Eye-opening shock or fuel for cynicism? What did the recent H&M debacle represent for you?
The concept of environmental responsibility has evolved from a 1962 book by Rachel Carson into an all encompassing movement of ‘greenness’—the purchasing of organic, sustainable, eco-friendly products, minimizing waste in production, and the use of recycled materials has become so widespread that it’s moved beyond being a trend to becoming a lifestyle. And the fashion world seems to have taken to the eco-mindedness of its customers quite well.
The operative words there are ‘seems to’. Though many companies and designers have certainly sincerely embraced sustainable production (check out www.sustainyourstyle.com for a collection of fantastic eco-friendly brands), the intentions of others are a bit more questionable.
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H&M, for example. The Swedish fashion powerhouse is known for jumping on trends as soon as they start, and offering unique looking clothing for a fraction of the price of designer pieces. Recently they released a look book for “The Garden Collection”, a line made of organic and recycled materials, including recycled PET bottles, textile waste, organic cotton, linen, polyester and Tencel silky, a renewable material produced with minimal environmental impact.
As beautiful as the new line looks, and as wonderful as it is that H&M is creating such a line, it is impossible not to question the sincerity of their motives when faced with one of H&M’s policies. The stores routinely cut and dispose of unsold garments and trash them. Though some people work to salvage these clothes, the vast majority of them are thrown away, though they could just as easily be donated or used for H&M’s own sustainable line.
So which is it—are most big trains really eco-friendly or are they capitalizing on a trend? It’s up to every consumer to find out, but be warned: just because the label says green doesn’t mean it is.
photo courtesy of Nitrolicious
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