Can sustainable fashion become mainstream?

Clothing & fashion are one of the major industries on the planet! We all need clothes & a vast majority of us are conscious about the way those particular clothes look.

However, with the greater demand for efficiency in modern society, the desire for great clothes grows increasing the potential risks to the environment & those taken advantage of in the manufacturing facilities.

I pose the question to everyone, how do you think sustainability in clothing can work? Do you think it can become a part of the mainstream or do you think it’s better left out?

Please share your thoughts. Lets give this conversation legs & get continue to build awareness on a protruding issue!

Airbnb, Lyft, Uber, bike-share and beyond: Research roundup on the sharing economy.

This article by the Journalist’s Resource at Harvard University highlights the potential of what the ‘share economy’ or ‘collective consumption’ can do for society and if embraced in the right way, what a positive change it can make on both the environment and your bank account. Not Dead Threads has been established to highlight the benefits of sharing your clothes in an attempt to save you money, increase social capital and help sustain the environment, however looking at other examples such as Airbnb and Uber outline inspiration for what we can achieve. Enjoy. 

In October 2014 the New York State Attorney General released a report into Airbnb’s operations that concluded that 72% of the site’s rentals violated state zoning regulations or other laws. The company’s business model is built around allowing people to rent out rooms or entire apartments on a short-term basis, and the report is the latest in a series of ongoing battles Airbnb is engaged in with regulators across the world.

Berlin has banned regular short-term rentals in the most popular parts of the city without prior permission from the authorities. Paris passed a law in February 2014 to allow city inspectors to check rental homes whose owners are suspected of renting them out to visitors illegally. Airbnb has countered with its own reports on the benefits of short-term stays on local housing markets, arguing that the company’s service benefits local economies.

Airbnb is only one of a new wave of businesses that are collectively referred to as the “sharing economy.” Also known as collaborative consumption or peer-to-peer (P2P), it challenges traditional notions of private ownership and is instead based on the shared production or consumption of goods and services. Its origins were in not-for-profit initiatives such as Wikipedia (2001) and Couchsurfing and Freecycle (both 2003). Advances in information technology enabled the creation of large-scale bike-share systems (the first was in Lyon, France, in 2005), and these have subsequently expanded to the United States and around the world.

Social media and mobile technology have enabled the latest expansion of the sharing economy and turned it into a big business: Airbnb allows individuals to share their homes, while Lyft and Uber transform private cars into common resources. All these are for-profit services, but they take only a fraction of the fees levied, passing the rest on to the owners: In 2013 it was estimated that revenues passing through the sharing economy into people’s wallets exceeded $3.5 billion, up 25% from to the previous year. Airbnb has exceeded 10 million guest-stays since its launch and now has more than half a million properties listed across the globe. Meanwhile Uber has said it is doubling its revenue every six months.

As Harvard economist Larry Summers points out in a recent co-authored article, the interests of sharing-economy firms and city governments are often aligned, but failing to engage early on with potential regulators can raise the suspicion that companies are trying to exploit loopholes rather than develop a legitimate business model. For example, courts in Frankfurt recently upheld a national ban on Uber, and the service has been banned in several Canadian cities as well. At the heart of many of these debates is whether Uber is, as it claims, operating as a pure technology company, providing a match-making service to willing participants, or whether it is operating in effect as an unlicensed taxi service, which was the conclusion of Calgary’s city council. Moreover, a Massachusetts class-action lawsuit asserts that Uber exploits its drivers, misclassifying them as independent contractors to avoid paying them as employees with the same benefits.

Examples from elsewhere in the world shows such fractious relationships with regulators need not be the norm. In February 2014, Amsterdam became the first city to pass so-called “Airbnb friendly” legislation. A law allowing short-term rentals by permanent San Francisco residents was finalized in October 2014, but requires them to collect city hotel taxes and imposes other restrictions. In London, 1970s regulations limiting short-term stays were scrapped, making it easier for Airbnb and others to operate in the city. The British government has even launched an initiative to make U.K. the “global centre for [the] sharing economy.” Similarly, while some traditional operators have fought sharing start-ups, others have chosen to get in on the game themselves: In 2013 Avis paid half a billion dollars for car-sharing service Zipcar, and Hertz has started a similar service.

