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As I have been researching the fashion industry’s strides in green production, I started to wonder whether it was important to draw a line between eco-friendly options and ethical options. Is one more important than another? Must or should the two go hand and hand?
The question is complicated, and for the most part, depends on the personal stance of the consumer. However when you break down the aspects of sustainability, you find that it doesn’t simply mean being green. Sustainability implies something beyond environmental consciousness because it also includes ethical labor wages, work environment standards, and proper animal treatment. A sustainable project also seeks to create a cycle that can maintain itself by taking overuse and depletion of resources out of the equation.
This mentality shapes socially and ethically accountable fashion into green fashion, which is possibly how it should always be. Because the terms have recently become everyday lingo, some smudging of the print has already occurred. Asking the industry to make the farm-to-store process more transparent would at least educate us all on our role in the vicious cycle of clothing production. What we’ve come to believe as a society of consumers is that the clothing we choose to wear only affects us individually. With a transparent process, though, the hundreds of hands involved in the creation of an item are illuminated rather than forgotten.
MADE-BY is a foundation that combines the concerns of NGO’s, fashion brands, and fashion producers in order to broaden the presence of sustainable fashion in the market. Brands adopt principles that those participating in the foundation have deemed necessary to improve sustainability in production. An extremely market-changing aspect of the strategy can be found in the Track&Trace part of MADE-BY brands. Downloadable from the website is a complete explanation of the ins-and-outs of how they do it, but in short: “Every link in the production chain enters production information into the database and forwards it to the next link.” The database that holds the information for each item is visible by the consumer through a code found on the “blue button” tag placed in the clothing. Tracing clothing through the chain from the grower to the sewer holds producers accountable and keeps consumers informed. Honesty is key in sustainability, and in the furthering of green fashion.
One of the first green fashion initiatives started in the ‘70s with the fair trade movement. Since one of the incentives of fair trade is to educate growers and all parties involved in sustainability, everyone (and everything) benefits. Consumers suddenly have a grasp on details they may have never even considered a part of getting dressed. When things get personal for us, we become interested. Growers gain insight into consumers interested in sustainable businesses like theirs. These basic building blocks make fair trade clothing both green and ethical.
Brewing Justice by author Daniel Jaffee gives a clear examination of the fair trade industry by delving into the true operations of a Mexican cooperative called Michiza. Fair trade cuts out the middlemen involved in conventional trade, making business more direct operations. The book discusses the hardships and difficulties involved with fair trade and does not try to mask the economic complexities involved. But in the end, Jaffee concludes that the integrity and authenticity found in fair trade ought to be strengthened.
Even Wal-Mart has started to notice that the sustainability movement isn’t going to dissipate anytime soon. In fact, when former CEO Lee Scott came on board the goal was to rethink horrendous labor practices. In the process, it was also decided that green business had to be a part of the plan as well.
Higher labor standards have often brought eco standards to the table, as a closer look at either one usually reveals that they are not-so-separate issues. In fact, when Social Accountability International looked at the labor laws in leather production, it upped the growth and processing standards to accommodate both the safety of the workers and the environment.
Companies like Gap and Timberland have also taken green fashion forward by starting to adjust all aspects of production. By joining Organic Exchange and MADE-BY, these industry pioneers have coupled the two seemingly separate movements into one.
Sustainability is working to bring back the appreciation for “face value” production. If we trace our clothes through the hands that made them, we create a virtual map of every person involved in the process. When fashion-forward ideas mean green-ethical ideas, the industry will change. And when we realize the change we could effect by choosing awareness over ignorance, the face of fashion will look entirely different.
