NYC Climate week is Sept 19-25. This week is about bringing awareness and setting up plans of action to help combat climate change. During this event, leaders and influential icons come together to push climate action forward. It’s time to address climate change and discuss it in the context of today’s world. Connecting to discuss the pressing climate issues is the best way to create a plan of action working towards change. How do fashion and climate change affect one another? Let’s find out.
Fashion is celebrated all around the world through many events and activities. New York Fashion Week, which just wrapped up for the S/S ’23 collections, is a major event full of high fashion and all the glitz you can imagine. Following Fashion Week in NYC is Climate Week, so it’s a good time to reflect. Climate leaders have made it clear that the fashion industry has played a part in global climate issues. With Climate Week following a major week of fashion activities, it is not only a clever chain of events but also a brilliant pivot from cause to effect.
Over 5% of greenhouse gases are coming from the fashion and consumer electronics segment, where numbers will continue to rise without actions in place. Record temperatures have been recorded in California this month, and flash floods and droughts are occurring. This mixture means hurricane season will potentially be intensified this year, given the current conditions.
Clothing production is the reason for greenhouse gas emissions, so it’s more important than ever to focus on upcycling, thrifting, and repurposing things we already have. Most consumers haven’t heard of circular fashion, which is fashion that can be reused or repurposed into new fashion. Bringing awareness to it opens the door for more exposure. Purchasing responsibly also helps. This looks like choosing fabrics wisely, only purchasing or making pieces as needed, and ensuring clothing lasts far longer than a time or two or even just a season.
Other ways consumers can help reduce emissions include investing in recycled pieces and reducing the number of fast fashion purchases. Learning more about which fabrics last the longest are the most sustainable and highest quality directly impacts predictions and purchasing patterns. Organic cotton is a good starting point for companies and sewists alike. The growing process produces less overall damage, and results in a high-quality product.
Take care of the pieces you own and learn how to prolong the life of your garments by laundering them as directed. If your clothing has a tear or gets a stain, tending to it by mending or removing problem spots helps keep garments in rotation, reducing the need for more to be produced.
Climate Week is an excellent way to get informed and get in on the discussion involving climate issues, even if you don’t live in or near NYC. Make, purchase, and use clothing responsibly to help contribute to a better future for our planet.
Check out MoodEarth to shop for and get informed about sustainable fabrics. Try minimal waste patterns to make your fabric go further, upcycle when possible, and pass unwanted clothing on to someone new. Climate change is an important issue to address, and it is our job to do what we can to help make a change.