Report: Collaborative Economy Gaining Momentum in Australia

With the collective economy and the share economy on the rise across the world, Sustainable Brands run an eye over the work done by Vision Critical and the Collaborative Lab and conducted research into the attitudes towards each of these sustainable intiatives. 

Take the time to have a look at the report linked in the post as the details will both shock and excite you about the possibilities. Enjoy the article guys!

A new report, The Emerging Collaborative Economy in Australia, produced by Vision Critical in partnership with Collaborative Lab and Nine! Rewards, reveals promising momentum and enthusiasm for collaborative economy platforms that use technology to enable people to share and exchange a variety of goods and services. There is already high penetration of brands in the space, with 61 percent of those surveyed aware of services such as Airbnb, Kickstarter, Uber and GoGet Car Share.

The growth and popularity of international startups Uber and Airbnb, which have 27 percent and 20 percent awareness respectively, is impressive considering their presence in the Australian market is less than three years old, and they spend very little on traditional forms of advertising and marketing.

What’s more — 53 percent of respondents said they had participated in some form of collaborative economy activity in the past year, though these exchanges are often taking place informally between friends and family without the use of technology.

“Tech-enabled collaborative economy marketplaces in the US and UK are typically one to two years ahead of the Australian market, however this is changing,” says Rachel Botsman, author of What’s Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption and founder of Collaborative Lab. “This study reveals that Australians are open to ideas that offer new ways of consuming goods and services and the intent to share is increasing even if it is driven by practical considerations such as convenience and price.”

Peter Harris, managing director, Australia and New Zealand at Vision Critical, a cloud-based customer intelligence platform company, said: “This study clearly shows how commerce is changing — impacting the customers’ decision-making and how they expect to engage with brands. It underlines the importance of brands maintaining direct conversations with their customers.”

The Emerging Collaborative Economy In Australia — Key Highlights:

• 14 percent of respondents have heard of the term ‘collaborative economy.’
• 43 percent relate to or understand collaborative economy behaviors such as carpooling, house swapping, crowdfunding, carsharing and coworking.
• 61 percent awareness of collaborative economy services in Australia; Uber has 27 percent awareness, Airbnb has 20 percent awareness.
• 53 percent of respondents have participated in some form of collaborative economy in the last year.
• 63 percent plan on participating in some form of collaborative economy activity in the near future; 36 percent of this number interested in trying transport related services and 36 percent in accommodation.

In February, Crowd Companies founder Jeremiah Owyang posted a list of over 70 mainstream companies that have harnessed Collaborative Economy tactics to supplement their business strategy of innovation. And in March, Crowd Companies and Vision Critical released a report that for the first time mapped the size and characteristics of the collaborative movement — as this new report indicates, both have continued to grow.

Open thread: what does ‘sustainable’ mean to you?

What are your thoughts on sustainability? What does it mean to you? There are many differing views on what it means when used in different contexts. Regardless, Jennifer Kho from The Guardian has written a piece 

To sustainability professionals, the word “sustainable” means more than just environmentally friendly – but that’s not the case for consumers, according to a new study. How can we fix this?

The debate about the word “sustainability” continues.

“We use it openly and freely, and it’s not really a consumer word,” said Carol Fitzgerald, CEO of online research company BuzzBack, at a Rainforest Alliance event in New York City on Thursday.

She was presenting new research from a not-yet-completed study on perceptions about sustainability. Only the US portion of the study, which will ultimately also include research from the UK, India, China and Brazil, has been finished.

One surprise is how few US respondents said they hear the word sustainability regularly: only 16% said they see it “very often”, with 56% reportedly seeing it “occasionally”, according to Fitzgerald.

And in several different activities meant to help researchers understand consumers’ view of sustainability, US respondents chose environmental words such as “environmentally friendly”, “natural”, “organic,” “green”, “recycle” and “renewable” as most similar to “sustainability”, she said.

Meanwhile, words such as “ethical,” “trust”, “trustworthy”, “collaboration”, “community” and “transparency” ranked low in their perceived relationship to sustainability, she said.

Different generations also had different definitions. “Among baby boomers, there’s some confusion about what it is,” Fitzgerald said. Baby boomers were more likely to choose words such as “health” and “life”, but selected fewer words that reflect the idea of preserving for the future than Gen X or Gen Y respondents.

