Penalties and advertising ban: France stops fast fashion companies
The French National Assembly has unanimously adopted the bill aimed at reducing the environmental impact of the textile industry, which will have to continue its legislative process in the Senate. Intended to curb “fast fashion”, the text provides: the ban on advertising for the sale of clothing at rock-bottom prices the decision to define fast fashion based on a set number of items placed on the market annually an enhanced environmental penalty to make fast fashion products less attractive Furthermore, companies that sell disposable fashion online will have to display messages near the price on their website that: raise awareness of the environmental impact of their products; encourage sobriety, reuse,…
Illegal logging in Cambodia to feed the fashion industry
The garment sector in Cambodia is fueled by illegal logging. In the global fashion industry, the accusation of profiting at the expense of forests is nothing new. Last year, we published an article about research that highlighted the link between fashion and deforestation in the Amazon. The protected forest of 402,352 hectares that extends across the provinces of Kampong Speu, Koh Kong and Pursat is considered one of the best preserved rainforests in the country. It is an area rich in biodiversity. According to a survey conducted by Mongabay (2023)*, garment factories in Cambodia are using wood illegally harvested from these protected areas to fuel their boilers. The garment industry…
SHEIN: New report reveals dangerous chemicals in products
Ultra-fast fashion brand SHEIN has a “business model based on hazardous chemicals and environmental destruction” according to a recent investigation by Greenpeace Germany. SHEIN’s marketing bombards young people, through platforms like TikTok, with glamorous-looking items sold at bargain prices, promoted by micro- and macro-influencers who get free products and other benefits in return. However, little is known about the thousands of suppliers who cut and sew garments in Guangdong, China, and even less about the factories that wash and dye their fabrics, the major source of the pollution caused by SHEIN. To find out more about the products and especially the use of hazardous chemicals in the supply chain, Greenpeace…
Alert toxic products: two shoe models reported by the European Commission
The European Commission quickly reports the measures taken against dangerous non-food products among the national authorities responsible for product safety in single market countries. Every day the national authorities send alerts with information on the type of product detected as dangerous, a description of the risk and the measures taken by the economic operator or ordered by the authority. Two Guess shoe models are currently reported. The harmful chemicals we put on our feet while wearing shoes can exceed the permitted limits. The use of toxic chemicals for the environment and health is unfortunately currently one of the negative impacts of the fashion industry. Reports are definitely a useful tool,…
Microfibers and microplastics from textile materials: what are they and how to reduce them?
Thanks to two interesting studies*, reviewing the research on microfibres and microplastics, we try to shed light on a topic more and more preoccupying. The increase in the production of textile fibers in the last 20 years, in particular of synthetic ones, and the discoveries on the effects they have on man and the environment place more and more attention on the subject. Fiber fragments released from clothing and home textiles during washing, drying and use are considered a new source of environmental pollution and a health threat. What are microfibres? What size are they? “Microfibre” is a consolidated term in the textile industry to indicate fibers between 10 and…
Sustainability: a women’s stuff?
When I read an article on sustainability as “women’s issue” (Suzanne Elliot, 2021, Euronews), I was intrigued to the point of investigating and better understanding how and why there can be a green-feminine stereotype. Although in the current context of gender fluidity its significance could be questioned, it could help in a more effective dissemination of sustainability messages. Several studies indicate that there is a gender gap with regard to care for the environment. According to research by Mintel (2018), men waste more water and food, recycle less, are less careful about turning off lowering the heat when they leave the house, and less inclined to encourage family and friends…
- Environment/Ambiente, Events, Fashion/Moda, Responsible life / Stile di vita resp., Vintage/Second-hand
A lifetime of clothing: the tallest closet in the world
Do you know how many are a lifetime of clothing? Since we usually throw away the clothes we no longer use over time, do we get an idea of how many there are in total? To answer this question, in 2018 Benjamin Von Wong and Laura François came up with the idea of gathering them all in a single wardrobe, creating the tallest wardrobe in the world: in a single instant, those who look up can see a life of clothes with their own eyes. The wardrobe is different for each of us, according to the economic availability, the era, the culture. Benjamin and Laura have estimated the number of…
What are our clothes made of?
What fibers make up our garments? What are the clothes of Zara, Mango, H&M and other fast fashion brands made of? How much are the clothes we throw away actually reusable and recyclable? About 550 kg of clothes were analyzed in the first ever study on fibers thrown into textile collection containers. Developed by INTEXTER * of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)) and student Beatriz Rodríguez of ESEIAAT **, the study is included in the report Análisis de la recogida de la ropa usada en España (Analysis of the collection of used clothing in Spain)***. Analyzing the composition of the textile products in the bins through an innovative methodology,…
Fashion brands linked to deforestation in Amazonia
Stand.Earth has recently published a research on the link between the fashion industry and the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Using public and government data, the survey shows how the supply of leather from fashion brands represents an existential climate risk for the world, the Amazon rainforest and indigenous communities. The cattle industry is linked to the availability of forests. A World Resources Institute’s study found that from 2001 to 2015 cattle was responsible for 36% of global tree cover loss. Cattle replaced nearly double the forest area of all other assets combined (soy, palm oil, rubber, coconut, coffee, wood fiber). By analyzing the tracking of leather exported by the…
Nausea of sustainability: symptoms, causes and remedies
This is the first such long break from articles since the birth of Dress Ecode. It is not just for the daily things to do, nor for a loss of motivation. If there is one thing I continue to strongly believe in, it is the need to adopt a more responsible life, with attention to people, to the resources used, to nature. It’s something else, which slowly contributed to an arrest. I’m sick of sustainability. The causes? Abuses, levity, weak competence. Nausea not of the concept it evokes, nor of its practical application in life, but of the word. In the last few months it has come to surround me…
