Principles of Sustainability in Action: Sustainable Fashion

As climate change and human rights awareness increase around the world, consumers are pushing companies to embrace sustainability, especially when it comes to fashion.

Sustainability, though, is often hard to define, and can mean different things to different people. Being environmentally conscious or providing livable wages are some aspects, but not the whole picture.

This creates a confusing situation for consumers trying to do the right thing, but overwhelmed by information. Luckily, the International Sustainability Council (ISC) lays exactly what sustainability looks like through seven basic principles.

If you’re a consumer investigating companies to find the most sustainable one out there, here are the specific things you should look for, according to the principles laid out by the ISC.

The 7 Principles of Sustainability

Principle One: Global Interdependence and Participation

As mentioned before, sustainability isn’t about one singular issue or place. It is a global issue, which affects us all. It’s not merely about the environment or human rights, but also about community and intergovernmental cooperation.

Because of this, it’s important to have access to information and education about companies and governments, which impact the world in any way.

This starts with you — the individual.

When you’re shopping for clothes, research the company before you buy from them. Information about where and how they make the clothes is a crucial part of sustainability. If you can’t easily find that information online, chances are it isn’t a sustainable business.

Principle Two: Intergenerational Equity

The world isn’t ours to destroy. There will be future generations depending on it to live. As a principle of sustainability, this means ensuring that the ecosystems around the world are well managed, so they can be used in the future. We can do that by protecting local ground water supplies, discouraging the transfer of harmful activities, and reducing unsustainable patterns of consumption.

The fashion industry is not great at abiding by this principle. Fast fashion, in particular, is known for depleting natural resources, contaminating ground water, and sending millions of tons of clothing to landfills each year. If you’ve already done your research, you should have found companies, which believe in this principle.

Support the companies that don’t contaminate ground water, and those that create clothes, which are made to last. The more we can reduce our own consumption of fast fashion, the better we will be.  

Principle Three: Support and Improve the Rules of Governance

The government, whether we like it or not, plays a huge role in our lives and our environment. The third principle of sustainability states that we must stay informed about how the government performs environmental actions, and we must hold them accountable.

While this may not seem applicable to fashion, it is. Fashion companies operate under laws and regulations set by governments. By putting pressure on our governments to enact protective and proactive environmental laws, companies are forced to operate under stricter standards.

It’s great to support companies, which are already sustainable, but encouraging the government to intervene can have a much larger impact on unsustainable fashion.

Principle Four: Community Building

One often overlooked aspect of sustainability is the communities behind it. Sustainability seeks to create a society that flourishes without harming the community resources. This means putting environmental stewardship in the hands of the community instead of a corporation to encourage responsible resource use. This also means providing education, jobs, and technology to improve the community as a whole.

When researching and shopping, ask yourself if the company gives back to the community in any way. Does it involve itself in efforts to provide education, childcare, or clean water? Does it actively participate in community events at any level? These things matter when building a sustainable future.

Principle Five: Enhance the Quality of Human Life

Within the aspect of community building is the importance of putting people first. People have the right to live full and happy lives, which differ from culture to culture, but some basic qualities are the same across the board.

Quality of life will increase as we eradicate poverty, ensure necessities are easily accessible, and promote and improve health conditions.  

Like community building, look for companies, which promote education for their works, pay livable wages, and ensure safe and healthy working conditions. Our desire for fast fashion often comes at a steep price, as demonstrated by the Rana Plaza collapse. We need to support companies that give back to the communities and people, not destroy them.

Principle Six: Enhance Economic Vitality

As our world pushes forward, economic vitality is a huge component of sustainability. Societies around the world need sustainable growth to thrive. This means ensuring that companies operating within a community contribute to the wellbeing of the economy, and that long-term development is the most important aspect.

Most fast fashion companies take resources and labor from an area, but usually give little (if any) of the profits back to the community. Instead, it travels from poor areas of the world to enrich the owners.

We need to support companies that encourage long-term economic growth across the world, and not just their bank accounts.

Principle Seven: Enhance the Quality of the Environment

Lastly, a key principle of sustainability is the environment. The environment is a broad category that can include many of the things already mentioned. It also goes beyond those things, too.

Protecting the local environment is important, but it is also important to understand how our actions impact the whole world.

Conclusion

Fashion is full of microplastics, synthetic fibers, and chemical dyes, which can get into the air, oceans, and even affect wildlife.

This means looking not only at how a company operates, but what they use to make their clothes. Buying clothes made from natural fibers and dyes, or recycled plastics is ultimately more sustainable than any other material.

The idea of sustainability is often vague and confusing. Companies throw the word around without having a clear definition. As consumers, we need to do our research to understand exactly what they mean.

When shopping for new clothes, consider these seven principles of sustainability. A company might not follow all seven, but the more they follow, the better it is for everyone involved.

As the world emerges post-pandemic, fashion needs to be an innovative leader in the way we approach economical, environmental, and human issues around the world. That means rethinking our consumption of clothes, choosing brands that practice and adhere to the sustainability principles, and embracing slow fashion.