ECF Circular Fashion Education Toolkit

Online Learning Resources for Students and Teachers

 

Overproduction, overconsumption and fast fashion business models

With fashion brands making more than 100 billion new pieces of clothing worldwide every year, us consumers often get caught in a cycle of buying new clothes and wearing them only a few times, before moving on to the latest trend or bargain that catches our eye. Yet the speed and volume at which we’re currently making and buying clothes is simply unsustainable, and is taking its toll on our planet.

In this module, we’ll explore how overproduction and overconsumption can cause environmental problems, and how various factors – including fast fashion business models, marketing, low prices, online shopping and social media – have ended up encouraging unsustainable production patterns and consumption habits.

 
 

Guiding Questions of this Module

  • How has the way we make and buy our clothes changed in the last few decades?

  • What is fast fashion? Can it ever be sustainable?

  • How are the problems of overproduction and overconsumption linked?

  • How do marketing and social media affect our decisions about what we buy and wear?

  • What impact does overproduction and overconsumption have on our planet?

  • How is this relevant to the lives of students? What can students do to reduce their own “fashion footprint”?

 

Curriculum Links

Units of Inquiry:
Sharing the Planet, How We Organise Ourselves, How We Express Ourselves

Subjects:
Social Studies, Language & Arts, Maths, Business, Design & Technology

Units of Inquiry:
Sharing the Planet, How We Organise Ourselves, How We Express Ourselves

Key Topics

A long time ago…
A short history of overproduction

  • Before the 1800s, making clothes was a craft; people had to directly find or produce their own materials from plants or animal skins, like wool or leather, before making them into garments.
  • Clothing was typically hand made by family members, or by dressmakers and seamstresses who came to peoples’ homes. “Ready-to-wear” clothing did not really exist.
  • During the Industrial Revolution in the early 1800s in Europe, new technology, like sewing machines, enabled mass clothing production by factory workers.
  • While clothing manufacturing became cheaper, quicker and easier, production was usually still done within a small distance/radius of the design house, with companies producing only two to four collections annually.
  • Western fashion was dominated by couture houses (like the familiar names of Dior, Chanel, Balmain and Givenchy) and in general was reserved for the elite.
  • Designers would work on these collections many months before their release, predicting what styles customers wanted.
  • In the 1960s and 1970s, alongside big social movements like the Civil Rights movement and hippie movement, rising incomes and rising pop culture in the West spurred on by things like music, television and magazines, fashion also started changing.
  • The subcultures of the times were reflected in peoples’ clothing, especially the younger generation, who started to create their own new trends which were then copied by designers, such as the British punk culture.
  • Rather than there being just one dominant trend/fashion, multiple different trends were emerging. Fashions also started to cross international boundaries.
  • More and more people began demanding access to fashionable clothes at affordable prices.
  • Brands began changing their production models to keep up with this increasing demand, prioritising making clothes cheaper, faster, and in greater volumes, and giving the general public unprecedented access to fashionable styles.
  • This production model, often called fast fashion, is usually associated with low-cost retailers, but many mid- and high-end brands also use this method.
  • These trends have caused the annual production of clothing to double over the last two decades. Over 100 billion items of clothing are now produced annually.

Exploring overproduction:
producing faster

  • Brands previously released seasonal fashion collections two to four times a year (spring/summer and autumn/winter), predicting what styles customers wanted.
  • Nowadays, many brands react instantly to emerging trends, so customers can more immediately buy what they see on catwalks or social media.
  • Consequently, brands accelerate their production processes – copying, designing, producing and selling trends within weeks. This may cause brands to pressure overseas suppliers into increasing their production speed.
  • The growth of e-commerce (online shopping) has made fashion even faster; trends come and go quicker than ever, with customers seeing, buying and sharing trends rapidly.
  • The vast variety of items available online has also made the fashion industry more competitive; brands are eager to respond to customer demands ahead of their competitors and before trends subside.
  • Many brands now release 52 annual “micro-collections”, with some e-stores uploading literally hundreds of new items each week.

