HOW ARE WE WORKING TO REDUCE OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT?
- LIMITING YOUR CARBON IMPACT WHEN IT COMES TO FASHION?
Brands have a huge and indispensable role in climate change; they are implementing various strategies in order to reduce the carbon footprint on the environment.
Action plans have been put in place such as environmental labeling which gives the product an A to E rating based on 9 criteria (greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption and impact on biodiversity, etc.) .
See, your T-Shirt? its carbon impact is not limited to the production stage. It depends on its entire life cycle.
You actually have half of its impact in your hands.
- How you use it on a daily basis.
+ How do you wash it?
+ At what intensity do you iron it?
- At the end of its life
+ If you throw it away?
+ Or do you sell it?
Source: Deloitte
We will not mention a social issue in this part. However, the two dimensions are of course linked.
We have relied on many documents, but for a better reading we have carried the sources to the end of the article.
For a better understanding; a diagram has been drawn up which explains the 4 major environmental problems posed by fashion.
- Greenhouse gas emissions with the production of raw materials. There are different figures according to the experts:
Fashion is the 2nd emitting greenhouse gases behind the oil industry with 1.7 billion tonnes of CO2 emitted in 2015 (and 2.8 billion tons in 2030 plans).
+ The clothing and footwear industry accounts for more than 8% of global climate impacts more than those of international flights and maritime transport.
Anyway, it is gigantic for a sector so little "essential".
Source: MacArthur Foundation
The transport of textiles does not have a big carbon impact (3% of emissions) compared to the production of textiles except when it is done by plane (which can amount to 8% of emissions).
The majority of textiles are transported by sea, a mode of transport for goods which emits the least CO2.
+ Water consumption and its pollution with the cultivation of raw materials dyes, detergents, fashion consumed 79 billion cubic meters of water in 2015, in particular because of cotton (the Aral Sea has almost disappeared with dramatic consequences - health - economic on the lives of 5 million people).
Tinctures are mostly released into nature without being processed:
70% of surface water is polluted in China because of the textile industry according to Greenpeace, especially because of the treatment of textiles. Problems in addition to the release of microfibers and microplastics in the water.
The majority are too small to be removed by sewage filtering procedures (and the rest often end up in the ocean through other means).
This does not only concern polyester: cotton, linen, etc. also lose microfibers.
26% of our clothes are made of cotton ... And cotton accounts for 10% of the world consumption of Pesticides and ¼ of insecticides.
23,000 people die each year from exposure to pesticides necessary for cultivation, according to WHO.
The REACH regulation which limits the use of chemicals concerns Europe and again, this standard is poorly applied due to the lack of controls.
For developing countries, it's a different story and substances; yet banned found in our clothes contain endocrine disruptors like nonylphenols - the worst - and phthalates. It is often a chemical cocktail: chromium IV, formaldehyde, azo dyes ... To which carriers, sellers and consumers are also exposed.
+ Waste (with production and end of life)
In France, barely 36% of clothing, linens and shoes are collected after use (worldwide, less than 1% of clothing materials are recycled into new clothing). 92 million solid waste was generated worldwide in 2015. Most textiles end up in landfills or are incinerated.