Sustainability Pulse #19

Sustainability Trends & News Worth Exploring — January 2nd, 2022

Jan 02, 2022

Nisolo launches Sustainability Facts Label

Ethical fashion brand Nisolo has launched a 'Sustainability Facts Label', which allows consumers to check the impact of each product on the planet and the people who manufacture it.

The label - which includes a QR code linking to 200 data points on environmental and human rights issues - will be attached to each Nisolo product to understand better the impact of the products they buy.

Keeping Up with Sustainable Fashion for 2022: From Recycled Materials to Secondhand Shopping

Despite supply chain disruptions and Covid-19 confusion, sustainability remained a major theme in fashion throughout 2021. In fact, as the buying power of Generation Z, the most eco-conscious generation, continued to grow, we saw an uptick in secondhand shopping and the use of term “sustainability” increased on product pages. At the same time, however, fast fashion remained extremely popular and the sector’s product turnover soared.

This Mushroom-Based Leather Could Be the Next Sustainable Fashion Material

Plant-based leathers have the potential to revolutionize the fashion industry. Now, MycoWorks, a California-based biotech company, has created a new eco-friendly, vegan leather derived from fungi. The leather turns mycelium—threads from the root structure of mushrooms—into a material that imitates the look and feel of animal-based leather, reports Jess Cartner-Morley for the Guardian.

From ESG-Focused Lawsuits to a New Industry Taskforce: The Year in Sustainability

Among the many pre-existing trends that the pandemic has accelerated is an increase in the already-rising awareness of – and emphasis on – sustainability and Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (“ESG”) by consumers and brands, alike, and growing efforts by lawmakers, watchdogs, and class action plaintiffs, among others, to crack down on the largely unregulated nature of ESG disclosures and sustainability-centric marketing. Consumer interest in sustainability and broader ESG issues has pushed many brands to bolster their bottom lines by making oversized marketing efforts and/or more ambitious-than-objective “eco-friendly” statements. To date, brands have managed mainly to appease stakeholders with proclamations about their “eco” efforts and skirt legal ramifications for questionable claims due to the traditional lack of regulation in the realm of sustainability and ESG.

5 Fashion-Related New Year's Resolutions for 2022

The new year is a time for change, growth, and a fresh start. Whether it's doing a closet clean-out to make room for new pieces, changing your style completely, or trying to shop eco-friendly, give yourself the gift of a new fashion mentality and a new wardrobe in 2022. Here, find five fashion resolutions to vamp up your style, get rid of those old clothes, and start the new year off on a high note.

New year, new closet, new you!

7 questions you should ask about sustainable fashion

If, like the rest of us, you’re paying more attention to the impact your buying habits have the one planet, you’ve probably started giving some thought to sustainable fashion. But what are the questions we should be asking about the clothes we buy to ensure we can open our wardrobes each morning and look at the contents with as clear a conscience as possible?

Don't know where to start? We're here to help you make sense of some of the key issues at the heart of sustainable fashion so you can make informed decisions next time you’re shopping for a new garment.

How Shein got away with daylight robbery in 2021

Whether you cringed at the $900 haul videos or did a double-take at the infamous Rick Owens knock-offs, in 2021 you couldn’t escape Shein. This year, the e-commerce giant was responsible for some of the worst fashion faux pas, and quickly became the fast fashion villain we all love to hate. The Chinese company is plagued with reports of labour exploitation, abhorrent working conditions, and environmental abuse. But more publicly, it’s developed a reputation for allegedly stealing designs from established global brands and small businesses and up-and-coming fashion designers alike.

Founded in 2008, Shein enjoyed a rapid ascent to the top, becoming the most talked about brand on TikTok and YouTube in 2020. The fast-fashion giant topped that feat in 2021 by surpassing Amazon to become the number one app in the United States under the shopping categories for both iOS and Android. It parallels Amazon, known for its galling work schedules and conditions for its factory staff, beyond the numbers too – reports suggest that the company pushes its young workers to do 75-hour weeks so that it can add thousands of items to its site daily.

Five Good Foreign Policy News Stories in 2021

Two thousand twenty-one will go down in the books as another tough year. But recounting all the bad things that happened in 2021 makes it easy to overlook the good things that happened. And good things did happen. So here, in no particular order, are five foreign-policy related good news stories. You may want to read what follows closely. Several of these stories could bring more good news in 2022 and beyond.