Sustainable Fashion: Five Benefits and Five Practices

Earth Day is coming up and as a brand, we're always thinking of ways that we can do our part to save the planet. 

We make high-quality products that will last our customers for years. It is unlikely that you would need to throw away and frequently replace CONQUERing products. We also donate proceeds to various disaster relief and conservation groups to help with their efforts to save the planet (learn more about those organizations here) and work with a manufacturer that is committed to environmental protection.

As a fashion brand, we understand the impact that the industry has on the environment and want to do our part to educate consumers on how their fashion choices might be affecting the planet. 

In this post, we'll share information on what sustainable fashion is, why it's important, and will share five benefits and five practices of shopping sustainably. 

What Does Sustainable Fashion Mean? 

Sustainable fashion can be broken down into two components: 

1. Fashion that's ethically made
2. Fashion that's environmentally friendly

The fashion industry is one of the largest contributors of pollution. When you think about the entire lifecycle of a product, from manufacturing to you deciding you no longer wear it, each step can contribute to pollution. 

Sustainable fashion encourages you to take a look at the environmental impact of buying new products and disposing of old products. It also sheds light on the working conditions for the people that are manufacturing the products. 

Why is it Important to be Sustainable? 

It's important to be sustainable with your fashion choices because those choices affect the planet. Making clothes, jewelry, shoes, and other fashion merchandise requires renewable resources. When you shop sustainably, you're likely shopping from brands that don't use as many renewable resources as other brands. 

The manufacturing and shipping processes of the fashion industry also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases are what contribute to climate change and cause climate catastrophes. Sustainable fashion brands consider their greenhouse gas emissions when making products and create their business models with the intent to emit as few greenhouse gases as possible. 

Sustainable fashion brands also save costs. Using renewable energy can cut down on costs for the business and creating products that last long can save consumers money by reducing the need to frequently purchase new. 

Finally, shopping sustainably can enhance quality of life. On the one hand, sustainable fashion brands think about the working conditions of their employees, ensuring that they are meeting the needs of their workers. On the other hand, by using non-toxic materials, they are improving the quality of life for the person wearing the product and for the rest of the world by not releasing harmful chemicals into the air. 

Shopping sustainably has so many benefits and can be how you do your part to combat climate change. 

What are the Benefits of Fashion Sustainability? 

Now that you know what fashion sustainability is, and why it's important, let's talk about the benefits of sustainable fashion. 

While there are many more than what we've shared below, we chose five core benefits you will see when you start shopping sustainably: 

1. Cost saving. Sustainable fashion will save you money. At the start, it might not seem that way since a lot of sustainable brands charge higher prices. This is because they're using high-quality materials that last for years. When your products are durable, you won't need to purchase new very often. Even if you decide you no longer want to wear that product, you can donate it or sell it instead of throwing it away. 
2. Durability. Going along with cost-saving, owning durable products won't mean you're frequently throwing away tattered or broken products. Throwing away clothes, shoes, and other fashion merchandise contributes to landfill waste which affects the environment. Eco-friendly materials also tend to be softer than non eco-friendly materials. 
3. Carbon footprint reduction. Sustainable fashion can reduce your carbon footprint. Sustainable brands require fewer resources to make their products. If you also decide to shop locally, you use fewer carbon emissions for shipping opposed to if you bought something from overseas. 
4. Support safe working conditions. This is where the ethically made piece of sustainable fashion comes in. Many brands that are sustainably made have poor working conditions for the people making the products. Sustainable brands comply with labor laws, pay livable wages, and care about the overall wellbeing of their manufacturers. They also don't use animals for testing in their products. 
5. Better for health. Many unsustainable brands use plastics, harmful dyes, and toxins in the materials they use to make their products. This can cause you health problems and can negatively impact the environment. 

Now that you know some of the benefits of sustainable fashion, let's talk about different practices you can implement to start shopping sustainably. 

What are Examples of Sustainable Fashion Practices? 

The practices of shopping sustainably go hand-in-hand with the benefits. The examples we pulled together are just a few ways that you can change the way you shop. We always encourage you to conduct your own research and explore additional methods that work for you! 

Here are five examples of sustainable fashion practices that you can incorporate into your life: 

1. Ethical fashion. Look into the current brands that you purchase from. What are the working conditions at the factories that manufacture the products? Do they test on animals? Does manufacturing require a lot of resources? If those brands don't comply with ethical practices, find new brands that do manufacture their products ethically. 
2. Eco-friendly fashion. While you're looking into the brands you buy from to see how they make their products, look at what materials they're using as well. If you aren't sure what a material is, conduct some research to see if it's eco-friendly or if it might be causing harm to you and the environment. If you aren't satisfied with what you find, look into new brands that use eco-friendly materials. 
3. Circular fashion. When it comes to buying new products, don't just run to the nearest retail store. Think of how you can reduce your environmental impact. Find a brand that creates their products from recycled materials. Think of how you could upcycle old products into something new. Go to your local thrift store and find new products there. You could even host a clothing swap with some friends as a way to clean out your closets and come home with new items. 
4. Slow fashion. When you're shopping, be conscious of the full life cycle of a product. When you're cleaning out your closet, think of alternative options to throwing your old stuff away. Find a place to donate, go to a thrift store and sell it, or offer to give it to one of your friends. When it's time to buy new products, focus on what's going to last you a long time or consider renting if it's for an occasion that you'll only wear the product once. 
5. Conscious fashion. Finally, spread the word about sustainable fashion. Encourage your friends to think about their environmental impact when it comes to their shopping habits. Offer to help your friends find new brands that you think they'll love. Share your favorite ways to shop sustainably. 

There are many other ways that you can practice shopping sustainably. At the end of the day, it all boils down to choices—it's a good habit to think about how your choices affect yourself and the world around you. 

Begin your Journey into Sustainable Fashion

This Earth Day, take a look at your shopping habits and take what you learned in this post to examine if they are sustainable. If you're already doing these practices, great! Take this as your sign to continue shopping sustainably and spreading the word about sustainable fashion.