Let the Earth

View Original

Green-empowering

Frances Nicoll

Well, I don’t know about you, but I have certainly learnt a lot through this blog series on greenwashing! I hope, like I, you feel more confident in making good choices for the environment as a result.

There are just two more things I want to mention before we conclude this series.

Consumerism or Stewardship

As I’ve been researching and on the lookout for greenwashing, I’ve realised just how different my daily habits and outlook are from a few years ago. I am so much more focused and intentional in my shopping that I automatically avoid so many shelves in the supermarket and even some shops entirely. I’ve had to purposely go places and look at things I wouldn’t normally to find examples of greenwashing.

It’s been encouraging to see that I have actually found great alternatives for so many things, know where to get them, and don’t get distracted by new-fangled greenwashed products. Most of what I have works and I don’t need anything else.

I guess what I am saying is, I obviously advocate living more sustainably, but it is so exciting (and a relief) to experience it as possible and practical! I really believe that stewarding our environment, and its resources well is more fulfilling, and grounding, than unsustainable consumerism.

Which leads on to my second point.

Fashion

The clothing industry is a whole other ball game when it comes to greenwashing and I would be remiss to not mention it at all.

Here are some of the key findings of The Fashion Transparency Index 2021:

In relation to the climate crisis

  • Only 14% of major brands disclose the overall quantity of products made annually, making it difficult to understand the scale of overproduction globally.

  • Most carbon emissions occur at processing and raw material levels and while 62% of big brands publish their carbon footprint in their own facilities, only 26% disclose this information at processing and manufacturing level and only 17% do so at raw material level.

  • More than one third of big brands (36%) have published their progress towards reducing the use of virgin plastics for packaging, but only 18% do so for textiles deriving from virgin fossil fuels, which consumers are less likely to recognise as plastic.

In relation to supply chain traceability

  • Over a quarter (27%) of major brands now disclose some of their processing facilities (e.g., spinning mills, dye-houses and laundries) – up from 24% last year.

  • 11% of major brands publish some of the raw material suppliers (e.g. cotton, wool, viscose) – up from 7% last year.

As you can see it is pretty shocking and the progress is so slow compared to the large scale impact this industry has on the environment. I don’t have time (word space) to cover this topic in depth here, but most of my advice about avoiding greenwashing is applicable to clothing. It just may be harder to get the information you need.

I would also suggest avoiding “conscious”, “eco”, or “green” lines of major brands and instead support sustainable businesses. Clothing companies that are top to bottom, in and out, working with the environment and for the environment.

Two helpful guides in choosing more sustainable clothing are:

  • Good on you – Brand directory (they rate brands based on 3 categories Planet, People, and Animals)

  • Sustain Your Style - Fiber eco-review (exhaustive list of fibres and their impact)

And there you are. That brings us to the end of this series on greenwashing. I will be back with another series in 2 months or so. Currently planning on getting into the nitty gritty of some key topics that I haven’t been able to cover in depth so far.

Till then, whenever you go shopping, be it in person or online, remember to equip yourself with the green-empowering trio!