What Makes A Brand Sustainable?

How Do I Know If A Brand Is Really Sustainable? What is Sustainable Fashion? Why Shop Sustainable Brands?

These are all great questions; and we’ve got answers!

At People Heart Planet, we only include brands in our search results that do right by people and the planet. (That’s why we’re called People Heart Planet.) We personally vet and verify every brand to ensure that they meet the criteria of being fair trade or sustainable. (To learn about our vetting process, click here.) 

For a brand to be sustainable, it must (at a minimum) employ an overall business model that results in a minimal environmental footprint both in terms of carbon emissions and waste. This means examining the entire lifecycle of a product, from design, sourcing and raw material production, manufacturing, transport and logistics, warehouse and storage, packaging and shipping, marketing and final sale, use, reuse and recycling. Sustainable brands never prioritize profit over environmental impact. 

There are a lot of ways for brands to be sustainable. While there are no set criteria for defining sustainability, and different companies have different targets and methods, the shared goal is to implement processes and practices that prioritize environmental responsibility and never put profit over the health and future of the planet.

Some of the strategies sustainable brands use are:

1. Water use reduction
2. Using renewable energy for production
3. Carbon offsetting
4. Using organic and natural fibers
5. Sourcing from sustainable producers
6. Reducing fabric waste
7. Deploying technologies to reduce excess stock
8. Using fewer or no harmful chemicals
9. Using low impact dyes
10. Using vegan materials
11. Using post-consumer and recycled materials, especially for synthetic production
12. Using sustainably produced and recyclable packing
13. Offering recycling programs for customers
14. Sourcing and selling locally

As consumers, there are also various ways we can consume more sustainably. We can:

1. Buy from companies that are sustainable and not from fast fashion brands
2. Have our garments made rather than buy off the rack
3. Buy fewer items
4. Buy pieces that last longer and that we will want to wear over time
5. Buy natural fibers
6. Recycle
7. Upcycle
8. Swap and trade
9. Buy preloved or second-hand
10. Rent instead of buy
11. Repair instead of throw away

So what are the terms you should understand to know if a brand is sustainable? Read all about it below.

TERMS and DEFINITIONS

Climate: long-term regional or global average of temperature, humidity and rainfall patterns over seasons, years or decades. Climate is long-term, as opposed to weather which is short-term.

Climate Change: both human and naturally produced changes in climate and the effects it has on the planet.

Global Warming: the long-term heating of Earth’s climate system observed since the pre-industrial period (between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere. It's commonly measured as the average increase in Earth's global surface temperature. 

Environmental Footprint: the effect that a person, company or activity has on the environment, for example the amount of natural resources that they use or the amount of harmful gases that they produce.

Carbon Footprint: the total amount of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide and methane) that are generated by one's actions.

Greenhouse Gases: gases in Earth's atmosphere that trap heat; they let sunlight pass through the atmosphere, but they prevent the heat that the sunlight brings from leaving the atmosphere. Common examples of greenhouse gases include: water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone and any fluorocarbons. Although water vapor is the most abundant greenhouse gas, it is a relatively ineffective one.

Carbon Offset: a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions or an increase in carbon storage (e.g., through land restoration or the planting of trees) that is used to compensate for emissions that occur elsewhere.

Renewable Energy: often referred to as clean energy, it's energy derived from natural sources or processes that are constantly replenished, i.e. sunlight or wind.

Low-Impact Dyes: dyes that do not contain toxic chemicals or mordants which fix the dye to the fabric, require less rinsing and have a high absorption rate in the fabric.

Post-Consumer Materials: finished materials that would be disposed of as a solid having reached its intended end-use and completed life cycle.

Natural Fibers: raw material obtained from an animal, vegetable or mineral and convertible  into nonwoven fabrics or, after spinning, into woven cloth. 

Synthetic Fibers: fibers made by humans through chemical synthesis including those made from natural materials (such as rayon and acetate from cellulose or regenerated protein fibers from zein or casein) as well as fully synthetic fibers (such as nylon or acrylic fibers).