How sustainable can fashion be? Can it be sustainable at all? 100% sustainable fashion is almost impossible - and yet there are some things to consider in order to make your own consumption more sustainable.
The clothes we wear are responsible for a tenth of global greenhouse gas emissions. The industry's energy consumption is even higher than that of aviation and shipping combined! Fast-moving fashion brands are fueling this negative impact on the environment. But consumer behavior also contributes to making "disposable fashion" such a big problem.
The enormous range of sometimes very cheap clothing on offer tempts us to have an overflowing closet - full of items that are rarely or never worn. Even teenagers succumb to the shopping frenzy, fueled by fashion influencers. Reflecting on the effects of "fast fashion" is becoming increasingly difficult in the wake of daily confrontation with the latest outfits of idols on social media.
Long supply chains, enormous resource consumption
The clothes we wear come to us via very complex and long supply chains, from the production of the materials to the processing and sale. And even when we dispose of them or retailers get rid of yesterday's trends, items of clothing travel long distances again.
To illustrate the consequences of this, consider that one kilo of cotton is needed for a single pair of jeans. This one kilo requires between 7,500 and 10,000 liters of water. That is equivalent to a person's drinking water requirements for around 10 years! Then there are the raw materials for dyeing and bleaching.
Certified articles and BioCouture
But you don't have to do without clothing completely to avoid contributing to this enormous impact on nature. When making a purchase, for example, you can rely on certificates such as the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). Although certified products are still not perfect, they are at least better in terms of ecological and social factors.
Synthetic garments are even more problematic than cotton. Two thirds of the clothes we wear contain polyester. In addition, around 70 million (!) barrels of oil are consumed every year. This corresponds to 70 million times 159 liters.
However, the popular, easy-care material is also durable. The problem is that small pieces of the material are released into the environment with every wash or wear and tear, where they then pollute nature and suffocate animals for thousands of years.
In the meantime, innovative companies have taken up the issue and offer "BioCouture". Consumers also want fashion made from natural, less environmentally harmful materials. And in processing and dyeing, there are now also less polluting processes.
Consumers can do a lot themselves!
But we as consumers also have a responsibility. After all, we can control the way we shop and consume fashion ourselves. The behaviors that we as consumers can influence include
- Buy more consciously online - and return less
- Buy fewer products overall, but of better quality
- Wear the clothes you buy longer and more often
- Incorporate second-hand fashion into your own wardrobe
Buying less and more quality-consciously leads to a change in the way one deals with one's own clothes and to thinking about the mechanisms of consumer society that make "fast fashion" an addictive factor. Freeing oneself from impulsive purchases, whether as a "reward" or as status symbols, is good for the soul and also for the wallet - and not least for the environment.
Wash less, throw away less
Changing the way you use the washing machine also lowers thecarbon footprint of your own wardrobe, reduces water consumption and microplastic emissions. Often it is enough to air worn clothes thoroughly, for example on a hanger in the balcony, to be able to wear them again or even twice. If you have the possibility to hang the laundry out to dry and thus do without the tumble dryer, you are already doing a good thing.
And when it comes to throwing away clothes, many items can also be given a second life - on the one hand by mending them and wearing them for longer, and on the other hand by passing them on either for recycling or to institutions that collect second-hand clothing for charitable purposes.
The necessary changes in favor of the planet and nature must of course be implemented by the big names in the fashion industry. But consumers certainly have the opportunity to initiate these changes - with their own behavior.
NIKIN has pursued the goal of fair and sustainable fashion as an affordable alternative to fast fashion from the very beginning. Today, (almost) all of our products are made in Europe using guaranteed fair and sustainable production methods. Wherever possible, we work with more sustainable alternatives and never let up in our search for suitable producers, although this search is always very time-consuming. We have been able to convince many of our producers to introduce more sustainable production and materials. Our textile products are largely made from "sustainable organic cotton" and other sustainable materials such as recycled PET material or recycled cotton fibers.
Hand on heart, of course we are not perfect yet. But we want to create awareness and show that things can be done differently. We want to serve as a role model and encourage people to shop more consciously. Quality always comes before quantity.
