Can plastic be eco-friendly? Fashion industry’s sustainability ratings called out
Are you conscious of the environment? Do you try to be eco-friendly when you shop? Nowadays, it’s quite fashionable in fashion to go “sustainable”. Brands such as H&M, Zara, Mango etc offer an exclusive line of products that are “sustainable”. It usually means that the materials are recycled or use fabrics that are considered “eco-friendly”.
But before you pat yourself on the back and applaud your favourite fast-fashion brand, dig up a little on what their definition of “sustainable” really means.
When it comes to the “eco-friendly” fabrics that are used, it generally refers to those fabrics that are produced using less water consumption, electricity and chemicals.
They are often branded as “vegan” too. But what exactly are these fabrics? They are the synthetic ones made of plastic, that use fossil fuel to be produced.
So, when did plastic become environmentally safe?
Inexpensive petroleum-based materials have boomed in the fashion industry. It has allowed them to produce pieces like faux leather branded as “vegan” leather. PETA will be very happy about this. But it is only a marketing tactic meant to “suggest” an environmentally friendly product.
The Higg Index: In reality, the sustainability of environment-friendliness of the materials is decided by a flawed system of ratings. The Higg Index is an influential rating system in the fashion industry that was introduced in 2011. The Higg Index tracks the carbon footprint of making a product. But it also favours petroleum-based products over natural fabrics made of cotton, wool or leather. An earlier research also showed how certifications like the Higg Index are misleading people on sustainability.
The Index owned by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (whose members include H&M, Nike, Amazon, etc.) uses data to come to the conclusion. However, critics have pointed out that some of their data came from research that was funded by the synthetics industry itself (talk about a murderer making the law on murder).
Other critics pointed out that sometimes the data used is narrow in scope and cannot have general applicability.
- Polyester is rated high on sustainability by the index based on data provided by a plastics-industry group.
- The rating for elastane (lycra or spandex) is based on data provided by the then world’s largest elastane producer Invista.
- It favours members of the index because most of them are fast-fashion brands and largely use polyester.
Why does it matter? Fashion contributes to 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions, larger than the aviation and shipping industry combined. So, unless we are able to control our shopping urges and brands stop releasing new collections every other week, our landfills fill be filled with our trashcan fashion.