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Reuse and repair in the era of fast fashion

In order to cut fashion waste, the French government will pay a repair bonus to help people with their damaged clothes and shoes. An amount from 6€ to 25€ will cover the repairing cost of garments in workshops or cobblers who will be part of the scheme.

Indeed, an alarming amount of clothes end up in landfills. Since fashion brands keep putting out new garments in huge quantities, governments must find solutions.

The point on fashion waste

The news sounds really great! But let’s consider a few things:

Would anyone throw away clothes of value? Of course, not. Or, at least, it is extremely rare. The garments ending up in the garbage bin aren’t pieces made to last but clothing intentionally made for that purpose. Buy, wear and toss. That is mass production: low prices, poor quality and slaves for manufacturing (individuals no one cares about because if they did, they would stop buying certain products).

In fact, over the last twenty years, purchasing fast-fashion clothing and shoes has become popular. Rich and poor people enjoy it. For the rich is a whim, and for the low-income a necessity. But both love purchasing products that last like a bag of chips.

Product longevity is one of the principles that attests to sustainability. What demonstrates product longevity?
Good design
Quality materials
Skilled craftsmanship

What if the repair cost is higher than the average price tag?

Now, it makes sense to put a patch on the bleeding, but common sense should guide human choices. Therefore, can we cut fashion waste without stopping fast fashion? It doesn’t seem likely. In fact, curing the illness without eliminating the cause isn’t a good strategy.

Here comes the second point, if the French government wants to fight fashion waste, why did they allow the Shein runway in Paris? It may sound like a joke, but in the case of ultra-fast fashion, the repair costs would be higher than the price tag! Does it make any sense?

On how to cut fashion waste, there’s no easy solution. But for sure, we need a more radical approach.

EU Commission: a plan against greenwashing

27 March, 2023

Can non-mandatory rules fight greenwashing?

On March 22nd, the EU Commission released a plan against greenwashing claims. But these new rules leave some leeway that will probably generate more confusion.

Environmental claims aren’t reliable!

Over the last five years, we started digging deep into sustainable matters. And how tricky it is for people to understand which label is sustainable or not. That is because of greenwashing: the process of brands and companies deceiving consumers to believe they are green when they are not. Obviously, brands release fake green claims to sell more. Indeed, the sustainability business is flourishing! And perhaps, those who believe in fairy tales are happy with it!

The plan to fight greenwashing

These are the data:
53% of green claims are vague, misleading or unfounded information.
40% of claims have no supporting evidence.
1/2 Half of all green labels offer weak or non-existent verification.
There are 230 sustainability labels and 100 green energy labels in the EU, with vastly different levels of transparency.

Hence, the new criteria want to make green claims reliable across the EU, protecting consumers from greenwashing. Also, contribute to creating a circular economy based on reuse, repair, and recycling.

Expected impacts

“With certain consumers purchasing products that will be truly better for the environment, it is estimated that the impacts on the environment will be highly positive.”

Now the above statement may sound like greenwashing, too! In fact, the only “better for the environment” is a drastic reduction of new products and not more eco-products!

The controversial point

“However, it remains a decision of companies to include (or not) environmental claims in their voluntary commercial communications. This means that the companies can control their costs by determining the scope of the claim (if any) considering its expected return on investment. In short, the costs of substantiation are of a voluntary nature to companies as they are part of one’s marketing strategy and therefore credible estimations of the overall cost for the Union market are difficult.”

Therefore, rules aren’t mandatory for companies. Indeed, businesses have been given leeway on how to provide their evidence. Likewise, governments will be able to decline the guidelines when they transpose them into national legislation.

In conclusion, without unified regulations, the EU plan to fight greenwashing won’t stop greenwashing!

EU Commission: a plan against greenwashing Read More »

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How to cut fashion waste