How many times do you wear a shirt? Less than 7?

Global News recently published an awesome overview of sustainable fashion we think is 100% worth sharing with our readers. They took a look at areas of impact, fabrics, and consumer behaviours to give Canadians a pretty clear picture of where we are at now and where we hope to be in the future.

You’ve definitely heard us say in the past that fashion is a difficult subject in the world of sustainability. Everything from farming to dry cleaning is a part of fashion’s footprint and we’re all responsible to offer green solutions to these ongoing problems. It’s difficult — there’s no way around that.

We’ve picked out some of the most powerful excerpts from Marilisa Racco’s article on GlobalNews.ca to share with you:

The fashion industry is the world’s second-largest polluter, after oil. That means even if you’re diligent about correctly separating your recycling, put solar panels on your roof and collect rainwater, and strictly buy local, organic produce, you’re inherently complicit in fashion’s shameful truth just by getting dressed every morning.

It doesn’t sound very encouraging, does it? The article points out that we consume 400% more clothing today than we did 20 years ago. To add another scary stat, Racco writes that the average garment only gets to be worn seven times before we toss it. Yikes! As consumers, we need to be thinking about what parts of our fashion habits contribute to this over-consumption.

At Parkers, we believe that some of this comes from a tendency to purchase clothing that doesn’t last. A well made garment should be able to last a lot longer than seven wears, especially if you are cleaning and caring for it properly (which is where we can help as clothing care specialists!).

[Kelly] Drennan [Fashion Takes Action] espouses the seven Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle, rent (on websites like Rent frock Repeat and FreshRents), repurpose (YouTube is filled with videos that can show you how to transform your old clothes), repair (instead of throwing out ripped or torn garments, or ones that don’t fit as well anymore, take them to a tailor to be fixed), and most of all, research.

“Go to your favourite brand’s website and if they aren’t talking about their sustainability practices, that should be a red flag,” she says.

The Fashion Transparency Index is also a great resource to see who’s doing what right. Compiled by Fashion Revolution, a non-profit collective of designers, academics, writers, business leaders, policymakers, brands, retailers, marketers, producers, makers, workers and fashion lovers, it examines the sustainability practices of 150 top brands and retailers to educate consumers on how to shop and what to look for.

When Racco spoke to Kelly Drennan, the founding executive director of Fashion Takes Action, we were encouraged by her comments that no one is perfectly sustainable, but that it’s still worth it to incorporate small actions. Both brands and consumers need to start somewhere and start trying. These seemingly tiny choices can really add up!

If you’ve been wondering whether Parkers Custom Clothing Care offers eco-friendly clothing care options, we have great news. Check out our Green Cleaning Options to learn about all of the ways that you can choose eco-friendly clothing care.