Blog Post 6 by: Kristin Gillman- The production of apparel is making a detrimental impact on the environment.

Kristin Gillman

Sustainability and the Future of Fashion

Blog Post 6

The production of apparel is making a detrimental impact on the environment. One of the many issues is the release of greenhouse gases. The many steps of the production process harmfully effect the environment. In an article, written by Alden Wicker, stated, “Fashion’s true environmental scope is astounding. It touches agriculture (cotton, flax, hemp), animal agriculture (leather, fur, wool, cashmere), petroleum (polyester and other synthetics), forestry (rayon), mining (metal and stones), construction (retail stores), shipping, and, of course, manufacturing. And this complex and multilayered supply chain provides both a challenge and an opportunity for climate advocates” (We Have No Idea How Bad Fashion Actually is for the Environment, 2017). The steps that is required for production releases greenhouse gases that is negatively impacting the environment. The effect of greenhouse gases is one of the causes for temperature rises. When thinking about the many areas of the process that releases emission, no solid data has actually been recorded by these retail brands. Just in 2016, Volkswagen was caught forging numbers for emissions their cars released (We Have No Idea How Bad Fashion Actually is for the Environment, 2017). Companies are hiding this information because the results are catastrophic to the environment and the air.

One of the issues for emissions is shipping. Shipping products back and forth from countries is polluting the air. Fashion companies are having their garments made in other countries, that requires an extensive amount of traveling. The garments are shipping to other countries for production and shipped back to the warehouses, where then the clothing is distributed to retail stores. In each step, there are releases of greenhouse gases polluting the air. Taking one of the new technologies, drones could possibly take over shipping garments back and forth. This would help decrease the emissions that is being released into the air. These drones would be required to be a big size, enough to fit a large amount of clothing. With new innovative technology, problems to our environment could be solved.

References

Wicker, A. (2017, March 15). We Have No Idea How Bad Fashion Actually Is for the Environment. Retrieved October 29, 2017, from https://www.racked.com/2017/3/15/14842476/fashion-climate-change-environment-pollution

Sustainability Megatrends: Technological Innovations for the Earth by: Celine Herweijer (Mar.22, 2017):     edie.net: https://www.edie.net/library/Sustainability-megatrends-technology-and-innovation-business-developments/6756

(n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2017, from https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/inventoryexplorer/

Andrews, R. (2016, August 15). Drone Capable Of Carrying A Human At 100KM Per Hour Unveiled. Retrieved October 29, 2017, from http://www.iflscience.com/technology/self-flying-human-carrying-chinese-drone-unveiled-0/