The fashion industry is known as one of the most polluting industries in the world. Making a conscious decision to shop with sustainable and ethical brands will make a difference to the planet and the people within it. And we need it now more than ever because there’s no coming back from here. Here are 6 reasons why you should make the shift to sustainable fashion and ditch your fast fashion shopping behavior:
Quality reduces waste
Quality – that’s what sets apart sustainable brands. They focus on materials that are made to last, can easily be reused and are kind to the planet. Have you ever wondered why it's called fast fashion? Because it's quick and not made to last. When you choose sustainable brands you choose quality, you choose to reduce the waste on our planet whilst you save money because you aren’t buying unnecessary clothing.
Benefits the environment
Sustainable fashion reduces your carbon footprint. Period.
The fast fashion industry leaves behind a huge environmental impact. From landfills, excess water, and power usage, use of pesticides and insecticide to grow fabric that eventually makes their way into the water supply and affecting the health of those in the supply chain, fast fashion has burdened the environment beyond its capacity. When you choose to go sustainable you are reducing your carbon footprint by embracing fabrics that are made from reusable material.
It’s ethical towards employees and labor
Imagine this scenario – if you are producing close to an innumerable amount of clothes every day, you will need a lot of people to do it. More people means more working hours and of course as a business you wouldn’t want to shell out a lot of money, hence poor wage rates and unfair labor practices. That’s typically how fast fashion brands work. By choosing sustainable fashion brands, you choose fair wages and better working conditions for the people making your clothes.
It’s much more mindful
With fast fashion come the ever so frequent sales. We have all been guilty of shopping mindlessly just because of discount. We purchase things we probably won’t ever wear, styles that are unflattering on us. Why? Because they are on sale. But we need to stop, as this goes against everything mindful living represents. First, you will be burning a hole in your pocket, under the illusion that you’re saving money. Secondly, you most often end up with items that you won’t use and will end up in landfills.
SHOPPING LESS + WEARING MORE
Now some might argue that sustainable fashion comes with the challenge of doing more with less. But that’s where the beauty of styling lies. Sustainable fashion teaches us how to love our clothes again. We start putting more thought into how we dress, pairing our favorite pants with a new top, styling a dress with different accessories. Sustainable brands focus on creating timeless pieces of high quality that always fits in with your style.
To be a better person
Good Morals = Good Fashion
While benefiting the environment, choosing to buy ‘conscious’ collections comes at a financial cost. It takes a lot to choose between the wellbeing of the planet and individual gain, especially if you are surrounded by an ocean of online discount. But deciding to purchase items from a sustainable brand demonstrates a genuine desire to benefit the environment over personal and financial gain.
So when are you making the switch?