It can be difficult to navigate the world of sustainable and ethical fashion. How do we as consumers identify what’s fast fashion and what’s not, and how do we make ethical choices? 

Don’t know where to start? Let’s begin with unpacking the terms “ethical” and “sustainable”.

Although the terms “sustainable” and “ethical” are often used interchangeably, they have different meanings. 

“Sustainability” applies to the existence of an item, starting with how it’s made, all the way to what happens at the end of its life. “Ethics”, on the other hand, relates to an individual or a brand’s values and choices. 

Sustainable clothing is made from textile material that is sourced from either natural elements, such as bamboo, or from recycled materials. The idea behind sustainable fashion is that the manufacturing process, the product’s lifetime and what happens at the end of a product’s life has a minimal impact on the environment. 

Companies who create sustainable clothing take steps such as removing harmful chemicals during farming and production, focus on water conservation or make fabrics in a way that reduces waste to ensure they are doing as little harm to the environment as possible. 

Sustainable companies often take into account both environmental and socio-economic impacts. In practice, this would imply continuous efforts to improve all stages of a product’s life.

Fast fashion can be defined as low-quality, inexpensive clothing that exemplifies seasonal trends seen in couture or high fashion. Fast fashion typically uses inexpensive, synthetic materials and sweatshop labour to mass-produce new items with very little time between the manufacturing process and when a product is available for purchase.

Data suggests that fast fashion is one of the worst polluting industries in the world. For example, a single pair of jeans takes approximately 20,000 litres of water to produce throughout the creation process, from growing the cotton to dyeing the fabric. To put that into perspective, it would take the average person 13 years to drink the same amount of water.

When you as a consumer make the decision to purchase clothing or accessories made from sustainable materials or processes, you are actively reducing your carbon footprint. 

Here are a few ways to shop sustainably:

Choose Sustainable Textiles and Materials

Let’s look at clothing materials for a moment. Bamboo, a material of choice for the Pudus Everyday Sock Collection, does not rely on chemicals or fertilizers to grow. It requires very little water to grow and naturally regenerates without planting. Bamboo also produces 30% more oxygen than hardwood forests.

Choosing materials that do not negatively impact the environment is the first step to making a sustainable choice when it comes to clothing. Now, nothing is 100% sustainable because it is necessary to use resources. However, there is a stark contrast between sustainable materials and those used in fast fashion.