Definition of 'sustainable' by the London College of Fashion's Center for Sustainable Fashion.
The Manifesto of a Hummingbird: . 13 + 1 ways to make a stance for responsible business and leadership.
The fashion industry needs to change. Why? A simple T-shirt needs 2000 litres of water 150 grams of pesticide to grow the cotton. And that's only the start!
The Founder Syndrome is probably the 2nd most frequent reasons why SMEs fail. The syndrome thereby refers to a steep power hierarchy in a small business, with the founder at its top.
What means ethical in the fashion business? The lack of 1 widely accepted label is an issue. Yet: The principle problem is the lack of a consensus of what ethical business practises really are.
Fashion that has been produced by people who work reasonable hours in safe conditions and are paid a living wage.
This post is part of a series where I look at and into the true cost of certain goods and services. This time I’d like to look into the True Cost of all types Transport and Mobility: road, rail, aviation and water. The question therefore is: What are the total costs – the True Cost, i.e. including what is commonly called ‘externalities’ – of the different types of transport we use globally, both for passengers and for freight? Or if you prefer: how do different types of transport compare to each other when it comes to ‘collateral damage’?
Spoiler alert: It is really quite complex and rather diverse. And: public infrastructure investments and maintenance costs play a significant role in it.
The 5 principles of good design: Invisible, solves problems, open to communication, in sync with life cycle, and mimics nature.
Where and how was 'ethical fashion' invented? Who played key roles in the past? And where are we at and where are we going? A retrospective analysis that also looks into the future.
It is quite astonishing: all the different contexts that the term ‘circularity’ or ‘circular economy’ is being used. They key point mostly is of course the waste reduction promises inherent in the term, and the subsequent lower dependency on finite resources.
But, in addition to reducing waste, carbon – or rather carbon footprint – is a key factor.
Unfortunately, the reality is sobering: taking fashion as example, at best between 3% and 6% of the industry's carbon footprint could be remedied that way.
And even worse: in order to realise the potential, three fundamental hurdles must be addressed. Some efforts are underway, of course, but a steep hill remains to climb.
Ever heard of EMAS, the European Eco Management and Audit Schema? No? This is a brief introduction to what it is, with links to further resources.
Fairtrade certified or WFTO registered: What's the difference? And what is this now newly emerging Sustainable Fair Trade Management System (SFTMS) all about?
In this article a very brief run down of the main varieties of ‘better’ cotton that exist: Cotton made in Africa, Better Cotton Initiative, Organic and Fairtrade cotton, and 2 more generic good practise farming systems.
Sustainable fashion design := sourcing and production that do not pollute through the process of manufacture and do not deplete non-renewable resources.
When we talk about ethical fashion, we are talking about getting away from throwaway fashion; or, if we are going to throw it away, about how we recycle.
Doughnut Economics = An economic system that respects the planetary boundaries as well as the societal attributes of welfare. To create an economic system that works for the humans and the environment around us.
As a consumer, we have a basic understanding of “Ethical”. We know that buying such a product is supposed to alleviate some of our guilt, by doing a little bit of good, but what does it actually mean?
Sustainability for Fashion := "Creating desirable products that evoke an emotional connection [...]"
This post is part of a series where I look at and into the true cost of certain goods and services. When in the previous post I looked at subsidies and the True Cost (associated with the True Price) for oil and gas, this time I’d like to look into what we know about the True Cost of Energy. Not just about fossil fuels, but indeed across the breadth of the energy spectrum.
The question therefore is: What are the total costs – the True Cost, i.e. including what is commonly called ‘externalities’ – of the
different types of energy we use globally?
Spoiler alert: It's very interesting - and also a bit suprising and counter-intuitive.
In the last post I wrote about one of the most historic inter-governmental landmark decisions: At the ‘Biodiversity’ COP (COP15) 200 countries had agreed on 4 Goals and 23 Targets.
It goes without saying though that the interesting piece is the enforcement and implementation mechanisms of the mentioned agreement.
Hence, the focus of this article is: How exactly – if at all – will the goals and progress measures reached in December 2022 be enforced and tracked?
