The fashion industry has faced increasing scrutiny for its environmental impact in recent years. Excessive waste, pollution, and exploitation of resources are common concerns for manufacturers, retailers and consumers alike.
Many are calling for more fashion retailers to be held accountable and take positive action to change how they approach their clothing manufacturing processes.
Amidst this challenging landscape, Sportsgirl taken their own first step towards sustainability through its new partnership with RELOOP.
The impact of the fashion industry
Certain aspects of the fashion industry significantly impact our natural environment, contributing to pollution, resource depletion, and waste accumulation. Rapid production and consumption of inexpensive clothing have led to a range of environmental issues that are increasingly concerning.
One of the major environmental impacts of the fashion industry as a whole is excessive water usage. The production of textiles requires vast amounts of water, from growing cotton crops to dyeing and finishing fabrics.
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), it takes approximately 2,700 litres of water. The fashion industry’s high demand for water puts pressure on water sources, particularly in regions already facing water scarcity.
The industry also heavily relies on fossil fuels for energy-intensive processes like manufacturing, transportation, and garment production. The extraction, processing, and transportation of raw materials and the production and disposal of clothing contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that the fashion industry produces about 1.2 billion tons of greenhouse gases yearly, more than the combined emissions of international flights and maritime shipping.
According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or incinerated every second. Certain materials, such as commonly used synthetic fibres, do not biodegrade easily and can persist in the environment for hundreds of years.
Addressing these challenges requires a shift towards more sustainable and ethical practices in the fashion industry, including promoting circular economy models and encouraging responsible consumption.
This is where the Sportsgirl RELOOP partnership comes in.
Redefining fashion sustainability
Sportsgirl’s collaboration with RELOOP represents a small step in the brand’s commitment to sustainability.
RELOOP, an innovative recycling program, aims to close the loop on fashion by creating a circular economy. This means keeping garments and textiles in circulation for as long as possible, minimising waste and reducing the demand for new resources.
Husband and wife duo Dean Jones and Audrey Khaing-Jones are the brains behind RELOOP’s innovative approach. Also the founders of GlamCorner, an online fashion rental company in Sydney, both businesses were created to combat waste across the fashion industry.
Over a decade, Dean and Audrey have been dedicated to reducing the environmental impact caused by unused clothing items ending up in closets or landfills. They believe there’s no need to keep producing more new items, depleting the Earth’s resources when existing ones can be utilised in numerous ways.
By joining forces with RELOOP, Sportsgirl is making their first steps towards addressing their own contributions to fashion’s environmental impact and taking a proactive approach to helping their customers understand ways to make small changes with big impacts.
How to get started with Sportsgirl and RELOOP
When buying an apparel item on sportsgirl.com.au that’s $50 or more, shoppers can create a RELOOP account and pre-emptively register the item and its details into RELOOP (shop now, re-sell later).
Once activated, shoppers have the opportunity to create a complete profile in their RELOOP account, describing their style and items they’d like to resell. They also have the chance to learn more about the full process and how utilising RELOOP actively supports the circular economy.
This integrated process makes getting started with RELOOP through Sportsgirl easy and seamless for the user, who can add items as they purchase them, ready to put them up for sale in the future should they choose, or to add items further down the line.
Delivering on a sustainable promise for future generations
By embracing the circular economy and empowering conscious consumerism, Sportsgirl is steering the brand and those that choose to shop with them towards a more sustainable future.
As consumers, we have the power to drive change by supporting brands that prioritise sustainability. Sportsgirl’s RELOOP partnership is a call to action for all fashion enthusiasts to reconsider their consumption habits and choose brands that share their values.
Together, we can create a fashion industry that not only caters to our style desires and respects the planet we call home.