4.5 billion years ago, our beautiful planet came into existence, and Modern Human life, or ‘Homo Sapiens’ as we know today is about 300k years old. Earth has been through a lot, from the Ice age to the fire age, from volcanic eruptions to the meteor hitting the planet which wiped out the entire population of Dinos.
The earth has experienced worse days before us and as scientists say it will experience the worst days in the future. What you and I are experiencing today is a cross-section of time that we are living in, our challenges today are different from what our ancestors have faced and what our future generations will face. Climate Change is the biggest threat to the generation of our Kids, Nieces, and Nephews.
Today, there are over 300 definitions of sustainability (Tiime.org), and it is easy to get lost in the literal meaning, but let’s take this quote as our motivation, ‘It is all of our responsibility to leave the world in better shape for the future generations than we found it’ (Mike Huckabee, Tim Cook, Robert Baden-Powell, and many more leaders). Sustainability can have different meanings for different generations but we as humanity should consider this thought in everything we do irrespective of our age, gender, sexuality, nationality or religion.
Many would think of sustainability as a trend, but one might be amused to know that the fight for a sustainable life started in 1889 with the establishment of ‘The Society for the protection of birds’. What happened in 1952 in London would be perhaps the most tragic incident which happened due to ignoring science and continuing to burn fossil fuels. A smog that unfortunately killed 12,000 people and over 100,000 sick led to the ‘clean air act of 1956’. The awareness for sustainability and a better future has been rising ever since (In Kind, 2018)
It is true that there are indeed many things that contribute to climate change and pollution, and you and I as a person from different walks of life can not fight this entirely, but we can work and learn every day to reduce our impact. We at Satatland through this blog can only speak for Fashion, but we will diversify in the coming days. (Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletters here or at the bottom of the page)
Starting today, let’s talk about fashion, the industry responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions, the second-largest global consumer of water, and the second-largest polluter of global water (World Economic Forum, 2020). One wouldn’t think that Fashion has such an ugly side, but think of it like this, 7.7billion people wear clothes, not everyone owns a car but everyone covers their bodies.
Thanks to Hippies, who started the revolution in the 1960s by bringing focus to locally grown and natural products, the sustainable fashion movement has come a long way. We have put together a short timeline to remember the important events in the history of sustainable fashion or as we like to call it ‘A Journey towards better fashion’. Hope you enjoy the read, and let us know what you think about by writing to us on press@satatland.com
SOURCES
- BoF. (2019). The State of Fashion 2020 [PDF] Business of Fashion. Available at:https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/intelligence/the-state-of-fashion-2020-bof-mckinsey-report-release-download [Accessed 7 Oct. 2020].
- Ecolabelindex.com. (2010). All ecolabels, Ecolabel Index. [online] Available at: http://www.ecolabelindex.com/ecolabels/?st=category. [Accessed 5 Oct. 2020].
- Fibertech, Inc. (N.A.). 57 Sustainable Clothing Pioneers Leading The Eco-Friendly Movement. [online] Available at: https://fibertechinc.net/sustainable-clothing/ [Accessed 7 Oct. 2020]
- Financial Times. (2011) H&M hit by soaring cotton prices [online] Financial Times. Available at- https://www.ft.com/content/95c54d66-5b68-11e0-b965-00144feab49a [Accessed 10 Oct. 2020]
- Financial Times. (2011) Cotton Prices Surge to Record High amid Global Shortages [online] Financial Times. Available at-www.ft.com/content/3d876e64-35c9-11e0-b67c-00144feabdc0. [Accessed 7 Oct. 2020]
- George, S. (2018). Dozens of big-name fashion brands pledge to become carbon-neutral by 2050. [online] Edie Available at: https://www.edie.net/news/7/Dozens-of-big-name-fashion-brands-pledge-to-become-carbon-neutral-by-2050/ [Accessed 2 Oct. 2020].
- InKind, (2018). The History of Sustainability. [online] InKind. Available at: https://medium.com/in-kind/the-history-of-sustainability-52b681a7dfe0. [Accessed 4 Oct. 2020]
- Iqbal, S. (2017). Clothing Rental Market by End-Users (Women, Men, and Kids) and Clothing Style (Ethnic, Western, and Others) – Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2017-2023. [Online] Allied Market Research Available at- https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/online-clothing-rental-market. [Accessed 7 Oct. 2020].
- Kenton, W. (2019). Multifiber Arrangement (MFA). [online] Investopedia. Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/multi-fiber-arrangement.asp. [Accessed 8 Oct. 2020]
- KPMG. (2019). Sustainable fashion A survey on global perspectives [PDF] KPMG Available at: https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/cn/pdf/en/2019/01/sustainable-fashion.pdf. [Accessed 1 Oct. 2020].
- McFall Johnsen, M. (2020) These facts show how unsustainable the fashion industry is. [online] Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/fashion-industry-carbon-unsustainable-environment-pollution. [Accessed 1 Oct. 2020]
- McKinsey. (2020).FASHION ON CLIMATE HOW THE FASHION INDUSTRY CAN URGENTLY ACT TO REDUCE ITS GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS [PDF] McKinsey. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Industries/Retail/Our%20Insights/Fashion%20on%20climate/Fashion-on-climate-Full-report.pdf [Accessed 3 Oct. 2020].
- NRDC. (2015). The Story of Silent Spring. [online] Available at: https://www.nrdc.org/stories/story-silent-spring. [Accessed 5 Oct. 2020]
- Per, G. (2019). The many definitions of sustainability and sustainable development. [online] Tiime.org Available at: https://www.tiime.org/single-post/2019/10/17/The-many-definitions-of-sustainability-and-sustainable-development#:~:text=In%20the%20academic%20literature%2C%20it [Accessed 6 Oct. 2020].
- Russell, M. (2020). 60 brands sign up to new Circular Fashion Pledge. [online] Just Style Available at: https://www.just-style.com/news/60-brands-sign-up-to-new-circular-fashion-pledge_id138642.aspx [Accessed 09 Oct. 2020].
- Steffen, A.D. (2018). 250 Major Brands Pledge to Cut All Plastic Waste, But Will They Keep Their Promise? [online] Intelligent Living. Available at: https://www.intelligentliving.co/250-brands-cut-plastic/ [Accessed 4 Oct. 2020].
- United Nations (2015). Sustainable Development Goals | UNDP. [online] UNDP. Available at: https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals.html. [Accessed 4 Oct. 2020].
- Weigle, L. (2012). H&M Launches Eco-Friendly Fashion Line. [online] Available at: https://www.thefashionspot.com/runway-news/173155-ham-launches-eco-friendly-fashion-line/#/slide/1 [Accessed 9 Oct. 2020].
