).  “85 % of the daily needs in water of the entire population of India would be covered by the water used to grow cotton in the country. 100 million people in India do not have access to drinking water.

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT? Choose fibers with low water consumption such as linen, recycled fibers, etc

THE FASHION INDUSTRY

IS THE 2nd HIGHEST USER

OF WATER

FASHION & MICROFIBERS IN OUR OCEANS

Every time we wash a synthetic garment (polyester,nylon, etc), about 1,900 individual microfibers are released into the water, making their way into our oceans. Scientists have discovered that small aquatic organisms ingest those microfibers. These are then eaten by small fish which are later eaten by bigger fish, introdu-cing plastic in our food chain. FASHION & MICROFIBERS IN OUR OCEANS

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT? Choose natural or semi-synthetic fibers.

FASHION & WASTE ACCUMULATION

Clothing has clearly become disposable. As a result, we generate more and more textile waste. A family in the western world throws away an average of 30 kg of clothing each year. Only 15% is recycled or donated, and the rest goes directly to the landfill or is incinerated. Synthetic fibers, such as polyester, are plastic fibers, therefore non-biodegradable and can take up to 200 years to decompose. Synthetic fibers are used in 72% of our clothing.

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?  • Choose natural or semi-synthetic fibers.  • Buy less, buy better quality, mend clothes, and recycle.

FASHION & CHEMICALS

Chemicals are one of the main components in our clothes.They are used during fiber production, dyeing, bleaching, and wet processing of each of our garments.The heavy use of chemicals in cotton farming is causing diseases and premature death among cotton farmers, along with massive freshwater and ocean water pollution and soil degradation.Some of these substances are also harmful to the consumer (see section about toxicity). 

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT? • • Choose organic fibers. • Choose sustainable brands. • Always wash new clothes before using them for the first time. • Look for garments with certification label controlling chemical content such as OEKO-TEX®, GOTS, or BLUESIGN®.

FASHION & GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

The apparel industry accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions.The global fashion industry is generating a lot of greenhouse gases due to the energy used during its production, manufacturing, and transportation of the millions garments purchased each year.Synthetic fibers (polyester, acrylic, nylon, etc.), used in the majority of our clothes, are made from fossil fuel, making production much more energy-intensive than with natural fibers.Most of our clothes are produced in China, Bangladesh, or India, countries essentially powe-red by coal. This is the dirtiest type of energy in terms of carbon emissions.  

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT? • Choose natural fibers.  • Buy less, buy better quality, mend clothes. • Buy clothes made in countries powered by more renewable energy.

THE FASHION INDUSTRY

IS THE 2nd HIGHEST PULLUTER

FASHION & SOIL DEGRADATION 

The soil is a fundamental element of our ecosystem. We need healthy soil for food production but also to absorb CO2.  The massive, global degradation of soil is one of the main environmental issues our planet is currently facing. It presents a major threat to global food security and also contributes to global warming. The fashion industry plays a major part in degrading soil in different ways: overgra-zing of pastures through cashmere goats and sheep raised for their wool; degradation of the soil due to massive use of chemicals to grow cotton; deforestation caused by wood-based fibers like rayon.  

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?

• Choose fibers friendly to the soil. 

FASHION & RAINFOREST DESTRUCTION

Every year, thousands of hectares of endangered and ancient forests are cut down and replaced by plantations of trees used to make wood-based fabrics such as rayon, viscose, and modal.This loss of forests is threatening the ecosystem and indigenous communities, as in Indonesia where large-scale deforestation of the rainforests has taken place over the past decade.

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT? • Choose Lyocell/Tencel® instead of rayon, modal or viscose. 

WHY DID I GO TO BERLIN?

Because it´s one of the most sustainable cities in the world.With a young population and a historical preference for public transport over cars, sustainability is part of Berlinʼs core. Anyone who has visited will know that innovative ideas are welcomed by the cityʼs alternati-ve folk. Since 1990, the German capital has cut its CO2 emissions by one-third and it aims to be climate neutral by 2050. With over 2,500 green spaces, hundreds of cycle lanes and recycling incentives, (€0.25 for every plastic bottle you recycle) itʼs a city that is committed to change. They even have apart-ment blocks which filter grey water to feed rooftop gardens. One day, they hope to create fish farms up there, too.

BERLIN SUSTAINABLE STORES.

MOEON STUDIO

Moeon is a sustainable multi- brand store with an online shop, which has been based in Berlin- Kreuzberg since 2014. Moeon is also a platform for trend-conscious fashion and classics that are produced fairly and ecologically responsibly. The selection of clothes, shoes and accessories from international labels and designers shows that sustainable fashion can also stand for aesthetics and style.

¿HOW DO THEY WORK?

There are internationally valid and reliable seals of approval such as GOTS (organic cotton T-shirt) and the Fair Wear Foundation (produc-tion under fairtrade conditions). These certifications must be paid by the labels. This is very expensive and small labels can often not afford this. That's why we decided not to explicitly mention any such seal. Communication is most important for us. If a label tells us: “we try, we are on the way, we do know where our materials are coming from, we have a small factory run under Fairtrade conditions but they can not afford a certification, then we trust them and work with these brands. Truly sustainable - from yarn to zip - is an extremely difficult task, a fact that many people are not aware of and there are still many unresolved issues. An organic cotton - jeans with elastane content,  will complete-ly rot until just spandex on the one that is plastic. Organic cotton does not automatically mean that the cotton pickers were paid appropriate-ly. Produced in India under fair trade conditions only means that these people are able to survive on their wages, that they have medical treatment and can send their children to school, not more. Its a long way and we try to walk, it step by step.

BERLIN SUSTAINABLE STORES.

SHIO

A store for clothing, accessories, objects and stationary by four Berlin design labels with a focus on handcraft and upcycling. SHIO store was opened in 2012 by Australian fashion designer Kate Pinkstone and it is located in Weichselstraße 59.

¿HOW DO THEY WORK?

She produces a Summer and Winter collection annually under the SHIO label.  Inspired by the simplicity of Japanese patternmaking and building from classic, timeless silhouettes she creates modern essentials for your everyday. In store you can also find the SHIO Upcycled line, which consists of altered second-hand garments that have been redesigned for a better style or fit, giving dated pieces a breath of new life. Each garment is one of a kind. The 2 different projects allow her to explore themes of Slow Fashion and Sustainability.

SUSTAINABLE STORES IN BERLIN.

HOMAGE

This store located in Dieffenbachstraße 15, and offers products made by independent designers, who either produce themselves in small numbers or cooperate with workshops and tailors. You will not find any mass-produced goods here. For them the most important thing is : aesthetics, functionality, longevity and the responsibility for a minimal ecological footprint.

¿HOW DO THEY WORK?

You should be able to enjoy the products purchased in the homage store as long as possible so in the case of qualitative defects, they offer you a free repair service. In such cases, simply pass the goods with them in the shop and we see what it can be done. The pro-ducts can be fixed as quickly as possible by their neighbor, the tailor Fistan.

I had one of the best experiences of my live and I would like to thank Vincent Herr and the team from the Schwarzkopz Stiftung Travel Grants

for the opportunity.

ADRIANA GÓMEZ-MILLÁN