 | Opening the event, Joan Ruddock, Minister for Climate Change, Biodiversity and Waste, said: “Increasingly, consumers really care about the environment and the social impacts associated with clothing. And clothes, almost more than any other product, fill magazines and get column inches. Not only are consumers really getting their teeth into this, but fashion journalists are increasingly keeping pace with the green game.” |
In 2006, Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) estimates that UK clothing and textiles produced up to two million tonnes of waste, 3.1 million tonnes of CO2 and 70 million tonnes of waste water. Clothing imports into the EU as a whole now account for 42% of the global market. In the UK only 10% of our clothing is manufactured at home, the rest is imported. Speaking via video link, designer Katharine Hamnett said: “Sustainable clothing doesn’t have to be more expensive. It can be more affordable and it should be more affordable.” The aim of this preliminary event was to develop a sustainable clothing roadmap which examines all stages of clothing’s life cycle (from raw materials to end of life), charts the environmental and social impacts arising at each stage, and proposes ways of limiting those impacts where most effective. “There are plenty of examples of people in the industry already seeing sustainability as an opportunity, not a threat. There are people taking an active role in ethical sourcing, designing and producing clothing throughout the supply chain. “That’s why Defra is aiming to work collaboratively with the clothing and fashion industry to improve the sustainability of clothing,” said Ms Ruddock |