Exploring overproduction:
producing cheaper

  • Many companies and brands source their textile and garment production in developing countries, where production is cheaper because workers’ wages are lower, and there are fewer laws and regulations protecting workers and the environment.
  • When you look at the garment label, clothes today are typically “made in” China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, Turkey, Indonesia and Ethiopia. This is where clothes are typically sewn together by workers in garment factories. But there are also many other steps in the production chain, including growing cotton and trees, rearing animals, producing rubber and polyester, weaving and dyeing fabrics, and manufacturing elements like buttons and zips – which happen in different countries all over the world.
  • Lack of regulation and desire for lower production costs can result in poor working conditions for textile and garment factory workers and farmers. Sadly, this has led to human rights violations and major health and safety disasters, like 2013’s Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, where over 1,000 garment factory workers died.
  • Brands can also reduce production costs by using low-cost, poor quality fabrics and garment construction methods.
  • Lower production costs mean brands can sell their clothes more cheaply too. This is especially true for online-only stores, which have lower overheads (e.g. rent and staff) than brick-and-mortar stores… Which is why they can sell new clothes for as little as HK$50!

Exploring overproduction:
producing more

  • Producing clothing in larger volumes capitalises on economies of scale, lowering each item’s production cost.
  • Being able to place big orders gives larger-scale brands high bargaining power over suppliers – squeezing production costs, rushing turnover times and requesting unfair payment terms.

Exploring overconsumption:
shopping habits worth breaking

  • Even if you don’t consider yourself a “fashion follower”, simply buying clothes makes us all fashion consumers!
  • As consumers:
    • We buy 60% more clothes than we did 15 years ago.
    • We wear our clothes for shorter amounts of time, with one in two shoppers in a recent US survey saying they wouldn’t want to be seen in the same outfit twice, and 70% of shoppers admitting they’ve bought a "single-use" outfit!
    • We throw clothes away faster. In Hong Kong, four in ten people (39%) have discarded a garment after only wearing it once.
  • Let’s face it, we all need to buy clothes occasionally! But remember, overconsumption isn’t driven by need; it’s driven by factors like marketing, cheap prices, chasing trends, and online shopping.

Exploring overconsumption:
marketing madness

  • Marketing means selling and promoting products.
  • Marketing comes in many forms and can be seen practically everywhere – like street billboards, on public transport, advertising on television and YouTube, email marketing, and sponsored posts on social media. It’s also found in stores, on signs, banners and product labels, and even on people you know – like when friends and family post social media photos of themselves wearing branded clothing!
  • Constantly releasing new products is another clever marketing strategy. Releasing new collections encourages us to “keep up” with ever-changing trends, visiting stores and websites more often to discover new stock.
  • Marketing, especially online marketing, is becoming more sophisticated, with brands employing strategies like:
    • “Limited edition” products that are available exclusively on social media for short periods, feeding our desire to buy immediately;
    • Influencer marketing where “influencers” or celebrities are paid or given freebies to post pictures of themselves wearing brands’ products on social media;
    • Targeted social media advertising (i.e. adverts that “follow you’”) after you’ve viewed a specific product or liked a certain post on social media.
  • Contemporary marketing methods can be a key driver of overconsumption because they can create the desire to consume and play on our wants, rather than our actual needs.

Exploring overconsumption:
the power of online shopping and social media

  • Online shopping and social media have reshaped the way we buy clothes.
  • A survey of Asia-Pacific consumers showed that two out of five people shop online for clothes at least once a month, with over 40% finding inspiration for new purchases through online shops.
  • Online shopping and social media have increased the speed at which trends come and go – and we expect brands to provide us with immediate gratification.
  • Social media makes it easier to follow trends; our news feeds are full of people wearing new clothes and leading “aspirational” lifestyles that tend to encourage more buying.
  • Online shopping means we have greater access to a huge variety of items worldwide; if you want something, it’s probably available online somewhere!
  • Online shopping has made clothes shopping more convenient, especially since we take our phones everywhere. You can even buy clothes while you wait for the bus!

