Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

businessinsider.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 294 posts

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#71

Post by DoreenMichele »

gherkinnn wrote: post #58
groby_b wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes and no :) "On-demand" clothing manufacturing is practiced today, in that fashions change rapidly, and in response, retailers produce what can only be described as "shitty quality, fast". (Exacerbated by Chinese clothing manufacturers + social media - they're extremely effective at churning out extremely glossy pictures for what's about the lowest possible bar of quality) That - "fast fashion" - is what gets disca…

Now, if only bespoke shorts and tshirts became a thing. I’d happily pay a decent sum for a set of charcoal tshirts that fit me perfectly and last for a few years of daily use. Bonus points of I get to choose a fabric other than pure cotton.

I imagine you could do this via a local tailor.

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#72

Post by abledon »

evolve2k wrote: post #39

Ecologically speaking maybe Steve Jobs/Star Trek respectively were onto something. A high quality minimal personal style that involves orders of magnitude less garment churn and waste with the added benefit of just not having to spend time on what to wear each day (insert pithy Jobs quote). But seriously if I was to explore finding a personal style that I could wear as my day to day work/life “uniform”, where to look…

If your in US or Canada, consider Value Village or another similar well known second hand clothing store chain. Like sibling comment said, just shop for a 'look' , e.g. color or form of garment, don't worry about BS brands etc..

Nice thing is that if you end up not liking the 100$ worth of clothing you bought (WHICH IS ALOT OF CLOTHING!), and say, return 40% of it after 3 months... would've been same as buying 1 fancy shirt at your local department store.

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#73

Post by ghaff »

wil421 wrote: post #22
esotericn wrote: post #18

We really need a better industry around re-use of essentially everything. Let's say I need some X. Last week I bought a base layer because it's getting cold here. I can order, or buy in a store, a brand new X trivially. I don't actually need a brand new X. A used X would do me just fine. But the difficulty in doing so is ridiculous in comparison. Cottage industry eBay stuff (that you have to order online) vs. an enti…

If you really want to do go down this path I would highly recommend Patagonia wornwear. They get a lot of hate for their prices but they are trying to be as sustainable as possible. The Ironclad guarantee is one of the best. eBay is full of their used stuff and some neat retro gear. https://wornwear.patagonia.com

Neat. Didn't know Patagonia had that. Though, truth be told, the Patagonia clothing I could potentially buy used probably lasts me so long that I don't really need any more.

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#74

Post by acabal »

evolve2k wrote: post #39

Ecologically speaking maybe Steve Jobs/Star Trek respectively were onto something. A high quality minimal personal style that involves orders of magnitude less garment churn and waste with the added benefit of just not having to spend time on what to wear each day (insert pithy Jobs quote). But seriously if I was to explore finding a personal style that I could wear as my day to day work/life “uniform”, where to look…

Men already had that in the past, the suit. Up until the first war clothing was expensive to make so generally men had only one or two suits and they would wear them every day, and repair them as they wore down. Shirts were, to an extent, a step above underwear. Men would spice up the same suit every day with different ties, pocket handkerchiefs, and other small accessories, all of which were generally more affordable than an entire suit.

These days suits appear to be worn less often, mostly in business environments, very formal life events, and by fashion enthusiasts. But ironically, maybe one of the greenest ways to dress (for men) is to get a secondhand suit or two from a thrift store, in a natural material like wool or linen, have a tailor or dry cleaner alter it into a stylish cut that fits your body, and wear it every day. They can be altered to fit literally anybody in a flattering way, different materials can be either warm or surprisingly cool to suit your climate, and there's so much more to suits than the depressing shiny blue/black polyester business suit we all picture these days.

Want to be green and look great? Drop the Patagonia fleece and cotton t-shirt swag from last week's startup, and buy a used suit in a nice natural material!

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#75

Post by itronitron »

toss1 wrote: post #21
SapporoChris wrote: post #12

First I was shamed for driving a car, then flying, now wearing clothes. Fine, I'm a terrible person. I'm going to stop trying now. sarcasm

Not clothes, artificial clothes. From TFA: "Many of those fibers are polyester, a plastic found in an estimated 60% of garments. Producing polyester releases two to three times more carbon emissions than cotton, and polyester does not break down in the ocean." I'm not sure if it is more the consumers or the producers driving it, but it's almost impossible now to find actual 100% cotton clothing., at least in the US.…

either Patagonia or The Gap (maybe both) did an environmental impact analysis in the late '90's and were surprised to discover that cotton had the biggest negative impact. I don't recall the exact reason or numbers but it sounds like someone needs to do another analysis on total cost of production for each material.

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#76

Post by globular-toast »

If you're a man you can immediately stop contributing to this by opting out of fashion and buying high quality garments that will last you a decade or more. Buy handmade shoes that are worth resoling. Buy shirts and only wash them when necessary. Stop wearing printed t-shirts that degrade quickly. Don't wash your trousers.

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#77

Post by TeMPOraL »

ISL wrote: post #66
TeMPOraL wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd happily wear a DS9 or First Contact era Starfleet uniform all day. They look great! :). Regarding your serious point, I'd like to know too. I'd pay for a service that would help me find a style that looks good on me, with associated supply of quality clothes in this style. My current clothing choice pattern is "random, with a pre-filtering done by my wife".

Do those uniforms have pockets?

Unfortunately not; Star Trek uniforms generally don't have pockets (with an exception of Beverly Crusher's lab coat (TNG) and the jacket B'Elanna Torres wore at some point (VOY)). Enterprise-era uniforms are full of pockets, and they look kind of nice too! However, I don't think a DS9/First Contact era uniform with pockets in trousers would look too much unlike the original, and it's enough to store a smartphone (and a thin wallet without much cash).

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#78

Post by telesilla »

itronitron wrote: post #55
esotericn wrote: post #18

We really need a better industry around re-use of essentially everything. Let's say I need some X. Last week I bought a base layer because it's getting cold here. I can order, or buy in a store, a brand new X trivially. I don't actually need a brand new X. A used X would do me just fine. But the difficulty in doing so is ridiculous in comparison. Cottage industry eBay stuff (that you have to order online) vs. an enti…

vinokilo.com if you are in Europe, they also have events in cities where they fill a space with sorted clothing and blast music way too loud (so bring earplugs)

Nice idea but the fun of vintage clothes shopping is having a few hours with nothing better to do than trying on the umpteenth ugly sweater/velvet jacket/vintage dress until you find one that looks better than one you can find in 15 minutes on the high street. Buying online is totally meaningless in the space.

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#79

Post by wuliwong »

esotericn wrote: post #18

We really need a better industry around re-use of essentially everything. Let's say I need some X. Last week I bought a base layer because it's getting cold here. I can order, or buy in a store, a brand new X trivially. I don't actually need a brand new X. A used X would do me just fine. But the difficulty in doing so is ridiculous in comparison. Cottage industry eBay stuff (that you have to order online) vs. an enti…

>But the difficulty in doing so is ridiculous in comparison

Buying a used base layer on eBay is not ridiculously difficult as compared to buying a new one from other online retailers. Amazon is certainly easier but compared to going to an online store like REI, I'd say it is comparable.

Are you saying that the brick and mortar stores? REI I believe has used gear in their brick and mortar store, the selection is probably going to be all over the place but I'm not sure how a single store would guarantee a used stock. I think their used inventory is listed online. There's also good will and other consignment shops and things like that.

I'm wondering if what you really want is better marketing for used services to increase awareness. That seems pretty legit. Maybe there's an opportunity there to really blast out a marketing/propaganda campaign to get this concept burned into consumer's minds?

Re: Fashion industry emits more carbon than flights and maritime shipping combined

#80

Post by glaugh »

evolve2k wrote: post #39

Ecologically speaking maybe Steve Jobs/Star Trek respectively were onto something. A high quality minimal personal style that involves orders of magnitude less garment churn and waste with the added benefit of just not having to spend time on what to wear each day (insert pithy Jobs quote). But seriously if I was to explore finding a personal style that I could wear as my day to day work/life “uniform”, where to look…

One day I walked into our company’s swag closet and grabbed 10 identical company shirts that are kinda subtle about the branding and just look like some band t-shirt. I’m a couple years into wearing only these to work (plus two pairs of jeans and two pairs of shorts) and it is indeed one less thing to think about. Occasionally people notice and it’s kind of a fun conversation, and that’s about the only consequence of it.
Post reply on HN