Sustainable, Eco friendly, Organic Clothing & Textile for Green economy and circular Economy

What is Sustainability?

Sustainability is the use of resources in an ethical way without polluting our mother earth. The major cause of Global warming is pollution, which is affecting human life in many ways. After the Oil industry Fashion is the 2nd biggest polluter of our planet.

 

Why sustainability is needed in Textile? 

The global textile the industry was estimated to be around USD 920 billion in 2018, and it is projected to witness a CAGR of approximately 4.4% during the forecast period to reach approximately USD 1,230 billion by 2024.

Textile is the 2nd the largest industry causing major pollution. Each year more than 85% used cloths goes in Landfill and only 15% are recycled. This textile industry is creating a huge amount of waste. In the last 15 years, the consumer is buying 60% more pieces of clothing compared to our last generation. Yet, each cloth item is now kept half as long, which ultimately goes in the landfill. Nearly 20% of global wastewater is produced by the Textile industry. Average use of each T-shirt is only 7 times while we should bring it to 60 times to reduce further damage to our earth by landfill, waste of water and energy as well as pesticides.  

As per EDGE report, Cotton farming is responsible for 24% of insecticides and 11% of pesticides, despite using only 3% of the world’s arable land. 20,000 liters is the amount of water needed to produce one kilogram of cotton; equivalent to a single t-shirt and pair of jeans. It takes more than 5,000 gallons of water to manufacture just a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. The textile industry is one of the top 3 water-wasting industry in China, discharging over 2.5 billion tons of wastewater every year. 

 

 

What we should do to make fashion sustainable, Eco-friendly for Green Economy?

 

The consumer should buy what they need. More clothing does not mean more happiness. Rather than quantity customer should focus on quality. The consumer should focus on buying Organic and sustainable as well as ethical clothing, which will be slightly more expensive than fast fashion and cheap fashion. By using organic cotton we save 50% water and promote 0% use of pesticides, which not only affect farmer’s health but also spoil our fertile land.  

Rather than using chemical dyes, the consumer should buy merchandise which has been dyed through the vegetable, for example, indigo and shibori dye and vegetable screen and block printing. 

The consumer should not throw used clothing in the dustbin; rather donate it to the poor community or NGO for reuse. If the garment is slightly damaged then the consumer should donate same after mending.  Textile which is not in a reusable condition should be sent for recycling where it could be converted into fibre than yarn and ultimately fabric to produce new merchandise

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All production houses must take responsibility to create zero waste. In the regular manufacturing process production houses waste 30% of the fabric, which could be reduced by 5% by taking the strategic decision at the tile of styling and by producing kids garment, lingerie or accessories for example Handbags, mask, stole, scarfs, caps, carry bags, handkerchief.

Huge Organic and sustainable resources are lying idle like Wool, Bamboo, Wood, and Leather, vegetable-dyed which should be utilized at max.

Forced labour and child labour should be banned and labour minimum wages should be decent enough to create a better living standard. 

Social responsibility program should be run by the government for creating awareness for not to use polyester products which are the petroleum byproduct. Such Polyester products are not biodegradable and chemicals are required to produce such merchandise. These chemicals mixed with water and ultimately affect our earth and animal’s life in and out water. 

More textile units should take initiative to produce fibre and fabric from used plastic bottles to reduce dumping of such waste in the sea and landfill. Some big size textile units like  Arvind, Vardhman, Raymond has already taken initiative towards sustainable clothing.

K.G fabrics are one of the biggest examples of sustainable denim. Other mills should participate in this revolution to create a better future.

which are the most sustainable clothing brands in India?

Brands made out of Linen, Bamboo and hemp. one of the example is www.bamboologytrends.com