00:01 we're constantly bombarded with media
00:03 that puts pressure on us to buy newer
00:05 and trendier clothes
00:06 just to throw them away when they're no
00:09 an estimated 93 million tons go to
00:12 landfill or are burned
00:13 every year and that's roughly about the
00:17 of textiles every second
00:20 going to landfill every second producing
00:23 clothes also pollutes our water and
00:26 the fast fashion model pioneered by zara
00:29 means that brands are turning out double
00:30 the amount of clothing per year as they
00:32 did in the early 2000s
00:33 but companies say that's about to change
00:35 because we can now buy eco-friendly fast
00:38 and also recycle our clothes when we
00:39 don't want them anymore
00:41 but can we believe them
00:50 inditex zara's parent company and h m
00:52 group are two of the biggest fashion
00:54 retailers in the world
00:55 and both have collections that claim to
00:56 reduce the environmental impact of
00:59 not only that but the two fashion giants
01:01 say they're making their entire brands
01:05 let's take a look at these promises
01:07 starting with the materials
01:10 main materials at zara and h m as well
01:13 as worldwide are polyester
01:15 which accounts for around 52 percent of
01:17 total fiber production
01:18 and cotton which is around 24 p-e-t
01:22 is a different name for polyester and is
01:24 the same type of plastic that's found in
01:26 bottles actually sixty percent of pet
01:30 production goes to textiles and only
01:32 thirty percent to water bottles
01:35 the material is produced from petroleum
01:37 and the process uses lots of energy and
01:40 as well as acids and ammonia into the
01:44 recycled polyester uses up to 60 percent
01:46 less energy than virgin material
01:48 and can be made from textile scraps or
01:52 but inconsistencies in the threads can
01:54 make it require more dye
01:56 and experts say that polyester fabrics
02:00 000 microplastic fibers with every wash
02:02 which end up in the ocean
02:04 and also in our food
02:08 cotton doesn't have these problems but
02:10 is still a chemical and water intensive
02:12 according to the worldwide fund for
02:14 nature it takes 20 000 liters of water
02:17 to make one kilo of cotton
02:18 which is enough for one t-shirt and a
02:22 also around 11 of the world's pesticides
02:25 are used on cotton fields
02:27 so is organic cotton better essentially
02:29 there's a massive difference between
02:31 organic cotton and cotton this is sookie
02:33 a representative of fashion revolution
02:35 which is an organization that advocates
02:37 worldwide for transparency and
02:39 sustainability in the fashion industry
02:42 organic cotton is in the long term much
02:46 the farmer that grows it and the
02:48 environment and the soil that produces
02:51 and it's less water intensive and
02:54 doesn't require as much
02:55 irrigation as such we requested an
02:58 m about the sustainability of their
03:00 products but they declined over email
03:03 are happy to say that by the end of this
03:04 year all cotton we use will come from
03:06 sustainable sources
03:07 zara also responded only through emails
03:12 the group inditex zara's parent company
03:14 used over 38 thousand tons of
03:16 sustainable cotton in its clothing
03:18 up a hundred five percent from 2018.
03:21 but what does sustainable actually mean
03:24 there's no standard definition and it
03:26 doesn't equal organic
03:27 h m says that sustainable cotton can
03:30 or cotton that uses less pesticides and
03:37 zara portrays its cotton as sustainable
03:39 but calls it ecologically grown instead
03:42 it claims the cotton uses natural
03:43 fertilizers and pesticides
03:46 and is certified by the organic content
03:49 and the global organic textile standard
03:51 which say they control for chemical and
03:53 water use in the whole production
03:58 terms like conscious and ecologically
04:01 grown are hard to fact check
04:02 as well as confusing for the consumer
04:05 but according to the non-profit textile
04:08 in 2016 h m was the second largest user
04:11 of organic cotton in the world
04:13 zara was the fourth
04:16 let's focus on synthetics in h m's
04:18 sustainable collection
04:20 the synthetic clothing has to be at
04:21 least fifty percent recycled
04:23 zara doesn't specify their percentage
04:25 and their labeling can be confusing
04:27 this jacket says it's 100 recycled
04:30 which makes it seem like it's completely
04:32 recycled but the filling is polyester
04:34 that's a different material and this
04:37 isn't the only time this happens
04:39 the percentage recycled statement often
04:41 doesn't refer to the whole garment
04:43 making it look like the item is more
04:44 recycled than it actually is
04:47 on the subject of transparent labeling
04:49 the join life tags are also on the zara
04:52 and are stamped by the forest
04:53 stewardship council this would seem to
04:56 the clothing is certified by this
04:57 organization the stamp
04:59 however is only referring to the tag not
05:01 to the whole clothing item
05:03 talk about misleading
05:07 zara has committed to sustainable cotton
05:09 and polyester by 2025.
