Smarter Consumerism in Textiles November 2011 Lizette Smook

Smarter Consumerism in Textiles November 2011 Lizette Smook

AGENDA The un-sustainable Fashion Industry Consumerism & Textiles Smarter Consumerism? Where is the Consumer on this? Summary 1

AGENDA The un-sustainable Fashion Industry Consumerism & Textiles Smarter Consumerism? Where is the Consumer on this? Summary 2

BRANDS 3

1. FASHION BUYING CALENDER (pre (pre- consumer) Preselection Trends and catwalks, consultants and designers Travel Design packs Samples STORES Selection 4

2. CHANGES IN CYCLE TIMES Source Copyright Inditex Innovasians Ltd. 5

3. COMPETITIVENESS High Price Principle 8 Gap French Connection Co 9 Low Fashion BHS 3 M&S Next 1 2 Burton 11? 7 River Island 12 Oasis Warehouse 5 Zara Matalan 10 6 High Fashion New Look 4 Low Price Source: NEXT, plc 6

TEXTILE SUPPLY CHAIN CHEMICALS AND WATER FIBRES FABRIC CONVERSION NATURAL CARBON AND ENERGY SYNTHETIC OVER-STOCK TRANSPORT GARMENT CONVERSION RETAIL AND CONSUMERS PACKAGING 20% WASTAGE 7

8. TEXTILE WASTE AND BIODIVERSITY http://www.articlesbase.com/international-business business-articles/global-textile-industry industry-658787.html 8

5. LIFECYCLE ASESSMENT OF A T-SHIRT T CONSUMER) SHIRT (POST As much as 80% of the carbon footprint of clothing can be caused in its washing and care, contributing to climate change. Most washes are used to freshen rather than clean clothing. Over the last decade most retailers / brands have worked with the detergents industry to lower recommended washing temperatures from 50 to 40 degrees saving around 25% of energy used. http://www.just-style.com style.com 9

6. ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT 2007 InnovAsians. All Rights Reserved. 10

7. WATER FOOTPRINT online.wsj.com/article/sb123483638138996305.html 11

9. GLOBAL TEXTILE MARKET The global textiles market grew by 8.3% in 2008 to reach a value of $1,138.3 billion, Data monitor says In 2013, the global textiles market is forecast to have a value of $1,553.6 billion, an increase of 36.5% since 2008 www.datamonitor.com 12 16

AGENDA Textile Industry Consumerism & Textiles Smarter Consumerism? Where is the Consumer on this? Summary 13

SOME DISTURBING TRENDS The definition of what constitutes a "necessity" is changing, and the distinctions between luxuries and necessities are blurring. http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr_1998_en_overview.pdf 14

CONSUMPTION Runaway growth in consumption in the past 50 years is putting strains on the environment never before seen. The burning of fossil fuels has almost quintupled since 1950. The consumption of fresh water has almost doubled since 1960. The marine catch has increased fourfold Wood consumption, both for industry and for household fuel, is now 40% higher than it was 25 years ago http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr_1998_en_overview.pdf 15

CONSUMER DEMAND In 1997, the average woman bought 19 items of clothing a year, this has risen to 34 items 1.9m tons or 1.9 billion kg s s of textiles were disposed of in 2005 in the UK. 1.2m tons went into the rubbish bin The average American throw away 68 lbs. of textiles every year (31kgs) 100 000 yards of fabric /cutting room in China on average with 20% wastage (20,000 yards) www.just-style.com 16

IMPACT OF TEXTILE INDUSTRY Wastewater is one of the largest sources of waste The production of textile and apparel goods requires many different steps, wastewater is produced throughout the manufacturing process. In fact, each pound of goods (450 gramms or +/- 0.5Kg s) produced can be the source of approximately 15 gallons (57 litres) of waste from dyeing and rinsing processes alone. http://www.duke.edu/web/mms190/textiles/environmental.html 17

IMPACT OF TEXTILE INDUSTRY The textile and apparel industries release waste in the form of air emissions A large amount of fabric waste and other scraps are left over at the end of production. Most production methods waste anywhere from 28 to 61 percent of textile material. Packaging materials are not always able to be reused or recycled. http://www.duke.edu/web/mms190/textiles/environmental.html 18

GLOBALIZATION Globalization is integrating not just trade, investment and financial markets. It is also integrating consumer markets. This has two effects - economic and - social Economic integration has accelerated the opening of consumer markets with a constant flow of new products There is fierce competition to sell to consumers worldwide, with increasingly aggressive advertising. http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr_1998_en_overview.pdf 19

