World Environment Day is commemorated on 5th June of every year. The objective of celebrating the day is to spread awareness about the challenges that are being faced by the environment as a result of our daily lifestyle habits. It also aims to make people across the world take conscious steps to reverse the immense damage that our habits have been causing the environment for the past few centuries, to create a green and sustainable world.
History & Significance Of World Environmental Day
The United Nations (UN) officially announced 5th June of every year as World Environment Day in 1972 during the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, which was held in Stockholm, Sweden. The summit discussed a wide range of environmental concerns like pollution, climate change, loss of biodiversity, renewable energy, sustainable consumption, to name a few. The thought behind celebrating the day annually is to raise awareness about the importance of sustainable living. It seeks to bring the attention of global citizens to the environmental hazards of our regular lifestyle, so they can take conscious steps towards initiating an eco-friendly life.
Organisations, governments across the world, and global communities join hands to organise events and street shows to work towards their objective and a unique theme, which changes every year. For 2023, the theme focuses on finding long-term solutions to plastic pollution under the campaign #BeatPlasticPollution.
What Is Sustainable Fashion?
Sustainable fashion, also known as green fashion and eco-friendly fashion, refers to the biodegradable raw material and mindful manufacturing methods that fashion brands follow to produce their line of clothing. These are ethically curated and do not contribute to landfills that take decades to dissolve and become one with the earth. The entire manufacturing process for eco-friendly clothing proves to be comparatively more expensive than those that do not fall in line with eco-conscious methods, but they have a far-reaching impact on the environment by removing materials that clog and choke the environment. This snowballs into a hazard with long-standing repercussions on nature and, in turn, your health.
4 Ways You Can Support Sustainable Fashion
1. Ethical Fashion
You may have heard about eco-friendly, human-friendly, and vegan brands that are on the rise these days. The terms imply that no human beings or animals have been hurt during the manufacturing process of these green fashion brands. Invest in clothes that fall under this category as your first step towards contributing to a green world.
2. Slow Fashion
Just the opposite of fast fashion, which means purchasing outfits with a surprisingly low price tag and disposing of them after using them a few times. The low cost justifies your behaviour of passing them on to others after you’ve worn them for a few days. Slow fashion focuses on increasing the longevity of outfits, so that they don’t become a part of landfills a few weeks or months after they are bought. You can either share your outfits or rent clothes to do your part in being an integral part of the slow fashion movement.
3. Circular Fashion
As evident from the name, circular fashion brands encourage their buyers to return the clothes to them once the owners feel that it’s time to dispose of them. The objective is turn in the used clothes so that it can be recycled and upcycled rather than increasing the burden of landfills, which is detrimental for the environment.
4. Conscious Fashion
This entails eco-friendly fashion brands to make people aware of their existence and also explain how sustainable clothing is the only way forward for the fashion industry. When you are intrigued to try out eco-friendly clothing, do a thorough background check on the brand website to ensure that they are indeed what they claim to be. Read between the lines and focus on the small prints to get a cue of their authenticity.
5 Facts That Highlight Why You Should Switch Over To Sustainable Fashion
- The fashion industry is one of the primary reasons for environmental hazards, more than what you can perhaps imagine.
- Not just in its use of unsustainable raw materials and its manufacturing procedure, but also in terms of consumer behaviour – the ever-increasing frequency of buying new clothes and disposing of those that have been bought recently. Changing trends or you getting too bored with your wardrobe far too soon.
- No wonder, the fashion industry is one of the leading environmental polluters, second only to oil.
- It contributes to 20% of industrial water pollution across the world.
- What’s more, a significant part of your clothes is plastic, taking the earth an inch closer to a microscopic disaster everytime you throw away your clothes.
5 Sustainable Fashion Tips You Should Bookmark
1. Quality Over Quantity
Back to the subject of slow fashion versus fast fashion that we discussed briefly earlier in the article, focus on purchasing quality clothes rather than wanting to flaunt an extensive variety of outfits. Before you go shopping, ask yourself what you really need and whether you actually need it, rather than going on a spree and splurging on a new closet.
2. Stay Away From Being Greenwashed
Look beyond catchy words like “eco-friendly”, “sustainable”, “responsibly manufactured”, and similar other terms. Instead, read their policies and look for certifications that back their claims to make the most of sustainable fashion benefits.
3. Move Over To Sustainable Fashion Brands
Switch over to sustainable clothing whenever you shop. Check the product description if you’re shopping online or the product label if you’re out shopping. Ensure that the outfits are made of sustainable materials like organic cotton, linen, and jute, and are free from plastic and similar other non-biodegradable materials. Organic cotton requires less water and are also devoid of pesticides.
4. Go For Reliable Rented Outfits
Rented clothing has been picking up speed for a few years now, thanks to the growing consciousness for the need for eco-conscious fashion. There are reliable websites that offer rented clothing for every occasion for a varied range of sizes and ensure that the outfits are dry cleaned and starched before they are made available for rent again.
5. Take Care Of Your Outfits
Increasing the lifespan of your clothes is important when you want them to be sustainable for the environment. To control the environmental footprint, steer clear of throwing them away after wearing them for a couple of times. Not just that, also avoid over-washing your clothes to reduce water consumption and CO2 emissions, and repair them rather than throwing them away.
5 Inia-Based Sustainable Clothing Brands You Can Shop At
1. No Nasties
Vegan and organic clothing being their forte, this sustainable clothing brand specialises in offering a range of stylish outfits. A combination of environmentally safe and trendy collections, it’s a double whammy indeed! They believe in sustainability and transparency throughout their supply chain.
2. Buna Studio
This fashion brand embraces sustainability by using all-natural, organic fabrics. What sets them apart from the other brands of its kind is that their apparel collections have minimalist designs. The brand also resorts to fair trade practices, making it one of the most popular sustainable fashion brands.
3. Upasana
This brand is an exciting amalgam of sustainability, fair trade, and weaves rooted in traditions. They collaborate with artisans and weavers who are trained in traditional crafts for generations.
4. Nicobar
For this brand, sustainability meets contemporary designs that appeal to varied aesthetics and sensibilities. They work with materials like organic cotton, linen, and responsibly sourced silk. Their apparel collection lasts long, making the brand one of the favourites among eco-conscious people.
5. TULA
A fashion accessories brand, its product line includes bags and jewellery – all of which are sustainably curated from material like cork and recycled fabrics. This brand too supports local artisans and promotes the concept of conscious consumption.
Switching over to eco-friendly fashion isn’t a challenging task with quite a few brands making them readily available to you, from the comfort of your home and even while you’re on the go. So, embrace it the next time you want to shop and give nature the opportunity to heal, breathe, and thrive with you.
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