Looking for Sustainability Scoring in Apparel: A Review on Environmental Footprint, Social Impacts and Transparency

Sustainable Development Goals for Textiles and Fashion

In this paper, each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is discussed in the context of textiles and fashion. The necessity of collaborative efforts is accentuated to overcome the climate crisis and human health concerns encountered by the textiles and fashion industry. The concerns over poverty faced by cotton farmers, soil depletion, and toxicity to aquatic life due to microfibres and heavy metals are presented. The paper underlines numerous corrective practises such as the utilisation of African Organic Cotton, Better Initiative Cotton, and others that could enable curtailing poverty and hunger. The requirement for a more corporate and socially responsible textiles and fashion business that would propel SDGs is described with inspiring examples of Inditex, Culthread, Saint Basics, Flamingo's Life, etcetera. More, the greenwashing and ardent necessity of transparency across the fashion value chain is emphasised herein. The importance of reducing inequalities and working in partnership for innovation and justice is highlighted such as apple leather, algal foam, and others. Even more, the production waste and landfill disputes are reviewed. Eventually, the paper concludes with an appeal for mindful and diligent efforts from textiles and fashion consumers, designers, manufacturers, and traders to continually adapt to SDGs even after 2030 as there is no planet B. Also, abiding by the laws of nature as listed herein is found to be the key to reaching SDGs.

Circular Economy in Low-Carbon Transition

The circular economy represents a fundamental pillar for modern business models and sustainable development targets: the mandatory claim “reduce, reuse, recycle” is the answer to the global criticalities of natural resources depletion and waste increase [...]

Influences on Consumer Engagement with Sustainability and the Purchase Intention of Apparel Products

Apparel and textile products are filling landfills and contributing to extensive waste found across the world. Much of the textile waste is due to the typical consumer not being aware of the care for, disposal of, and sustainable options for textile products. To identify consumers’ intention to engage in sustainable practices and the intention to purchase sustainable apparel options, this study measured consumers’ attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral controls. Data were collected from a sample of 397 participants through a Qualtrics online survey disseminated on Amazon’s MTurk. Results of the multiple regression analysis yielded three of note: (1) a positive attitude toward recycling and the environment is related to a higher intention to engage in sustainable behavior, (2) a positive attitude toward green apparel products leads to a higher intention to purchase sustainable products, and (3) family and friends and the convenience of finding sustainable apparel products in stores have also influenced the purchase of sustainable apparel. Thus, this study provides significant insights into both intention to engage in sustainable behavior and the intention to purchase sustainable products and serves as a foundation for future studies on the sustainable engagement and purchase intention toward sustainable products.