In a world dressed in ‘green’ slogans and eco-branded merchandise, I have reached my crossroad in the sustainable fashion community. As we champion environmental events, the production of new t-shirts, often worn once and forgotten, has cast a dark shadow over the very cause we support. I have personally witnessed Tshirts—an emblem of eco-consciousness— ironically contribute to the scourge of textile waste. It’s a contradiction I am still trying to navigate.
The Unsustainable Lifecycle of a Tee
The journey of most of these t-shirt begins long before it reaches the printing press. It’s a narrative of resource exploitation and adverse environmental impact. Cotton, the lifeblood of t-shirts, is thirsty—requiring thousands of gallons of water for just one kilogram of lint.
Then comes dyeing, a process that often involves harmful chemicals, mostly discharged into rivers, suffocating life and jeopardizing community water sources. Each vibrant hue and catchy phrase comes with a cost—a cost not accounted for in its price tag.
The sewing machines buzz in unison, often in nations where labor laws are a parable.
The Aftermath: Dumped and Forgotten
Mountains of disregarded garments, including countless activist tees, rise each year, testaments to our shortsighted consumerism. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation alarmingly notes that one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second. This overproduction contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and a multitude of social injustices.
Fashion’s New Uniform: Conscious Choices
At Sustainable Fashion Talks, we believe championing a cause shouldn’t cost the Earth. In the spirit of ‘doing our best until we know better,’ as Maya Angelou accurately put it, we embraced a different path for Eco Fashion Week Africa in 2023.
Instead of generating new t-shirts, we encouraged event participants to wear pre-owned articles, creatively upcycling or swapping garments. It’s a gesture—a pledge to our planet—that needs no fresh ink or cotton to broadcast its earnestness.
What can you do? Alternatives to T-Shirt Trappings
Wear Existing Eco-Apparel: Reinforce your message by wearing an eco-friendly item from your closet. Let your attire speak volumes of your journey in sustainable fashion.
Upcycled Bandanas: Bandanas, dyed with natural or low-impact colors, can be a unique, wearable symbol for your event’s participants.
Custom Patches: Patches made from scrap fabric can be affixed to any article of clothing, providing a personal touch without the downside of mass production.
Digital Badges: Embrace technology by creating digital badges that participants can display on social media, a virtual testament to their commitment.
Creating a Better Tomorrow
We never boast perfection and are known to be the first ones to say “WE ARE LEARNING”, but our stitches are earnest, and our patterns, authentic. At Sustainable Fashion Talks, we are not putting people down by highlighting their failures, instead, we share what we learn as we progress and hope that our community embraces change as we grow slowly. Remember, “NO ONE ADOPTS A FULLY SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE OVERNIGHT” Join us on this imperfect journey.
Our conviction is steadfast: to curate a conversation, a thought, a choice that resonates with the core of environmentalism—minimal harm, maximum respect. Will you wear this commitment with us?