Exploring overconsumption:
cheap tricks

  • Cheap prices often lessen our guilt about buying clothes we don’t really need, because the stakes seem lower – it doesn’t matter if you don’t wear the item very much, since it didn’t cost much to begin with.
  • Discounts, flash sales and “buy X, get X free” offers can cause more waste by encouraging “impulse” purchases we don’t actually need – and sale items can’t usually be returned, even if you have second thoughts later.
  • Notorious retailers-created holidays like “Black Friday”, “Cyber Monday” and “Singles Day” show how sales can create a frenzy of impulse buying.
  • Low prices and special offers encourage a “throwaway culture”, where clothes seem easily disposable.
  • Furthermore, cheap clothing is often poor quality; breaking, fading or losing its shape quickly. This feeds into a cycle where we buy more clothes as replacements, fuelling the perception that clothes are disposable.

Exploring overproduction & overconsumption:
Environmental Problems

  • Our current production and consumption trends are unsustainable – using large amounts of natural resources and causing waste and pollution.
  • 1. Natural resources:
    1. Our ability to make, sell, buy, use and dispose of clothes relies on using natural resources. All clothing is made from natural resources – be it land, water, oil or trees (see Module Two for more details).
    2. With over 100 billion new garments produced annually, the earth simply cannot keep up.
    3. If the global population reaches 9.6 billion people by 2050, experts predict that we would need the equivalent of almost three planets to sustain our current lifestyle.
  • 2. Pollution:
    1. Producing over 100 billion new garments annually causes large amounts of pollution and is contributing to critical environmental problems, including freshwater, marine, land and air pollution, and biodiversity loss.
  • 3. Textile waste:
    1. Discarded clothes are either incinerated or sent to landfill. In Hong Kong alone, an estimated 170 tonnes of clothing waste are sent to landfill daily – the equivalent of 1.2 million T-shirts!
    2. Mass production and ever-changing trends mean that large amounts of clothes remain unsold whenever new trends arrive. These clothes are often heavily discounted to encourage quick sales and make room for newer collections; if they’re not sold, they are incinerated or sent to landfill.
  • You can learn more about the environmental impact of producing and consuming clothes in Module Two.

A better future:
sustainable production and consumption

  • It’s never too late for us to make positive changes! By changing the way that we consume goods and resources, we can reduce our environmental impact.
  • Sustainable production and consumption mean making and buying in ways that don’t damage the environment and use fewer natural resources – essentially, doing better with less.
  • The Sustainable Development Goals are a set of 17 global goals set to be met by 2030 and agreed by world leaders; they are designed to be a blueprint for change.
  • Sustainable Development Goal #12 is to “ensure sustainable production and consumption patterns”. By including sustainable production and consumption in these goals, world leaders have acknowledged that unchecked production and consumption will undermine global economic and social goals.
  • However, in a recent survey, Hong Kongers perceived Responsible Consumption & Production (Goal #12) as the least important goal.
  • Governments, regulation bodies and NGOs have also been working to introduce regulations that curtail overproduction. Examples include France banning the incineration of excess brand stock, and the UK parliament debating how brands can be held accountable for their garment production (i.e. by creating a specific clothing tax).
  • Manufacturers and brands have also recently increased their efforts to create more sustainable supply chains – choosing longer-lasting materials, reducing production waste, making durable products and increasing products’ recyclability (see Module Three for examples).
  • But some people say that the phrase “sustainable fashion” is an oxymoron, because the fashion industry’s environmental impact is so enormous that any efforts to become more sustainable are a drop in the ocean. They believe that brands should be transparent with customers about the negative environmental impact of their production processes, and how much improvement still needs to happen.
  • It is also important to remember that even if businesses change to make their clothing more sustainable, the speed and scale at which we are producing and consuming clothes is not.
  • We should think critically about brand efforts to “sell sustainability”, and our own efforts to “buy sustainably”, because while it is critical to substitute the products we buy for more sustainable ones, a bigger challenge is around how we can shift the focus to consuming fewer "new" products, better (i.e. investing in fewer items but those we will use and cherish for longer).
  • Ultimately, reducing the speed and scale at which we produce and consume clothing is necessary. Module Three explores how we can radically rethink our current model of production and consumption by building a circular economy.

A long time ago… A short history of overproduction

  • Before the 1800s, making clothes was a craft; people had to directly find or produce their own materials from plants or animal skins, like wool or leather, before making them into garments.
  • Clothing was typically hand made by family members, or by dressmakers and seamstresses who came to peoples’ homes. “Ready-to-wear” clothing did not really exist.
  • During the Industrial Revolution in the early 1800s in Europe, new technology, like sewing machines, enabled mass clothing production by factory workers.
  • While clothing manufacturing became cheaper, quicker and easier, production was usually still done within a small distance/radius of the design house, with companies producing only two to four collections annually.
  • Western fashion was dominated by couture houses (like the familiar names of Dior, Chanel, Balmain and Givenchy) and in general was reserved for the elite.
  • Designers would work on these collections many months before their release, predicting what styles customers wanted.
  • In the 1960s and 1970s, alongside big social movements like the Civil Rights movement and hippie movement, rising incomes and rising pop culture in the West spurred on by things like music, television and magazines, fashion also started changing.
  • The subcultures of the times were reflected in peoples’ clothing, especially the younger generation, who started to create their own new trends which were then copied by designers, such as the British punk culture.
  • Rather than there being just one dominant trend/fashion, multiple different trends were emerging. Fashions also started to cross international boundaries.
  • More and more people began demanding access to fashionable clothes at affordable prices.
  • Brands began changing their production models to keep up with this increasing demand, prioritising making clothes cheaper, faster, and in greater volumes, and giving the general public unprecedented access to fashionable styles.
  • This production model, often called fast fashion, is usually associated with low-cost retailers, but many mid- and high-end brands also use this method.
  • These trends have caused the annual production of clothing to double over the last two decades. Over 100 billion items of clothing are now produced annually.
  • How were clothes made in the time of our parents and grandparents? How have methods of clothing production changed in the last 20 and 50 years? What makes fast fashion business models different?
  • Why was the Industrial Revolution a key milestone in the way we produced clothes?
  • Why has the volume of clothing produced increased so much in the last two decades?
  • How do you think this will evolve in the next 10 or 20 years?

Exploring overproduction: producing faster

  • Brands previously released seasonal fashion collections two to four times a year (spring/summer and autumn/winter), predicting what styles customers wanted.
  • Nowadays, many brands react instantly to emerging trends, so customers can more immediately buy what they see on catwalks or social media.
  • Consequently, brands accelerate their production processes – copying, designing, producing and selling trends within weeks. This may cause brands to pressure overseas suppliers into increasing their production speed.
  • The growth of e-commerce (online shopping) has made fashion even faster; trends come and go quicker than ever, with customers seeing, buying and sharing trends rapidly.
  • The vast variety of items available online has also made the fashion industry more competitive; brands are eager to respond to customer demands ahead of their competitors and before trends subside.
  • Many brands now release 52 annual “micro-collections”, with some e-stores uploading literally hundreds of new items each week.
  • Why are some fashion brands so eager to produce more collections each year?
  • What effects could the speed of fashion production have on the use of natural resources and people working in the supply chain?
  • How do you think consumers react to these fast-changing trends? Who asked for so many trends in the first place?
  • If consumers react enthusiastically to multiple new trends, how do you think it impacts on a brand’s production model?

