Sustainability? Not a Chance Without Consumers Declaring War
Pick up almost any textile or apparel industry publication and you will be inundated with claims by apparel producers, brands and retailers about joining in or initiating their own high-profile efforts to address the issue of environmental sustainability. There is good reason to do so, as the impact of the manufacturing industry on the environment is bad — and getting worse. Despite the growing list of big brands and retailers who say they are taking up the fight, there appears to be little or no tangible progress, especially in light of the increasing amount of clothing being thrown into landfills every year.
Why is that? For the most part, brands and retailers are just paying lip service to textile and apparel environmental sustainability, and cynically, why wouldn’t they? To address this issue in a meaningful way requires substantially higher costs for sustainable practices and more importantly, selling a lot less clothing! That is not something they will do voluntarily unless consumers force them to. Metaphorically, it will require consumers to declare war on brands and retailers who are not committed to, and are validated in, supporting sustainability. The threat of this values war is that customers will stop buying their goods, period. This will drive fear, which is the principal motivator that will drive immediate action.
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Published with permission from the author, Bill Jasper, visit his website here: