Most people when asked will approve of doing good while understanding the need for it too. However, they may not always engage in healthy practices if this translates to added work they have to keep up with in their lives.
Recycling, for instance, is something everyone should partake in, but separating their used items and placing them in the correct bin, and placing that outside on the right days may constitute something of an obstacle for those who aren’t fully motivated or deeply convinced of its importance.
We see the same thing going on in the fashion world. Most people will understand that ethical and sustainable clothing is important. For example, real leather and animal skin clothing is now generally looked down upon except in some areas of high fashion. But this is only one fight to win in the neverending attempt to make fashion as wholesome, inclusive, ethical and sustainable as possible.
Ethical and sustainable clothing is often defined by the processes used to manufacture and deliver certain clothes. For instance, there are several often controversial but unfortunately routine practices that take place when supplying clothes to even relatively well-known clothing brands and shops.
It’s not always the materials that can poison the ethics of how clothing is made, but the processes and cost to which it’s made also. Ethical and sustainable clothing is not only defined by an absence of these exploitative practices but of encouraging ethical, reliable, fully vetted and regulated practices to take their place.
Sustainable clothing is often sourced from materials that can be easily replaced without much material impact on natural materials. However, the impacts of ethical and sustainable clothing are far-reaching – paying a fair wage and offering acceptable workplace standard is the very minimum that should be applied, but ethical clothing companies aim to achieve this without question.
When you change your purchasing habits, you make the most important and impactful statement about what kind of practices you hope to support. There is nothing more powerful than voting with your wallet, as it works more reliably than any legislation can.
However, as ethical and sustainable fashion can sometimes incur a heightened cost compared to quick and easy high-street department stores, this can turn some people off.
It’s a good idea to schedule your purchases so that you focus on purchasing higher-quality clothing that lasts and is sustainable rather than outfitting your wardrobe with cheap, and often questionable off-brand products, the history of which you’re not sure of. Supporting transparent clothing startups can help you truly engage with the process of supporting sustainable fashion for the better.
There are many initiatives out there. A cursory look through Instagram or an independent shop in your high street can help you locate them. Furthermore, purchasing recycled vintage clothes can often be a great way to purchase fashion without giving your money to questionable entities, and it saves that item of clothing from being thrown away and potentially ending up in landfill or our oceans.
The best way to make the most informed purchasing decisions is to stay educated and to purchase clothing that conforms to your renewed standards.
For instance, opting for our recycled flip-flops this summer could be a great way of getting your feet wet in this new habit (no pun intended).
Also, sharing posts on the importance of sustainable fashion and the impact it has could potentially inspire your friends and family to do the same. Perhaps this way, we can dismantle exploitation and unethical practices in the fashion industry for good.