Exploring overproduction: producing cheaper

  • Many companies and brands source their textile and garment production in developing countries, where production is cheaper because workers’ wages are lower, and there are fewer laws and regulations protecting workers and the environment.
  • When you look at the garment label, clothes today are typically “made in” China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, Turkey, Indonesia and Ethiopia. This is where clothes are typically sewn together by workers in garment factories. But there are also many other steps in the production chain, including growing cotton and trees, rearing animals, producing rubber and polyester, weaving and dyeing fabrics, and manufacturing elements like buttons and zips – which happen in different countries all over the world.
  • Lack of regulation and desire for lower production costs can result in poor working conditions for textile and garment factory workers and farmers. Sadly, this has led to human rights violations and major health and safety disasters, like 2013’s Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, where over 1,000 garment factory workers died.
  • Brands can also reduce production costs by using low-cost, poor quality fabrics and garment construction methods.
  • Lower production costs mean brands can sell their clothes more cheaply too. This is especially true for online-only stores, which have lower overheads (e.g. rent and staff) than brick-and-mortar stores… Which is why they can sell new clothes for as little as HK$50!
  • What are the consequences of trying to produce clothes more cheaply? Think about the effects on workers, consumers and the environment.
  • Why are clothes less likely to be made in Western countries?

Exploring overproduction: producing more

  • Producing clothing in larger volumes capitalises on economies of scale, lowering each item’s production cost.
  • Being able to place big orders gives larger-scale brands high bargaining power over suppliers – squeezing production costs, rushing turnover times and requesting unfair payment terms.
  • During the garment production process, a large amount of textile waste (such as fabric samples, garment samples, fabric rolls and cut-away fabrics) is created. What are the major problems of producing large volumes, in terms of pollution such as textile waste?
  • Why do brands want to produce items at scale? Do you think they should reduce their order numbers? Why? And do you think you have the power as a consumer to motivate them to do so?

Exploring overconsumption: shopping habits worth breaking

  • Even if you don’t consider yourself a “fashion follower”, simply buying clothes makes us all fashion consumers!
  • As consumers:
    • We buy 60% more clothes than we did 15 years ago.
    • We wear our clothes for shorter amounts of time, with one in two shoppers in a recent US survey saying they wouldn’t want to be seen in the same outfit twice, and 70% of shoppers admitting they’ve bought a "single-use" outfit!
    • We throw clothes away faster. In Hong Kong, four in ten people (39%) have discarded a garment after only wearing it once.
  • Let’s face it, we all need to buy clothes occasionally! But remember, overconsumption isn’t driven by need; it’s driven by factors like marketing, cheap prices, chasing trends, and online shopping.
  • What do you think are the main reasons people shop for new clothes? For example, wanting to relieve boredom, hang out with friends, look good for an event, or even feel happier or more self-confident?
  • How are our needs for clothing different to our wants?
  • What do you think are the main reasons people throw away clothes? For example, wrong sizing, no longer liking the style, no longer needing an item, or damage, stains and general wear-and-tear?
  • Do you have any items in your wardrobe that you have never worn, or only worn once? Why?

Exploring overconsumption: marketing madness

  • Marketing means selling and promoting products.
  • Marketing comes in many forms and can be seen practically everywhere – like street billboards, on public transport, advertising on television and YouTube, email marketing, and sponsored posts on social media. It’s also found in stores, on signs, banners and product labels, and even on people you know – like when friends and family post social media photos of themselves wearing branded clothing!
  • Constantly releasing new products is another clever marketing strategy. Releasing new collections encourages us to “keep up” with ever-changing trends, visiting stores and websites more often to discover new stock.
  • Marketing, especially online marketing, is becoming more sophisticated, with brands employing strategies like:
    • “Limited edition” products that are available exclusively on social media for short periods, feeding our desire to buy immediately;
    • Influencer marketing where “influencers” or celebrities are paid or given freebies to post pictures of themselves wearing brands’ products on social media;
    • Targeted social media advertising (i.e. adverts that “follow you’”) after you’ve viewed a specific product or liked a certain post on social media.
  • Contemporary marketing methods can be a key driver of overconsumption because they can create the desire to consume and play on our wants, rather than our actual needs.
  • Do you think that fashion brands are responding to consumer demands for more clothes, or are they the ones encouraging us to buy more?
  • How does advertising and media influence our fashion choices?
  • How do you usually feel when you see fashion advertisements? Do you ever feel pressured to buy products you have seen in advertisements? Why?