INDUSTRIALIZATION Industrialization grew in the twentieth century, providing the means of increased production of all consumer goods. Industrialization brought consumerism with it as an integral part of the economy. Economic growth came to depend on continued marketing of new products and disposal of old ones that are thrown away simply because stylistic norms promote their obsolescence. When it comes to clothing, the rate of purchase and disposal has dramatically increased, so the path that a T-T shirt travels from the sales floor to the landfill has become shorter. http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr_1998_en_overview.pdf 20

AGENDA Textile Industry Consumerism & Textiles Smarter Consumerism? Where is the Consumer on this? Summary 21

1. OLD IS NEW AGAIN A A Social History of Trash,, Susan Strasser, a professor of history at the University of Delaware, traces the "progressive obsolesence" of clothing and other CONSUMER GOODS to the 1920s. Before then, and especially during World War I, most clothing was repaired, mended, or tailored to fit other family members, or recycled within the home as rags or waste. The government's conservation campaign used slogans such as "Make economy fashionable lest it become obligatory" and resulted in an approximate 10% reduction in the production of trash. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/environmental+impact+of+the+clothing+industry.-a0170115614 22

2. RECYCLING Clothing purchases are recycled mainly in three ways: - clothing may be resold by the primary consumer to other consumers at a lower price, - it may be exported in bulk for sale in developing countries, or - it may be chemically or mechanically recycled into raw material for the manufacture of other apparel and non- apparel products. http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr_1998_en_overview.pdf 23

RECYCLING A 2006 survey conducted by America's Research Group, a consumer trends research firm, found that about 12-15% of Americans shop at consignment or resale stores. The Council for textile recycling estimates that 2.5 billion pounds (1.13 billion kg s s or 1.13 million tons) of post consumer textile waste (which includes anything made of fabric) is thus collected and prevented from entering directly into the waste stream. This represents 10 pounds (4.5 kg s) for every person in the United States, but it is still only about 15% of the clothing that is discarded. Only about one-fifth of the clothing donated to charities is directly used or sold in their thrift shops. "There are nowhere near enough people in America to absorb the mountains of castoffs, even if they were given away." http://www.thefreelibrary.com/environmental+impact+of+the+clothing+industry.-a0170115614 24

IMPACT OF RECYCLING Observers predict that the trend toward increasing exports of used clothing to developing countries will continue to accelerate because of the rise of consumerism in the United States and Europe and the falling prices of new clothing. There are detractors to this view: The Institute for Manufucturing at Cambridge University issued a report titled Well Dressed? The Present and Future Sustainability of Clothing and Textiles in the United Kingdom, in which it raised concerns that trade in secondhand clothes in African countries inhibits development of local industries even as it creates employment in these countries. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/environmental+impact+of+the+clothing+industry.-a0170115614 25 25

3. FASHION FORWARD The International Standards Organization (ISO) has defined eco-fashions as "identifying the general environmental performance of a product within a product group based on its whole life-cycle in order to contribute to improvements in key environmental measures and to support sustainable consumption patterns." The ISO is developing standards for a labeling system to identify garments that meet criteria as environmentally friendly. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/environmental+impact+of+the+clothing+industry.-a0170115614 26 26

REACH In the EU, the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) regulations enacted 1 June 2007 require clothing manufacturers and importers to identify and quantify the chemicals used in their products These regulations may even require manufacturers to inform consumers about potentially hazardous chemicals that may be present in their products and can leach out, such as often happens with dyes (details of how the regulations will be implemented are still being worked out) Actual end products are governed by stipulations of the European Equipment and Product Safety Act, which regulates the use of heavy metals, carinogenic dyes, and other toxics used in textile manufacture. Additional consumer protection is offered by the European Union's Oko-Tex Standard 100, a testing and certification program established in 1992. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/environmental+impact+of+the+clothing+industry.-a0170115614 27

CERTIFICATIONS ISO 140001 Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) Restricted Substance Lists (RSL) 28

4. CONSUMER EDUCATION According to Well Dressed?, about 80% of the energy used in the life cycle of a cotton T-shirt T is related to post purchase washing and drying at high temperatures; As for whether it is better to buy locally produced garments Using detergents that work well at lower temperatures, extending the usable life of garments, purchasing fewer and more durable garments, and recycling these garments into the used clothing market or into other garment and non garment products all would contribute to increasing sustainability Consumer awareness about the fate of clothing through its life cycle may be the best hope for sustainability in the fashion industry http://www.thefreelibrary.com/environmental+impact+of+the+clothing+industry.-a0170115614 29

