Fashion should be written with ‘r’ of reducing, reusing, repairing and recycling

Según el informe 'Fashion on Climate', publicado el año pasado por McKinsey & Company y la organización Global Fashion Agenda, la moda fue responsable de al menos el 4% del total de emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero a nivel global en 2018. Esto equivale a lo emitido en un año por Francia, Reino Unido y Alemania combinados. La ONU indica que la industria textil es el segundo consumidor de agua en el mundo y que cada año utiliza 93.000 millones de metros cúbicos de este elemento, cantidad que abastecería a unos cinco millones de personas. Además, solo el 1% de los materiales utilizados en la producción de ropa se recicla para fabricar nuevas piezas.

The sector is expected to grow, which would make its impact increase that drastic measures are taken that change the way in which fashion is designed and consumed.

Precisely to combat the waste of textile materials, Fashion Partnership (Circular Fashion Alliance, in Spanish), a global initiative that joins brands, manufacturers and recyclers to develop and implement new systems to capture the remains of fabric that remain left ofTextile production before they finish in garbage dumps or burned.These fabric pieces are recycled and are used again in the production of new garments.The alliance is also responsible for seeking solutions for the excess surplus caused by the break in consumption due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

El modelo inicial se implementó en Bangladesh, segundo productor de ropa en el mundo después de China, y cuyo producto interno bruto depende en un 11% de esta industria. Si es exitosa esta iniciativa, en la que participan famosas marcas como H&M, Bershka o Pull & Bear; se escalaría a nivel global. Algo que ayudaría a reducir la huella ambiental de la industria, que aún tiene mucho camino por recorrer para poder cumplir con los objetivos de desarrollo sostenible.

According to Holly Syrett, senior sustainability manager of Global Fashion Agenda, an organization that promoted this initiative, if radical changes are not implemented in the way of acting in the sector, the textile industry would fail to achieve the commitments to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreementto maintain the increase in global temperature below 1.5 ºC and its emissions would exceed 50%.

For Syrett, "circularity is the system that will help the fashion industry to be value for people and communities, but also so that it can perform within the limits that the planet has and restore biodiversity."A system that requires the participation of all the actors involved: from those who design the garments, going through those who manufacture them, to consumers who, with their decisions, can influence the market.In the initial stages, more more sustainable alternative materials are needed, best agricultural practices and adoption of renewable energy.

And in the final stages, where 30% of the emissions of the sector arises, Global Fashion Agenda reminds us that consumers can reconsider the way we consume clothes to reduce our impact: "Instead of buying it new, we can wear clothesfor rent or buy it second -hand. Wash and dry the clothes, recycle it and make sure not to discard it without more and return it to the value chain. "

With this initiative they intend to create a systemic change in the fashion industry, which is in the sights, in addition to environmental issues, for social justice issues.For Syrett, you cannot "talk about revolutionizing the fashion industry without addressing social justice or human rights (...), which have to be respected throughout the entire value chain. You have to take care of theOccupational risks, ranging from dangerous working conditions to discrimination "to improve these global fashion agenda conditions insists that" initiatives that unite both governments and the private sector are necessary to improve working conditions. "

20% of the environmental impact of fashion falls on citizens so, as consumers, we can have a great impact on how the future of this industry will be.Therefore, the philosophy of 'reducing, reusing, repairing and recycling' is so valid in style decisions, as in those we take with the other products, services and foods we consume.