By James W. Krueger, Head of Brand Solution at
The last 18 months have revealed how fragile and yet how resilient the economies of the world can be. The economic impact of a global pandemic has helped reinforce the revised definition of sustainability. The term sustainability was synonymous with environmentalism in the late 20th century and early 21st century and was perceived to be directly opposed to economic growth.
However, today鈥檚 definition of sustainability embraces economic growth as an important part of its model and a primary pillar of sustainability. After all, if something isn鈥檛 economically viable, it isn鈥檛 likely to garner widespread, fervent support. Most sustainability experts today agree that the future of sustainability lies in merging environmentalism with economic and social interests. Still, a core truth regarding sustainability is that our level of commitment to this specific cause is typically determined by how well educated we are on the consequences of not living sustainably and the degree to which we are personally impacted by the issue.
We are living in an era where lightning-fast access to extensive information on almost any topic is available on the mobile phones, tablets, and computers we use every day. The younger the consumer, the more adept they are at obtaining, consuming, and disseminating this information in a highly mobile environment. Persistent and credible reports of extreme weather events that have been scientifically linked to climate change are being reported on every form of social media. The earth鈥檚 atmosphere has been, and currently is, impacted by our daily releases of carbon dioxide. This poses a risk to the youngest age group of consumers and the future quality of life for generations to come. Is it any wonder that Gen Z has some of the most fervent advocates for sustainable solutions and is leading the public discourse on this subject?
In 鈥淗ow People Access News about Climate Change,鈥 Simge Andi, a Research Fellow at Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University, concluded that more people across the globe, particularly the young (under 25), are joining demonstrations and strikes led by next-generation leaders like Greta Thunberg. Much of this support has been mobilized, not by traditional sources like television, but through networked channels such as Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. This generational pressure has combined with a series of real-life events, which have included a record melting of the ice sheets, crop failures in the Mid-West, floods in Europe, and devastating fires in the United States, the Amazon, and Australia鈥攁ll of which have advanced climate issues in the mainstream media.
So how do Americans perceive climate change? George Mason University and Yale University collaborated on a 2019 study entitled 鈥淐limate Change in the American Mind.鈥 The results of this study show that more than seven in ten Americans (72%) think global warming is happening, compared to only about one in eight Americans (12%) who think global warming is not happening. More than 50% (52%) of Americans are 鈥渆xtremely鈥 or 鈥渧ery鈥 sure it is happening. By contrast, far fewer (7%) are 鈥渆xtremely鈥 or 鈥渧ery鈥 sure global warming is not happening. 秀色直播 six in ten Americans (59%) believe that global warming is mostly human-caused, and more than half of Americans (55%) understand that most scientists think global warming is happening. Nearly half of Americans (46%) say they have personally experienced the effects of global warming. Two in three Americans (67%) say the issue of global warming is either 鈥渆xtremely,鈥 鈥渧ery,鈥 or 鈥渟omewhat鈥 important to them personally. In 2019, a majority of Americans (56%) in this study indicated that they think extreme weather poses a risk to their community. With the current events of heat domes in the Western United States and flooding in the Eastern US and Europe, new studies are likely to find even deeper concerns regarding global warming and its resulting climate change.
Since Gen Z has some of the most fervent advocates for sustainable solutions, what kind of economic power does the Gen Z consumer hold? Epsilon transactional data analyzed the 12-month spending of 85 million US consumers and compared that data to a cross-generational US shopper panel where over 3,000 individuals were surveyed regarding their shopping preferences.
The under 25 age group of consumers in the United States was shown to be the leading influencer and purchaser of apparel in 2019. Gen Z was shown to have the highest annual retail spending on apparel of any of the groups studied, including Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and the Silent Generation. As indicated previously in this article, Gen Z is also the most socially networked consumer age group. Additionally, Gen Z has the lowest ranked trust level for advertising.
Consumers under the age of 25聽relate to causes and are invested in sustainability because it is believed to significantly impact their future. To impact Gen Z consumers, brand communication must be authentic and transactionally transparent in order to be deemed trustworthy. As powerful as Gen Z is regarding apparel sales, Millennials can鈥檛 be ignored. Studies show that Millennials trail Gen Z only slightly in their sustainability desires. While Gen Z annually outspends Millennials on apparel, Millennials spend almost 44% more than Gen Z on overall goods per year. These two powerhouse spending groups have also demonstrated their willingness to spend more to purchase products that are produced sustainably.
A wide range of companies, from textile manufacturers to brands, claim to be investing to make the textile industry a more sustainable entity. Some companies focus on sustainably-sourced fibers, minimizing water consumption, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, or improving sustainability in the areas of human rights, labor, and anti-corruption. A growing number of companies support and use the Higg Index and/or participate in Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) and bluesign certification as ways to emphasize their participation in sustainability efforts.
In most instances, companies in the textile industry are taking responsible action to improve product circularity by reducing product waste and implementing more sustainable production strategies. As an example, some companies have worked hard to lower their overall energy use while increasing their use of renewable energy.
秀色直播 60% of the energy and water used in the lifecycle of an item of clothing is expended after the clothing is purchased and enters the wash and wear cycle during consumer use. With the advent of high-efficiency washers, odors in textiles have been increasing due to the higher bacterial contamination occurring at the lower temperatures and lower water-use levels in these machines.
Providing built-in odor control in textiles is a proactive way to lower the CO2 impact of textile maintenance by reducing the frequency of laundering. Extending the number of uses between washings can have a dramatic impact on the carbon footprint of apparel in the consumer use phase. If the textile industry were to produce towels and apparel with built-in odor control, the washing frequency of those goods could be greatly reduced, along with CO2 emissions emitted throughout the process. Savings for those textiles would be directly related to the amount of extended use that occurred between launderings.
Using activewear as an example, if a consumer were to extend the use of their activewear from a single wear before laundering to four wears before laundering, the CO2 emissions attributable to the consumer use phase of that activewear would be 1/4 the CO2 emissions of the previous laundering practices. This represents a 75% savings in CO2 emissions, energy use, water consumption, and time spent by the consumer maintaining their textiles.
When global sustainability studies like the Cone Social Responsibility study show that 81% of consumers cite the lack of availability of sustainable products as the largest barrier to purchasing more, it should be clear at all levels of the textile industry that there is a substantial, unmet need among consumers for these products. While the textile industry has diligently pursued making the manufacturing process and certain textile products more sustainable, the consumer has been missing from the sustainability equation. Our collective mission should be to harness the untapped potential of consumer sustainability by providing products that are not only sustainable in the way they are made but are capable of providing the consumer with the opportunity to be more sustainable in the way they maintain the textile products they purchase.
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