Exploring overconsumption: the power of online shopping and social media

  • Online shopping and social media have reshaped the way we buy clothes.
  • A survey of Asia-Pacific consumers showed that two out of five people shop online for clothes at least once a month, with over 40% finding inspiration for new purchases through online shops.
  • Online shopping and social media have increased the speed at which trends come and go – and we expect brands to provide us with immediate gratification.
  • Social media makes it easier to follow trends; our news feeds are full of people wearing new clothes and leading “aspirational” lifestyles that tend to encourage more buying.
  • Online shopping means we have greater access to a huge variety of items worldwide; if you want something, it’s probably available online somewhere!
  • Online shopping has made clothes shopping more convenient, especially since we take our phones everywhere. You can even buy clothes while you wait for the bus!
  • How are online and offline shopping different? What are the advantages and disadvantages of shopping online or offline? For example, shopping offline means you can touch and feel clothing and so are more likely to buy better quality items; you can try on clothes, so are more likely to buy something that actually fits (and suits!) you; and the greater effort required to make a purchase means you’re less likely to impulse-buy things you’ll later regret.
  • How is social media and online marketing different to offline marketing?
  • Think about your favourite brands or brands you have previously bought from – what kinds of online and offline marketing methods did they use to encourage you to buy their products? What was it that attracted you to an item and encouraged you to buy it?

Exploring overconsumption: cheap tricks

  • Cheap prices often lessen our guilt about buying clothes we don’t really need, because the stakes seem lower – it doesn’t matter if you don’t wear the item very much, since it didn’t cost much to begin with.
  • Discounts, flash sales and “buy X, get X free” offers can cause more waste by encouraging “impulse” purchases we don’t actually need – and sale items can’t usually be returned, even if you have second thoughts later.
  • Notorious retailers-created holidays like “Black Friday”, “Cyber Monday” and “Singles Day” show how sales can create a frenzy of impulse buying.
  • Low prices and special offers encourage a “throwaway culture”, where clothes seem easily disposable.
  • Furthermore, cheap clothing is often poor quality; breaking, fading or losing its shape quickly. This feeds into a cycle where we buy more clothes as replacements, fuelling the perception that clothes are disposable.
  • Does a cheap price tag on clothing reflect the real cost of making clothes? Are there other costs that have not been factored in?
  • Have you ever bought a fashion item because it’s cheap? Do you own something similar bought at a higher price? Do you have different feelings towards them? Does it change the way you care or dispose of them?