05:11 h m says all of their materials would be
05:14 sustainable by 2030
05:15 and for 2019 that figure was already at
05:19 if they stick to these commitments it
05:20 could mean big changes for the industry
05:23 but material is only part of the story
05:29 to find out if that cotton is actually
05:31 organic or that polyester is actually
05:33 consumers need to be able to check the
05:37 with an h m conscious t-shirt you can
05:39 find out in which specific factory it
05:42 so it's theoretically possible to check
05:44 the factory sustainability
05:46 zara only lists how many suppliers it
05:47 has in one city but not their names and
05:51 they were both evaluated by fashion
05:52 revolution an organization advocating
05:55 for transparency and sustainability and
05:58 none of the 250 large brands scored over
06:01 but for 2020 h m was the highest scoring
06:04 brand with a 73 percent
06:06 so quite transparent zara scored a 43
06:09 not so much this is important because
06:13 suppliers are one of the few
06:14 stakeholders with a front row seat to
06:16 brands inner working
06:18 kim has a background in human rights and
06:20 was a garment factory manager in
06:22 they uniquely have access to the
06:24 information that consumers
06:27 need to be able to cross-check brands
06:29 actions against their words
06:31 so being able to research suppliers
06:33 allows people to hold brands accountable
06:35 to their sustainability claims
06:36 but just because you're transparent it
06:38 does not mean you're sustainable
06:40 it does not mean that at all and that's
06:43 really really important
06:44 even for brands who know their whole
06:46 supply chain making an eco-friendly
06:50 let's pick up a denim you can see the
06:52 dyeing is done in a more environmentally
06:56 but the cotton is not produced the same
06:58 jesse has worked in different industries
07:00 from product inspection to purchasing
07:02 to product development in both china and
07:06 or take another example the whole piece
07:08 of the clothes is made out of the waste
07:11 but not dyed in a responsible way so
07:14 they're green but it's uh different
07:17 degrees of green or different degrees of
07:20 because an item of clothing is made up
07:22 of many different materials
07:23 all manufactured in different ways it's
07:25 hard to make each piece less harmful to
07:28 this is also the reason why recycling
07:30 clothing is much harder than h m and
07:32 zara would seem to claim
07:36 h m's advertisements say that the
07:38 company is working towards a circular
07:40 future for clothing
07:42 according to the website you can bring
07:43 your clothing to any store and it will
07:45 be resold as secondhand clothing
07:47 reuses other textiles or recycled
07:54 zara has a similar campaign it says it
07:57 partners with different local
07:58 organizations which then take over what
08:00 happens to the clothing
08:05 so what does happen they are resold
08:08 reused and recycled
08:09 but not in the proportions you might
08:11 think over half of donated clothing is
08:15 the rest is mostly turned into
08:16 industrial material
08:18 burned or goes to landfill
08:22 less than one percent of the material in
08:24 used clothing is recycled
08:26 into new clothing a big reason is lack
08:29 remember how many materials were in the
08:31 jacket well they need to come
08:33 out again to recycle it garments
08:37 that are made from mono materials or can
08:48 maxi started her career as a certified
08:50 dressmaker over 10 years ago
08:52 and is headed product development for
08:54 hugo boss and major online retailers
08:56 think about your wardrobe how many
09:00 pieces would fulfill these requirements
09:03 so giving back clothing is better than
09:04 throwing it away but the chances of it
09:07 actually getting recycled are very low
09:11 h m and zara are investing in recycling
09:13 research but we looked at their annual
09:15 reports and the amount is point five
09:17 and point zero two percent of their
09:18 profits respectively they say returning
09:20 clothes is circular which
09:22 isn't really true and even if it were
09:24 that's not the solution to our over
09:26 consumption or our over production
09:30 the problem is that too much clothing is
09:32 produced and bought whether the clothing
09:34 is eco-friendly or not
09:36 let's just say you're putting one person
09:38 here who says you know what
09:39 i don't give a flip about anything
09:42 recycled or organic
09:45 i will once a year buy a nice pair of
09:50 don't care about anything and then there
09:51 are these people who are saying yes
09:53 i'm i'm really aware i i want to do that
09:56 i want to commit to environment
09:58 and the pair of jeans that i'm going to
10:00 buy every four weeks
10:01 will always be sustainable so still this
10:05 is better buying clothing every four
10:09 weeks is relatively new
10:10 before the 90s designers made clothes
10:12 for two fashion seasons
10:14 per year and now fashion retailers put
10:16 out clothes in as little as
10:17 two weeks more clothes mean cheaper
10:21 lower quality and more ending up in the
10:25 but it's not just big fast fashion
10:27 brands it's the fashion industry in
10:29 general and our desire for constantly
10:30 changing outfits that need to hit pause
10:35 we need to think about how we shop
10:38 and what we're really calling for
10:42 but the there is a there is a bold step
10:46 a number of um notable fashion brands
10:49 and fashion houses now
10:51 going seasonless and hats off to them
10:54 it's an important thing to do
10:56 the concept doesn't mean sacrificing
10:58 style but instead making clothing to
11:00 rather than to be thrown away so all in
11:04 all what we're trying to do is working
11:05 with clothing that is not
11:07 very seasonal so to say uh it should be
11:10 something that you can wear year after
11:11 year we want to focus on quality
11:14 karishma is the founder of kasha an
11:16 indian brand featured in magazines like
11:17 forbes and vogue for championing
11:19 eco-friendly fashion
11:21 so we try to make products that try to
11:24 you know fit into different places
11:26 depending on who's wearing it and how
11:28 so we have a lot of different aspects to
11:29 our clothing so what do you do when you
11:31 want to buy new clothes
11:32 h m and zara say their eco collections
11:35 are better for the environment and they
11:37 are if you want to make sure the whole
11:39 supply chain is sustainable
11:41 there are many smaller brands that can
11:42 account for every step of their
11:47 and buying seasonless instead of trendy
11:49 clothing means it won't go out of
11:51 and end up in the trash because this is
11:55 where consumers actually have a real
12:00 when i look at the whole picture i
12:01 realized maybe only and
12:03 consumers easy power can balance brands
12:07 can push them give them pressure
12:10 to to to make some changes
12:14 so ask yourself not only who made your
12:16 clothes and what they're made of
12:17 but also do i need these new clothes and
12:20 go from there instead
12:23 and if you want to see more videos like
12:25 this we post about environmental topics
12:27 like and subscribe so you don't miss out
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