We could be more sustainable... But should we??

We could be more sustainable... But should we??

Nov 1, '21

Sustainable fashion, is it really THAT important?

Fast fashion needs fast trends, & fast trends need to be affordable. But what’s the real cost?
Strap yourselves in people, because it’s stat time! Who’s excited?

The textiles industry globally churns out over 100 billion items of clothing every year.  That’s a lot of pairs of skinny jeans!     But what’s involved in creating this volume of clothing?  Well, in that process 20’000 chemicals are used, much of which makes its way into the planet's water supply.  In fact, clothing production is responsible for 20% of the world's water pollution. Mmmm, delicious water.  In developing countries, not only is it polluting their waters but is also a huge player in water shortages, where clean water supplies are diminishing. 


The fashion industry also contributes a charming 10% of all global carbon emissions, which combined, is more than international flights & maritime shipping combined. 

Stats aside, we wanted to ask.. does this really matter, & can we make a difference? 

With the deterioration of the planet's resources & the rise of climate (or eco) anxiety in young people, each of us has a crossroads ahead.   As individuals, should we care whether our young people & children deserve to be left a worse off-planet than we’ve enjoyed?
Scientists have claimed there’s nothing right now to stop the rise in the earth's temperature, even if we cut out all carbon emissions today. The wheels are in motion. Climate change is inevitable.  

 

Is sustainable fashion important? Do we care enough to make changes today, even if we don’t see the benefits in our lifetime?  That’s our crossroads.

If you do want to help, you might wonder “but what can I do?”.

The best thing you can do is stop buying clothes.  That obviously sounds crazy coming from a business that sells clothes, but really, fast fashion brands (we’re thinking of one that rhymes with die-park) are not out there to provide you with high-quality, built-to-last products.   Usually with low-cost garments, comes short life span clothing, often made by developing countries with low-paid employees.

Fast trends are REALLY fast. Look in your wardrobe, how many pieces of clothing do you own that are now not on-trend. 100% of mine probably, but that’s just because I’m not very cool.

If Bestdays were to look inwards, there are LOADS of things we can do as a company to be more sustainable.  We sell a brand that supports free counselling for young people, but is it sustainable?  Probably not.  We don’t overproduce, we print to order, but are we also a part of the problem? Probably.

We’re interested to know from you guys, how important is this to you?  Would you be happy to pay an increased price in our brands, if it meant that we could produce them more sustainably, from organic materials?   Or is affordability more important, which allows you other essential benefits?  Hikes in tax & bills can make it a challenge to be a perfect ethical citizen! 

If you have any feedback on this discussion, we’d love to hear from you!  Whether you’re struggling with climate anxiety & want to talk, or maybe you think we’re talking complete codswallop & you never want us to write a piece like this again, feel free to get in touch via our DM’s on Instagram or email us as:
info@bestdaysvintage.co.uk.

Matt x 

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