Exploring overproduction & overconsumption: environmental problems

  • Our current production and consumption trends are unsustainable – using large amounts of natural resources and causing waste and pollution.
  • 1. Natural resources:
    1. Our ability to make, sell, buy, use and dispose of clothes relies on using natural resources. All clothing is made from natural resources – be it land, water, oil or trees (see Module Two for more details).
    2. With over 100 billion new garments produced annually, the earth simply cannot keep up.
    3. If the global population reaches 9.6 billion people by 2050, experts predict that we would need the equivalent of almost three planets to sustain our current lifestyle.
  • 2. Pollution:
    1. Producing over 100 billion new garments annually causes large amounts of pollution and is contributing to critical environmental problems, including freshwater, marine, land and air pollution, and biodiversity loss.
  • 3. Textile waste:
    1. Discarded clothes are either incinerated or sent to landfill. In Hong Kong alone, an estimated 170 tonnes of clothing waste are sent to landfill daily – the equivalent of 1.2 million T-shirts!
    2. Mass production and ever-changing trends mean that large amounts of clothes remain unsold whenever new trends arrive. These clothes are often heavily discounted to encourage quick sales and make room for newer collections; if they’re not sold, they are incinerated or sent to landfill.
  • You can learn more about the environmental impact of producing and consuming clothes in Module Two.
  • Do you think that more people would change their consumption habits if they understood the environmental impact of fashion?
  • What are some of the arguments for and against fast fashion? For example, positives could be that it creates jobs in developing countries and “democratises” fashion, versus negatives like causing large amounts of waste and pollution.
  • What could brands be doing to address overproduction and overconsumption? For example, better trend forecasting, producing smarter, and producing less. You can learn more about new fashion business models in Module Three.
  • How could consumers be encouraged to buy fewer clothes, re-use clothes and think about how best to dispose of unwanted clothes? Should brands or even governments be responsible for this?

A better future: sustainable production and consumption

  • It’s never too late for us to make positive changes! By changing the way that we consume goods and resources, we can reduce our environmental impact.
  • Sustainable production and consumption mean making and buying in ways that don’t damage the environment and use fewer natural resources – essentially, doing better with less.
  • The Sustainable Development Goals are a set of 17 global goals set to be met by 2030 and agreed by world leaders; they are designed to be a blueprint for change.
  • Sustainable Development Goal #12 is to “ensure sustainable production and consumption patterns”. By including sustainable production and consumption in these goals, world leaders have acknowledged that unchecked production and consumption will undermine global economic and social goals.
  • However, in a recent survey, Hong Kongers perceived Responsible Consumption & Production (Goal #12) as the least important goal.
  • Governments, regulation bodies and NGOs have also been working to introduce regulations that curtail overproduction. Examples include France banning the incineration of excess brand stock, and the UK parliament debating how brands can be held accountable for their garment production (i.e. by creating a specific clothing tax).
  • Manufacturers and brands have also recently increased their efforts to create more sustainable supply chains – choosing longer-lasting materials, reducing production waste, making durable products and increasing products’ recyclability (see Module Three for examples).
  • But some people say that the phrase “sustainable fashion” is an oxymoron, because the fashion industry’s environmental impact is so enormous that any efforts to become more sustainable are a drop in the ocean. They believe that brands should be transparent with customers about the negative environmental impact of their production processes, and how much improvement still needs to happen.
  • It is also important to remember that even if businesses change to make their clothing more sustainable, the speed and scale at which we are producing and consuming clothes is not.
  • We should think critically about brand efforts to “sell sustainability”, and our own efforts to “buy sustainably”, because while it is critical to substitute the products we buy for more sustainable ones, a bigger challenge is around how we can shift the focus to consuming fewer "new" products, better (i.e. investing in fewer items but those we will use and cherish for longer).
  • Ultimately, reducing the speed and scale at which we produce and consume clothing is necessary. Module Three explores how we can radically rethink our current model of production and consumption by building a circular economy.
  • Is sustainable consumption at odds with brands aiming to sell more clothing?
  • How could brands use marketing to encourage sustainable consumption, for example having better labels that tell us more about what is in our clothes?
  • Whose responsibility should it be to regulate overconsumption and production? How should overproduction and overconsumption be managed?
  • How do you think your own consumption habits might change in the future?

Individual Actions

While there is plenty of work that brands must do to address overproduction, addressing our own consumption as consumers is equally important. Making a few simple changes in your attitudes towards buying and disposing clothes can have a big impact on your own environmental footprint – and by having conversations and posting on social media, you can also have a positive impact on the habits of friends and family. Remember, small ripples can create big waves!

