how to avoid greenwashing

Your mind can be overflowing with questions when you first enter the world of ethics and sustainability; in fact, it will probably stay that way for the foreseeable future and for a good reason. Having issues close to your heart and being sparked by curiosity is what helps move us forward, so, to help aid this – I’m answering some of your questions in an easy Q&A format…

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WHAT I WORE: Denim Jacket (G-STAR RAW)* // White Rollneck Sweater (Charity shop) // Pink Tartan Kilt (Charity shop) // White Sneakers (YATAY)*

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How do you spot greenwashing?

If you’re unsure what the term ‘greenwashing’ means, it’s essentially when sustainable or environmental concerns get glossed over by small (or even false) attempts at being sustainably conscious, intentionally or not.

If you take a look through my archives, I’ve answered this question previously and explained in more detail about what greenwashing really is. Some of my tips included looking at whether a brand is shouting about ethics or not; looking at what information is easily accessible and finding out what progress a brand is making.

For example, if a fashion brand launches a new ‘sustainable collection’, try and find out exactly what sustainable means and whether sustainable principles go into every detail. If that ‘sustainable collection’ is based on using recycled materials, that’s a great step in the right direction, however – if the garment workers who manufacture that collection are still being underpaid, you do have to ask where the brand’s priorities really lay.

I personally always pay attention to what the brand is shouting about or what its overall brand ethos is; trust your gut and work from there. Obviously, it is important to appreciate minor steps a brand makes in becoming more sustainable but in a time where we have an 11-year countdown clock until irreversible effects of climate change could occur, I think we need much bigger commitments and fast.

Do you have any advice on encouraging other people to buy less fast-fashion without seeming rude or demanding?

I’m sure many people can relate to this frustration. Trust me, I’ve been there having conversations over the dinner table which have ended up heated and alive with passion. It’s not fun to have the principles close to your heart, seemingly attacked, or to have people become defensive and offended because they think you’re implying that they, a single individual, are the reason behind bad working conditions in clothing factories and the toxic dyes and chemicals being poured into rivers.

I believe consistency and subtlety are key. Be consistent by making it obvious it’s something you care about but be subtle in how you approach it – it could be by explaining why you would rather pop into a charity shop than a high-street store when out shopping with a friend, or it could be suggesting a really great documentary you watched (like The True Cost), when somebody asks you what they should watch on Netflix.

You could also gift educational books if you want people to understand why you care about a certain issue so much. Not only will this provide them with the tools to shift their mindset themselves but it will also enable them to learn more about you. 

This can apply to a lot of sensitive topics, not just the topic of conscious consumption and buying less fast-fashion.

Top tips for buying ethical clothing on a budget?

This is always a common question, understandably. I have three different answers. Firstly – shop second-hand if you’re able to. I understand that second-hand shops aren’t always accessible to everyone and that depending on where you look, thrifting isn’t always size-inclusive. However, it’s always the most affordable and sustainable option.

You don’t even really have to think about ethics because you’re not buying new (you might just want to understand where your money goes if it’s a charity shop or part of a chain of thrift-stores).

Secondly – shop the sales of ethically-focused brands. They do have them and it’s a great way to support brands who align with your values when your budget is limited.

Lastly – shift your mindset! This is the ‘alternative’ answer because it takes time to fully grasp a hold of. The more you learn, the more you’ll end up caring and for me, that looked like drastically cutting down on what I was buying, leaving me more room to save up and spend on investment purchases.

What sort of things should I be investigating when trying to find out how ethical a fashion brand is?

My greenwashing piece is also a great one to read for this, as it breaks down the Fashion Revolution Transparency Index and the different types of commitments major brands are starting to make. It might also be helpful to make sure you know the difference between ‘ethical’ and ‘sustainable’ because those lines can become blurred, making it harder to work out what brands are the right fit for you.

Luckily for you, I have a whole post dedicated to the definitions of ‘ethical fashion’ and ‘sustainable fashion’.

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How do you stay motivated? I often feel very discouraged and like it’s not worth it.

I’d heard this dozens of times in the past and it always made a little defensive because I had reasons as to why I wasn’t but… getting out there really helps. I’ve only just started taking my activism work out into the real world (i.e off of the internet) but experiencing it in more tangible ways, has already made a huge impact in how I view the work that I’m doing and what I’m doing it for.

