As global consumption of fashion and apparel has sky-rocketed in the last couple of decades, so too have the devastating impacts that its production, distribution and end-of-life have on nature.
The sector is increasingly understood by many to be a major contributor to environmental degradation, with businesses involved in the manufacture and sale of clothing facing strong consumer and regulator pressure to reduce the environmental harm caused by their own operations and those of their supply chain partners.
In this article, Sustainability Advisor Sophie Schlachter unpacks the impacts the sector has on nature, it’s dependencies on healthy ecosystems, and how connected planning tools can help businesses move towards nature-positive production.
Impacts on nature from fashion industry operations and supply chains
Perhaps it isn’t intuitive to associate the pair of jeans you’re wearing with environmental degradation, but the impacts of the fashion and apparel industry on nature are very real. These include:
- Freshwater use – can deplete ground and surface water, reducing flows to local ecosystems and threatening local communities’ livelihoods. The raw material production and material manufacturing stages are especially water intensive.
- Soil exhaustion – occurs when monoculture farming, chemical use and inefficient water management reduce the soil’s ability to support plant life. Cotton cultivation is a key proponent of this nature-related impact.
- Land use change and degradation – expansion of agricultural land for plant-based fibre cropping and cattle (leather) production drives deforestation, causing both greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss.
- Pollution – every stage of fashion production and consumption produces pollution of some kind, and is contaminating the land, oceans, freshwater systems and the atmosphere.
Fashion sector’s dependencies on ecosystems and natural assets
The fashion and apparel sector, like most others, is dependent on various ecosystem assets, flows and services, to operate. Particular dependencies for this sector include:
- Fibres and other materials – many materials required for production in this sector are derived from plants and rely on pollination for their production. Additionally, animal derived materials like wool and leather depend on their own set of ecosystem services, like freshwater, land and biodiversity.
- Freshwater – utilised heavily through the entire value chain, from irrigation of crops or mining of raw materials, to manufacturing and consumer washing.
- Soil quality – required to support natural-fibre crop productivity and pest/drought resistance, healthy soils are crucial to the fashion sector.
How can the fashion sector reduce it’s environmental impact?
To ensure sustainability as a sector, fashion businesses must consider some key operational and conceptual shifts.
Operational
Businesses need to reconsider their production systems, and;
- Reduce the use of high impact or uncertified materials, hazardous chemicals and freshwater.
- Restore degraded land and move towards regenerative agricultural practices
- Build supplier relationships to ensure coordinated industry progress.
Conceptual
The most impactful way to improve the fashion sector’s relationship with nature is to re-imagine clothing as a service, rather than a product. Customers are not paying for a “thing” – they are paying you to protect them from the elements, to help them express their identity, and to look good on the dance floor.
Businesses should explore the transformation of their business model to product-as-a-service and build systems that support circularity, rather than linear material usage.
How Zooss Consulting can help
Fashion businesses need to innovate to ensure that their sector operates within the limits of what the natural environment can sustain.
Innovating in this way requires complex decisions to be made. These decisions should be based on detailed scenario analysis, modelling of potential feedback loops, and a strong data foundation.
Zooss Consulting has pioneered a new approach that we call Sustainable Business Planning. By joining the dots between financial, environmental and social data, we empower coordinated action and enable more sustainable business for our customers.
Sustainable Business Planning has the power to deliver better outcomes for organisations, people, and our planet.
Find out more
- Sustainable Business Planning – Our Solutions
- Moving beyond the “take, make and waste” model of production and consumption – and towards a Circular Economy
- Ready to start planning sustainably? Contact us.
About the author – Sophie Schlachter, Sustainability Advisor
Sophie holds a Master of Sustainability from the University of Sydney and has worked across regenerative agriculture and waste management sectors, including for OzHarvest and the Taronga Zoo Conservation Society. Sophie is experienced in business and sustainability analytics, and is passionate about enabling sustainable business that balances profit with positive environmental and social outcomes.
Better Planning. Better Planet.