Here are some of the top positive actions we can take:

Think critically about what marketing messages and social media are telling you. If you do need to buy clothes, be thoughtful about what you buy and why you are buying it; resist the urge to buy more things that you don’t need. Be conscious about what you do with clothes that you no longer want and minimise their environmental impact by ensuring they receive a second life through reuse or, as a last resort, recycling.

Re-evaluate your own shopping habits. Before you buy something, think about how many times you will actually wear it – five times? 30 times? 100 times? Or will it be a one-hit wonder? Think about how many clothes you never wear that may still be lurking in your wardrobe (perhaps with the tags still attached!). Take a moment to assess what you already own and see if you can find new ways to restyle or wear old clothes differently. After all, the most sustainable item of clothing is the one you already own!

We’ve seen how social media can quickly spread unsustainable trends – but the positive flipside is that it can quickly spread sustainable trends too! You can help change trends for the better by proudly posting pictures of yourself wearing the same outfits again and again, or clothes you’ve swapped with a friend or bought secondhand. If someone compliments you on something you thrifted, swapped, rented or borrowed, share where it came from – and encourage them to try using similar methods too.

Use social media to share details of your favourite sustainable outfits, or pictures of you swapping clothes with friends, shopping at preloved pop-ups, or giving away clothes at secondhand collection points. Sharing these stories helps to show others that “old” clothes still have plenty of value – and spreading the word can inspire others to join the movement!

Ask questions about where and how your clothes were made. Look at care labels to see where your clothes were manufactured. Get to know the brands you support by visiting their websites – do they provide any information about their social and environmental commitments? If you can’t find the information you’re looking for, message them via email or social media and say why you want to know!

Writing to brands sends a vital message that social and environmental issues are important to their customers; the more people who take time to contact brands, the more likely it is that they will take notice. Your question might just be the catalyst that sparks an internal conversation or pushes them to prioritise the issue – proof that every voice counts!

Join Redress’ Get Redressed Month to shine the spotlight on the issue of clothing waste with your fellow schoolmates. See our Get Redressed Month School Activity Pack for more tips on how to run a pop-up secondhand shop, a clothing drive or Get Redressed Day at your school.

WHAT DOES HONG KONG’S FASHION SUSTAINABILITY SCENE LOOK LIKE?

How often do you buy a piece of clothing?

We have been conditioned to buy more and more clothes but we only regularly wear up to two-thirds of what is in our wardrobes. What would be the longer term consequences? How could limiting our consumption help the problem?

Clothing production requires lots of natural resources

The global fashion industry is producing over 100 billion new garments annually. What are the resources used behind each of the garments? Why should buying secondhand clothes be a trend but we are still not there yet?

OTHER LEARNING MODULES

2

Fashion’s dirty secret
Clothing pollution & textile waste

KEY LEARNING AREAS

Learning about pollution and waste in clothing manufacturing, and how this impacts people and our planet.

3

The future of fashion
Innovative technology & circular business models

KEY LEARNING AREAS

Discovering how innovative new fibres, manufacturing methods and business models can help us to reduce fashion’s waste and pollution footprint in the future.

EDU

For educators
Ideas to incorporate circular fashion into your teaching

KEY LEARNING AREAS

Accessing our rich library of teacher guidelines and student activity ideas to bring circular fashion into your classroom design.

 
 

About Redress

Redress is a pioneering Hong Kong based environmental charity with a mission to educate and empower the fashion industry and consumers to reduce clothing’s negative environmental impact by shifting to circular solutions. Our education programme focuses on educating consumers in Hong Kong of all ages about their fashion footprint and empowering them to drive change through circular solutions like buying more responsibly, donating clothes for reuse, or shopping secondhand.

About the ECF Circular Fashion Education Toolkit

This bilingual education toolkit including a handful of student and teacher resources is funded by the Environment and Conservation Fund and the Environmental Campaign Committee. It was designed in consultation with teachers and curriculum advisors from the English Schools Foundation, the Education Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and our wider network of Hong Kong schools, who provided invaluable guidance, support and feedback.