Terms To Know When Trying to Shop Sustainably
Trying to shop sustainably can be a murky world. Lots of buzzwords and marketing spin. To help you navigate through, here is a handy guide to some of the most commonly used words or terms…
Second-Hand
It’s what we are all about at Haru. Second-hand clothing simply means clothing that is being reused, resold or passed down, maybe for the first time or many times. We love it because it is extending the life of clothing and in turn significantly reducing its environmental impact. It also favours the brands and makers that create clothing built to last and enjoyed multiple times, not thrown away.
Sustainable Clothing
This can be a really grey area. Sustainable clothing in most cases refers to using environmentally friendly practices and materials when making the clothing. Or it can refer to recycling materials to create clothing. There are a huge range of brands using the term “sustainable”, some in a cynical way simply to jump on the trend and sell more products. Remake grade brands on how sustainable they are, both in terms of the environment but also socially - https://directory.remake.world/#/
Greenwashing
The act of misleading followers and consumers to believe a product or company is more sustainable or environmentally friendly than it actually is. This is a growing issue as big brands recognise people are increasingly trying to shop in a way that is better for the environment and in turn are looking to tap into that.
Ethical Clothing
This often refers to how the clothing was made, who made it and their working conditions. The goal should be to ensure that those involved in clothing manufacturing are treated safely and fairly. You can see how this can be very vague and hard to pin down, there is a real need for brands to be transparent around where their products are made, who makes them and what the working conditions are.
Fast-Fashion
Fast fashion is used to describe the brands and companies that produce high volume, low cost, ever-changing clothing. They market these to consumers based on the need to constantly stay up to date with trends, seasons, limited editions etc. It is thought fast-fashion brands now promote a new micro-season or collection every week.
Fair Trade
Fairtrade is a system of certification that aims to ensure a set of standards are met in the production and supply of a product or ingredient. For farmers and workers, Fairtrade means workers’ rights, safer working conditions and fairer pay. For shoppers it means high quality, ethically produced products.
Carbon offsetting
Running a clothing organisation means having some kind of environmental impact, no matter how much you try and reduce it there will still be an impact. However organisations or individuals can partner with environmental initiatives or processes to offset their impact. For example, this might involve paying to have trees planted.
Organic
You are maybe more likely to associate “organic” in the food world but it is a growing trend in fashion. It involves the use of materials grown from organic farming principles, mainly minimising soil, air and water pollution and not using synthetic pesticides or fertilizers on crops.