Sustainable Or Green Washing?

Fashion's favourite buzzword proves that all that glitters is not green.

- Joan Kong

Eco-friendly. Eco-conscious. Ethical. Green. Organic. Whether it’s on clothing labels, special capsule collections or the brands’ mission statements, it’s impossible to shop without coming across any of these terms nowadays. Fashion trends may come and go, but the sustainability movement is here to stay, propelled by the climate crisis and, particularly, fashion’s destructive impact.

For the uninitiated, the fashion industry is widely believed to be the second largest polluter in the world. It’s to blame for 20 per cent of all water pollution; 10 per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions; 92 million tonnes of textile waste — you get the gist. At a time when consumers are all becoming more conscious about the environment and their actions, especially amongst the Millennials and Gen-Zers (for context: the “sustainable fashion brands” as well as “sustainable fashion” hashtags have raked in over 66 million and 3.9 billion views respectively on TikTok), it’s apparent that the demand for ecoconscious fashion is there.

To understand the term, we must first go back to the basics. According to Cambridge Dictionary, sustainability, when it’s related to the environment, is defined as “the quality of causing little or no damage to the environment and therefore able to continue for a long time”. And sustainable fashion, on the other hand, refers to clothing that is designed, manufactured, distributed and used in ways that are mindful of the environment. To qualify as eco-friendly, some of the key requirements include using resources such as water and textiles efficiently, avoiding hazardous chemicals throughout the process, sourcing environmentally friendly materials and producing in an ethical manner.