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SAFEST aims to raise awareness on the impact of the fashion industry on the environment and the role consumers can play in changing this attitude and making a positive impact towards reaching the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the European Green Deal objectives.
Between 1990 and 2018, greenhouse gas emissions in the EU were reduced by 23% .
A central objective of the EU Green Deal is to set out the trajectory for the EU to be climate neutral by 2050. As a milestone towards this target, the EU Commission proposed a 2030 target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% compared to 1990.
As of 2019, consumers had an average of 136 apparel items in their closets . As a whole, the world’s citizens acquire circa 80 billion apparel items annually. Moreover, according to a study conducted by Censuswide for Barnado’s, each piece will be worn on average just seven times before being tossed.
The chase for new style at rock bottom prices leads to corners being cut in quality, workplace practices and environmental sustainability. The fast processes used in the fashion industry require cheap unnatural materials produced via poor agriculture practices, toxic chemicals, and synthetic fabrics. In fact, the fashion industry is the second largest polluter of the world’s clean water sources.
Textile production is estimated to be responsible for about 20% of global clean water pollution from dyeing and finishing products. Washing synthetics releases an estimated 0.5 million tonnes of microfibres into the ocean a year. Laundering synthetic clothes account for 35% of primary microplastics released into the environment. A single laundry load of polyester clothes can discharge 700,000 microplastic fibres that can end up in the food chain. Furthermore, textile dyeing requires toxic chemicals that subsequently end up in our oceans.
Approximately 20% of the wastewater worldwide is attributed to this process, which accumulates over time. As many factories moved overseas as stated previously, they may be in countries without strict environmental regulations, resulting in untreated water entering the oceans.
Regrettably, the wastewater created is extremely toxic and, in many cases, cannot be treated to become safe again .
In response to the damaging effects of fast fashion, a new movement has formed, slow fashion.
Slow fashion is gaining a lot of attention and is creating new ways to design manufacture and purchase clothing.
It encourages sustainable practices, as well as ethical working conditions.
The antithesis of fast fashion, it focuses on quality and longevity while standing up for both nature and people.
A growing number of farmers and organizations support the slow-fashion movement.
Although slow-fashion brands typically sell their items at higher price points, the cost reflects the higher quality of the item, the factory that it was made in, and the farm that the textile’s crops came from.
Against this backdrop, SAFEST aims at promoting the fight against climate change by raising awareness among consumers on the importance of the choices made in terms of fashion.
By changing the demand, we can change the market and its procedures moving the fashion industry towards a more sustainable way of production.