If I were the Director of Sustainability at Sportsgirl by Michelle Williams

If I were the Director of Sustainability at Sportsgirl I would transform the brand into Australia’s leading sustainable fashion brand. Through a circular approach, climate action plan and education this could be achieved.

One of the most pressing, yet easily addressed issues is climate change. My first change would be to conduct and implement a climate action plan. By identifying which areas Sportsgirl are contributing most to global warming, we could begin to immediately reduce emissions. This plan would then be published, ensuring accountability is a priority across the board.

Across retail stores and head offices, water audits and upgrades would be conducted to help reduce water usage. In addition, grey water from toilets, sinks and air conditioning would be reused for toilets. Solar power would be implemented at the state offices and all free-standing stores and any new store would be designed in such a way to be self-sufficient in terms of both energy and water, through solar power and rain water harvesting.

On a bi-annual basis store leaders and any store associate interested would be involved in corporate planting events to help offset emissions. Investments would also be made into renewable energies such as wind farms.

The next point of action would be to change the mentality of the employees, by educating them on the impacts on the environment caused by the fashion industry, through seminars and training sessions. Ensuring adequate training was provided to the employees, would help them make more thoughtful decisions not only in the Sportsgirl supply chain, but in their personal lives. This could then be complemented by a ban on single use plastics in state offices to help reduce ocean plastic pollution

I would also endeavor to work collaboratively with the product development and design teams to begin to integrate circularity into every Sportsgirl product, encouraging them to use less damaging synthetics, more rapidly renewable materials and utilize pre-consumer waste. Not only would this help to reduce waste, but also reduce emissions and the depletion of non-renewable resources.

Finally, educating consumers on the impact of consumer care of garments on the environment would become another priority. These initiatives would be smaller, and less costly but could still have a significant impact on climate change. For example, informative labels that encourage consumers to wash less and line dry.

It is scary that Sportsgirl currently have no environmental practices in place, however this just means it is a blank slate to be changed! There is a lot of work to be done, but companies like Levis are proving that huge change can occur in a short period of time, if you are just dedicated enough to try. The future of fashion is sustainable, and the future of Sportsgirl should be too.

Ref: Robertson, M. (2017). Sustainability Principles and Practice. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge.