Rent a Romper’s Post

There are so many of working to build a bettter future - rethinking the way fashion works for you and for your kids. It is hard to change the way we operate. It takes creativity and courage - and capital - to compete against the status quo. Let’s support innovation for a better future. #sustainablefashion #secondhand #circulareconomy #circularfashion #futuregenerations

📢 SUPPORT CIRCULAR ECONOMY COMPANIES IN FASHION 📢 Enough with the lip service. Every time I think we’ve moved a step forward, we take two steps back and I’m over it. Yesterday, Renewcell, an award-winning textile-to-textile recycling company, filed for bankruptcy. Now, “the real question with Renewcell is not what they did wrong, but why the industry allowed it to happen” - Rachel Cernansky So. Here’s a quick list (not comprehensive at all, but starts with Renewcell) of some of the brands you can support innovating in this space. Save this. Share this. But MOST OF ALL. Support these companies PLEASE. And if you are a circular company, please share so I can follow your work! ♻️ Circular materials Renewcell and Circulose - Dear fashion brands: BUY. IT. NOW!!!!! Thanks to the US dream team Tricia Carey, Shannon Welch, and Amber Härkönen. ♻️ Other circular materials and innovation Circ®, Kintra Fibers, TômTex Co., Lenzing Group, FABSCRAP   🔧 Repair MendIt, Inc., FXRY, SOJO, The Seam, Save Your Wardrobe, Recyck, LLC Hemster, alternew 🛍️ Resale Recurate, Trove, Treet, Arrive 🔍 Traceability, Digital Passports EON, Evermore, ABLE ecosystems 🎓Education on the circular economy and why it matters Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute Other ways to support as a citizen - Rent, buy vintage Manhattan Vintage, check tags for recycled fibers, properly recycle textiles Other ways to support as a brand - Sustainable Packaging and Zero-Waste Design, Digital Fashion and Virtual Sampling, reverse logistics like Tersus, Debrand, Retail Reworks, Bleckmann What am I missing? Asking the experts (follow them for more) Cynthia Power, Laura Novich, Amy Rauen, Michelle Gabriel, Chana Rosenthal, Dana Davis (she/her), Tara St James

We talk about circular economy and fashion often. We think we understand it: it's easy, it's about recycling. Not really. There is much more to it, and, really, in it's true meaning it's so much more exciting than recycling. Implemented in Africa and South Africa, it could be transformative. Here is a key paragraph from an article by Kiera Crowe Pettersson: "Without using too much jargon, the circular economy is a transformative model of production and consumption that shifts away from our linear model of “take-make-use-waste”, towards a vision of an economic system that prioritises sustainability, equity, and empowerment through the promotion of the 5R’s: refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, recycle. In a perfect world, the circular economy is regenerative and distributive. In regard to fashion and textiles, the circular economy narrows in on materials, how they are made, and what happens to them after they are used." https://lnkd.in/diDd3fWk

Let's make a change to the way we think about fashion. So, what can we do next? We all know about climate change and the damage being done to our environment, but it doesn't mean we can't do something to make a difference. In a circular economy, products are designed from the start to be remade. That means materials flow back to the maker and the new product is made from the old product. It is different from recycling, or up-cycling, where material is turned into something different before it is then thrown away. A circular economy is infinite because by design the material flows in a loop. Our circular fashion page explains in more detail how it works. Your product is sent back to a processing station, where all products are graded into categories, such as colour and product type. The products are then transported out to our remanufacturing partners based in the EU and India, where they are shredded and custom-blended with organic cotton into yarn. The yarn is then knitted & products are sewn up, creating a product made from 50% recycled and 50% virgin organic cotton. They are then transported to the factories where they are printed and their lifecycle starts again. Teemill oversees this whole process. Many other companies outsource the first part of the process - such as the recovery of products & grading work (as it's challenging and requires lots of automation). However, to be able to guarantee that nothing ends up in a landfill, Teemill has its own processing station for complete control over the entire circular supply chain, from the moment a product is sent back, to when it arrives back into the printing factories after being remade. This is what makes Remill different from any other recovery program out there. As part of our GOTS certification, we are audited to ensure that our products do not contain animal-derived ingredients and to ensure our products have not been tested on animals. This certification is seed-to-shop and includes our organic cotton and printing technology. Many vegans shop with us for this reason. our supply chain is audited to ensure safe, positive, and fair working conditions and pay. All of our products are GOTS compliant and our supply chain is SA8000 certified. The factories where our products are made are powered by renewable energy. Read more about our sustainable fashion supply chain.

Moving from Throwaway🚮 to Circular Way♻️ The fashion industry’s current model is linear: we produce, we consume, we throw away.  This “throwaway” model results in 92 million tons of textile waste annually, with less than 1% of clothing being recycled into new garments (source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation).   To change this, we need to think how we design, produce, and sell products, moving to a circular model where longevity, reuse, and minimal waste is the priority. Here’s a framework for moving from throwaway to circular way: 1️⃣ Design for Durability and Reuse Instead of cheap shit products made of bad quality materials with crap making, brands can focus on designing products that are meant to LAST. Use high-quality materials and design them so they can be reused, repaired or repurposed. 2️⃣ Implement Circular Production Models Implement closed-loop systems where materials are recycled back into the production process. This can significantly reduce waste. The production of textiles generates 1.2 billion tons of CO2 annually, more than international flights and shipping combined (source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation). We could reduce emissions and consumption of resources by reusing materials within the system - moving to a circular system. 3️⃣ Offer Resale, Repair, Rental or Subscription Brands can add new business models to their business. They can do resell, repair, rental or subscription. The global resale market is expected to reach $77 billion by 2025 (source: ThredUp 2021 Report). Giving your customers these services extend the lifecycle of your products and engages the customers in a more sustainable way. 4️⃣ Implement Digital Product Passports Traceability and transparency are crucial for the circular model. By using Digital Product Passports (DPP), brands can be fully transparent about the lifecycle of a product, from raw materials to end-of-life, and give consumers the information needed for resale, repair and recycling. The EU regulations will require DPPs in order to operate. 5️⃣ Collaboration with the Supply Chain It’s a collaborative effort - brands with the entire supply chain need to work together to support each other in reaching common sustainable practice goals. This is the ONLY way that will drive change. Going from a throwaway mindset to a circular way of operating needs implementation of the great solutions already available. It’s not just a responsibility—it’s an opportunity. Brands can embrace circularity of course for the planet, but also for long-term business success. __ Portia - Fashion Software: Leading bands into circularity. A cloud based solution for SMEs with processes, project and product management, traceability and Digital Product Passport, plus customer feedback and partnership portal.  We’re your ONE platform solution for running and scaling your responsible fashion business. DM me to hear more!

Textile recycling is the next big hurdle. Of recycling. Fast fashion creates huge mountains of textile waste - which is difficult to recycle. Beyond Retro may have part of the solution. Buying large quantities of used clothes - sorting them carefully - choosing high quality clothes - displaying them using traditional fashion store tactics. But adding circularity values aimed at conscious customers searching for unique vintage clothing. But most of the textiles cannot be sold this way. Here, recycling is the key to developing new products. The interesting thing is whether the economies of scale of redesigning clothes is more than just greenwashing. https://lnkd.in/d7WyCqHW

Throwing clothes is no longer an option. We know that there are ways to reuse and recycle them. But why aren't we all doing them yet? Fashion business owners still have problems with unsold clothes. Maybe the problem does not lie on businesses not adopting the circular way but on how they approach their decision-making when it comes to the kind of clothes they produce. If only businesses know what their customers really want and if they can help their customers figure out what they want, I bet we don't even need to change our business model. In other words, we need to know who our customers enough that we can provide them what they truly need and want.

Ever wondered what happens to the clothes we discard? Let’s talk about Circular Fashion – a system where nothing goes to waste, and everything gets a second life. H&M’s commitment to sustainability is admirable, setting an example for the fashion industry. It has embraced circular fashion as a core strategy to become more sustainable and reduce the environmental impact of the fashion industry. Their circular approach includes several key initiatives. o  Garment Collection: Customers can drop off old clothes for reuse, recycling, or upcycling. o  Material Innovation: Targeting 100% recycled or sustainably sourced materials by 2030. o  Resale Platform: H&M Rewear promotes buying and selling pre-loved items. o  “Let’s Reuse” Program: Encourages reusable bags by charging for paper bags, reducing packaging waste. Learn more about it: https://lnkd.in/gqeFmJUe What sustainable choices do you prioritize for your wardrobe? 👗A. Buying second-hand or pre-loved clothes ♻B. Donating or recycling old garments 🌿C. Choosing brands that use sustainable materials ✂D. Upcycling or repairing clothes to extend their life

𝑪𝒊𝒓𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝑭𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑬𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒚 - 𝑪𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑾𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 Through the Circular Fashion initiative, the fashion industry is preparing to embrace the circular economy. Although the term "circular fashion" didn't exist until 2014, the concept was already in use. Nevertheless, its gaining momentum after the round-table talks about sustainability in the fashion industry. Circular fashion can be defined as “ clothes, shoes or accessories that are designed, sourced, produced, and provided with the intention to be used and circulate responsibly and effectively in society for as long as possible in their most valuable form, and hereafter return safely to the biosphere when no longer of human use” (Anna Brismar, Green Strategy, 2017). 👉Usage of Renewable Materials 👉Elimination of Waste and Pollution 👉Usage of Renewable Materials 👉Designed and Built to Last 👉Community Responsibility - Wear, Repair/Redesign, Rent, Reuse, Resell 👉Recycle Time and again the regulations are reshaping the Fashion Industry and more to come in upcoming days. The Proposed EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (#ESPR) introducing a concept of 𝒅𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 based on mandatory information requirements on circularity. https://lnkd.in/d5xRKTcP #circulareconomy #circularity #circularfashion #Sustainability #fashionindustry #greenwashing #recycleresponsibly #reducereuserecycle #circulareconomyseriesbyTK

This thoughtful piece from Modern Retail raises several key issues in the fashion industry when it comes to circularity. The more this conversation is at the forefront, the more brands experiment to try new models, the more we learn and can improve. 🛍 The Target news this week is good news. More is more when it comes to even end-of-life reuse, and at the same time, let's not conflate this with comprehensive circularity ♻ At Trove we depend heavily on partners like SuperCircle and Debrand to help brands appropriately and responsibly recycle items that can't be resold. Getting these items to the right endpoint is crucial to waste reduction. Love to see more attention on these folks, and proposals like California's Responsible Textile Recovery Act to require brands to use comprehensive strategies for extending lifecycles 🛑 There are hard truths in these conversations that we as an industry often gloss right over. The Modern Retail piece says it well: "Still, a key aspect of a circular production model is one in which there is less manufacturing and selling of new clothes. And there isn’t much data to suggest that the secondhand apparel industry, including take-back programs, are offsetting enough production to have an effect. More than 100 billion garments are produced each year, which is double what it was 15 years ago, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation." We're far from the scale we need to be at, and we need more tools in the toolkit to reduce overall production (yes, production- let's put the onus on producers, where it belongs). https://lnkd.in/gdhamnRe