5. ECO-TEXTILES (SMARTER CONSUMERISM) Hemp, Bamboo, etc Have a limited environmental footprint (renewable source, no pesticides) and reduces the impact on climate change (lower release of GHG emissions). Better traceability (where does it come from?) biodiversity enabled Reduce the impact of non-renewable petroleum based synthetic materials (polyamide, acrylic, etc.) which creates pollution. 30

6. REPURPOSED TEXTILES Since 1993 the recycling process of clear plastic bottles made of polyethylene teraphtalate (PET), melted them, and reconfigured into fibers that can be woven into fabrics from Patagonia - They estimate that between 1993 and 2006 it saved 86 million soda bottles from ending up in the landfill. Patagonia also recycles its cotton T-shirts T through Italian company Calamai Functional Fabrics. According to Trailspace.com, an outdoor gear information site, recycling cotton saves 20,000 liters of water per kilogram of cotton, a water-intensive crop. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/environmental+impact+of+the+clothing+industry.-a0170115614 31 31

7. RENEWABLE TEXTILES Ingeo is a polymer created from plant-based material and trademarked by Cargill. Ingeo, is made of corn by- products that are fermented and transformed into polylactide. This polymer is spun into fibers and woven into fabrics that, under strictly managed circumstances, could be composted - PLA is also fashioned into packaging http://www.thefreelibrary.com/environmental+impact+of+the+clothing+industry.-a0170115614 32

ALTERNATIVES Organic cotton Hemp Green Wool Seacell ALTERNATE TEXTILES 33

ALTERNATIVES Soy silk Bamboo Corn fiber Recycled PET (water bottels) ALTERNATE TEXTILES 34

ALTERNATIVES Pina Salmon leather/sea leather Sasawashi ALTERNATE TEXTILES 35

8. LEAPFROG Developing countries today face a strategic choice: - They can repeat the industrialization and growth processes of the past half century, and go through a development phase that is inequitable, and creates an enormous legacy of environmental pollution Or - they can leapfrog to growth patterns that are: Pro-environment, preserving natural resources and creating less pollution and waste Pro-poor, creating jobs for poor people and households and expanding their access to basic social services http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr_1998_en_overview.pdf 36

AGENDA Textile Industry Consumerism & Textiles Smarter Consumerism? Where is the Consumer on this? Summary 37

SMARTER CONSUMERISM www.deloitte.com 38

ASIAN CONSUMER Asia = power house for production for goods for world wide consumption Increase awareness, know-how, implementation of environmental principles Breaking the link between Economic growth and environmental degradation www.ubs.com 39

CONSUMERS AND BRANDS The products they purchase (79%) The products services recommend (77%) Where they shop (74%) Where they choose to work (73%) Where they invest their money (72%) 2007 Roper Green Gauge 40

FACTS 97% of respondents were pleased with the performance of recycled content products. (smarter consumerism) Buy Recycled Business Alliance 41

GREENDEX 2010: CONSUMER CHOICE AND THE ENVIRONMENT This quantitative consumer study of 17,000 consumers in a total of 17 countries. The Greendex measures the impact of the average consumer in each country surveyed; it does not measure the environmental impact of a total l country. In the third annual survey to measure and monitor consumer behavior that have an impact on the environment, the National Geographic Society and international polling GlobeScan found that environmentally friendly behavior among consumers in 10 out of 17 countries increased over the past year Since 2008, a three-year trend shows an increase in the number of consumers in many countries engaging in energy-saving activities. www.greendex.org 42

OBSTICLES IN SMARTER CONSUMERISM When asked the most discouraging factors from doing more for the environment than present: the largest proportion across the 17 countries reported false claims about the environmental impacts of the products, and further individual efforts are not worth it if governments and industries do not also take action. It appears that consumers are sending a message that they want less talk and more action from business and government, or at least action before talk.. http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/greendex 43

29% (Twenty-nine nine percent) of survey respondents said the greatest barrier to smarter consumerism is a lack of knowledge, compared to 10% (ten percent) in 2009. www.environmentalleader.com 44

PRICE GRABBER SURVEY www.pricegrabber.com 45

AGENDA Textile Industry Consumerism & Textiles Smarter Consumerism? Where is the Consumer on this? Summary 46

Governments : should adopt Green Procurement Policies for encouraging manufacture and consumption. Legislation and directives Business : increase communication Business councils and award schemes are two common ways to drive dialogue and information sharing Consumers organizations : help to educate consumers about the benefits of eco-products, protect consumers from green-washing and help lobby for cleaner and safer products, water and air Organizations and institutions: create and adopt eco- labeling schemes to help educate consumers. www.unido.org DRIVERS OF SMARTER CONSUMERISM 47

lizette@innovasians.com www.innovasians.com 48