It has also made me feel less alone because seeing faces on a screen is so different from having flowing conversations and debates, face-to-face. One of my favourite experiences so far was attending one of the Youth Climate Strikes in London; there were 20,000 other young people marching alongside me and for once, having hope didn’t feel quite so naive.

If you’re under 25, I suggest following Extinction Rebellion’s Youth group to see how you can get involved with their protests and campaigns.

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Have any more questions? Leave them as a comment and I’ll see how I can help!

(All items marked with an asterisk* were gifted to me within the past year)

 

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Fashion Revolution Week was created after the Rana Plaza factory disaster in 2013. The factory home to many big name fast-fashion brands collapsed, killing over 1,100 people and injuring thousands more. In order to create change within the fashion industry, transparency is needed across the board as well as commitment to ethics and sustainability. Fashion Revolution asks you to get involved by sharing a photo/selfie of your favourite clothes asking the brand, #WhoMadeMyClothes?

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Fantastically, Fashion Revolution and a new surge of conscious consumerism have brought to the attention of many brands that their customers want more answers about where their clothing comes from. We’ve seen them respond positively and it has inspired us all to keep going on our mission for greater transparency, however, with this comes the idea of ‘greenwashing’ and being all talk and no action.

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~ READ THE FASHION REVOLUTION FANZINE ~

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The Greenwashing Index defines greenwashing as “when a company or organisation spends more time and money claiming to be “green” through advertising and marketing than actually implementing business practices that minimise environmental impact“. With the rise of consumers demanding to know more about how a brand is run and how it’s supply chain is managed, more and more brands and designers have started to step forward to show in whatever way they can, that they are part of the positive change and movement.

I will start off by saying that it’s important to recognise that something is being done, no matter how small that is. We have to start from somewhere even as individuals so I’m glad that the industry is becoming more aware. My concern is that for less informed consumers, small steps will end up looking a lot larger than they are on the surface and those who are doing an outstanding job across the board, will be left at the wayside due to the fact that they are lesser known.

One of the major examples that some of you may already be aware of, is H&M. H&M have two “sustainable” lines under their belt; H&M Conscious and Conscious Exclusive. The aim of the Exclusive collection is to showcase more sustainable production techniques whether that means using organic cotton or recycled materials. It’s a capsule collection, far smaller than the rest of their range which is more heavily marketed on their website and far easier to find in store. The main Conscious collection seems to be based around what fabrics are used within each garment.

If you visit the H&M homepage, you’ll find that the Conscious Exclusive collection has to be found by scrolling down and that there is no main header link for either Conscious collection; they’re tucked away under the Campaigns on the Women’s tab.

Secondly, their recycling initiatives have also been catching the attention of the media and its customers. In January 2017, H&M launched a campaign video called “Bring It On” to ask their customers to donate their used garments into store. Interestingly enough, this video is still up and running on H&M’s US website, but on the UK one, you can only discover it via Google.

You’re probably wondering why I’m focusing on how accessible these pieces of information are. It’s all part of what greenwashing technically is, and is a good indicator of whether you should be supporting a brand or not. If the sustainable or ethical information isn’t as equally as accessible as the main collection of a brand as a whole then they are being the opposite of transparent. Information is being spread around that sustainability is a focus when in actual fact, it’s still something which is being tucked away and concealed.

And as much as I appreciate the H&M Foundation for funding some innovative and sustainable ideas at the recent Global Change Awards, I highly doubt the average high-street customer is aware of this.

I found this a similar case with ASOS; their ASOS Eco Edit is tucked away under a menu tab with just a single link. They have two separate social media accounts for promoting their more sustainable and ethical items of stock, their Instagram following being a mere 12k compared to an over 5 million account reach on their main. That’s a whole lot of influence being put to waste. It would be an interesting question to have answered; why wouldn’t they want to share the more positive of brands on their site, with the majority of their following? To me, it’s baffling.

With H&M especially though, they aren’t just tucking away what they so say want to change within the industry, they’re almost disguising the fact that they’re one of the biggest reasons behind why it needs to change. On the UK site, out of the main collection there are 4,874 items for Women, of which only 209 are consciously focused. This is a reasonably high number; in fact, perhaps a little too high with prices a little too low. How can a pair of skinny jeans be be £19.99 and be labelled as “conscious”? And in terms of the actual production and ethics of it all, it was only in February 2016 when an H&M factory in Bangladesh caught fire killing four of its workers. It’s due to the immense pressure of a brand of such size, that these sorts of incidents occur.

As I mentioned previously, I’m concerned that the positive actions that are being put into place aren’t being compared to what is really going on. It’s not just fast-fashion brands either. I’ve had concerns over supposedly, “non” fast-fashion brands like Nobody’s Child, for example. They claim to be to serve “fast fashion with a conscious” which is rather peculiar. Fast-fashion is unsustainable; mixing those two terms is something already rather questionable.

An article by Project JUST, which reviews several bigger name sustainable brands like Everlane and Warby Parker, shows that phrases like “radical transparency” don’t always live up to their definitions. Of course, I would much rather suggest people start lifting up brands such as Everlane, but if you really want to be the best consumer as possible (which trust me, is often difficult), learning more about all kinds of brands is just as important.

But, there are ways to avoid the wool being pulled over your eyes. These are some questions which are good to ask yourself before supporting a brand…

Are they shouting about it?

Something which concerns me with brands who label themselves as “ethical and sustainable” yet come across as fast-fashion, is whether they’re really shouting about it. Simply labelling yourself as such doesn’t necessarily guarantee that these practices are being put into place. Take a look and see how accessible their information regarding ethics and sustainability is, and whether they’re proud to fly that flag. Do they join in with #WhoMadeMyClothes, and the like? Ask yourself if you truly trust what they’re claiming to support.

What information can you find?

Alongside whether they’re shouting about it, you need to know what it is they’re shouting about. If this information is easy to find, you might want to think about what sort of issues are important to you. A great way to decipher this is by taking a look at the Policy & Commitment categories within Fashion Revolution’s Transparency Index, which is a review of 100 major brands and how they’re tackling transparency. Some of these commitments include…

Some of Fashion Revolution’s findings include the fact that only 20 out of the 100 brands disclose procedures that address maternity rights; only 43 brands publish an assessment for high-risk supply chain issues and only 40 brands disclose how child labour policies are put into practice.  That’s less than half.

Ask yourself what issues matter to you and find out whether the brand has open information readily available for you to read and learn from.

What information will they give you?

A brilliant point brought up in Project JUST’s article on the same issue of greenwashing was what information will brands give you if they ask. Especially when it comes to campaigns like #WhoMadeMyClothes, the stand out brands will be those of which reply with the most transparent and specific answer possible. It’s not just what they tweet you either, it’s what you can get through contact forms, emailing and even writing letters in some cases. If they don’t give you enough information; ask yourself if you truly want to support their level of transparency.

Are they making progress?

As aforementioned, I want to reiterate that progress is important. It’s exactly what we want to see more of. So yes, do praise and award brands which are doing so but also ask yourself how much are they really doing? Another part of Fashion Revolution’s Transparency Index includes the Know, Show & Fix category which is about analysing which brands are assessing their policies, disclosing these assessments and are fixing what needs to be fixed.

The highest scoring brands in this include (thankfully) H&M, alongside Marks & Spencer, GAP, Adidas, Reebok and Puma – but none of these brands score higher than a 40% score. You can learn more about the scoring by, of course, taking a look at the index for yourself, which I highly recommend if you are interested in learning more.

Will you actually end up wearing what you buy?

I think it’s not only important to understand who you’re buying from, but also what you’re buying. Take a read of my post on working out whether you’ll actually end up wearing what you buy. An important part of creating a more sustainable industry is creating sustainable shoppers. We need to start becoming more conscious of our decisions and impact as that all leads back to what brands decide to change. Every penny is a vote, remember!

Shop from brands that are built on ethics and sustainability.

Finally, I want to point you in the direction of my ethical directory. Although I will admit I can’t answer all questions to do with every brand within it, I can say that I am in full support of everything these brands stand for. The list is growing and I’m updating it every month so hopefully, some of you will find it helpful. I also, recommend taking a look at Project JUST who I have already mentioned within this post. Not only was I recently interviewed for their #IAMJUST series, I also admire what they are doing. Their directory is a lot more in-depth and offers you a platform to learn more about brands you might already shop with.

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Have you ever encountered any greenwashing? What are your thoughts on the progress within the industry? Let me know in the comments!