The results signal the need to build more awareness about non-environmental aspects of sustainability, Fitzgerald said: “The words they’re using are ‘natural’, ‘organic’. I think we all feel sustainability is more than that. So we need to develop a new lexicon.”

The different consumer and industry definitions raise the question: Who’s right? Given that definitions are derived from words’ use, what does it mean that the general public relegates sustainability to the environmental realm while professionals, who use the word more often, think it means more? And are sustainability pros just talking to themselves?

BuzzBack isn’t the first to question the wisdom of using words – including the “S” word – that remain more like jargon than everyday language.

But is it really time to give up on the word “sustainability” all together? The industry will need to decide whether to work to change the definition of “sustainability” or eliminate its use – or a bit of both, said KoAnn Skrzyniarz, CEO of sustainable-business community Sustainable Brands. While challenges remain, such as the word’s currently narrow definition, she said, “the sustainability word is coming into the common vernacular in some way”.

What do you think? How can we – executives, employees, investors, activists, policymakers, stakeholders and consumers – help to broaden the discussion beyond the environment (without leaving environmental issues out)?

Is it a matter of bringing a deeper vocabulary, beyond just a few buzzwords, into mainstream usage? Is more marketing and outreach needed to show that these broader topics are a key part of sustainability? Or should we give up the word “sustainable” as a lost cause, instead favoring words like “ethical”, “responsible” and “conscious”?

Google, Facebook and Coca-Cola unite for digital sustainability platform Collectively

Sara Spary’s article looks at a new group of iconic brands coming together for society’s benefit. ‘Collectivity’ has been established to promote the idea of living sustainably across all platforms of society, bringing together some of the world’s most recognisable companies making a concerted effort to develop ways society can work together and gain more for less. Sustainability is possible across all platforms from IT to Fashion. Enjoy!  

Collectivity: the site aims to inspire sustainable living and cut through the ‘negativity’ and ‘cynicism’ of the media

Unilever, Facebook, Coca-Cola, Google and Marks & Spencer are among 29 major brands coming together to create a new “sustainable living platform” called Collectively, which claims it will challenge the belief that the planet is ‘f*cked’.

The digital platform, which launches today, is a website that “celebrates” and “connects” cutting-edge ideas that are shaping the future sustainably. It aims to “inspire” and accelerate sustainable living by showcasing the work individuals and organisations are doing to operate in a more sustainable way. It will also promote initiatives of the brands involved.

On its home page, Collectively says it has launched because: “Today’s media is obsessed with fear-mongering tactics, and a pervasive pessimism that would have us all believing that ‘everything is f*cked, and it’s all our fault,’ which has had the undesirable effect of making people feel alienated and ineffectual, unable to figure out what they can do to alter the current path we’re on.”

There are 29 companies signed up to the project including BT, Carlsberg, Diageo, McDonalds, Microsoft, Nestlé, Nike, PepsiCo, The Dow Chemical Company and Twitter.

The concept was born out of discussions at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year and presents a “unique” approach to the way businesses engage consumers on sustainability, according to a statement by Collectively.

“What makes Collectively unique is the first-of-its-kind coalition that sits behind it,” said Unilever CMO Keith Weed. “Some of the world’s leading brands and multinational companies – many of who are usually keen competitors – have put aside their differences in recognition of the fact this is an issue that demands collective action.”

Collectively will be updated daily by an “independent editorial team” with stories, information and “solutions” from the worlds of fashion, food, design, architecture and technology. The organisers claim it will only feature “highly engaging stories” with the “potential to create positive change”.

Will Gardner VP of global marketing projects at Unilever, who has been appointed chief executive of Collectively, told Marketing: “The challenge is both an environmental and a social one – the world’s systems are approaching capacity and there are a number of very urgent global and local issues that need to be addressed.

“There’s been a lot of progress but little progress when it comes to engaging the majority and making them feel social living is important.”

He added that while Collectively had not been designed to be “judgmental” on the sustainability records of the companies involved, the group had appointed an independent editorial committee of young people, journalists and sustainability experts that would ensure the “highest level of integrity” and quality of content.

It would also not be “dull” or “politicised”, he said. “It’s not a classic green media channel”, he continued, stressing that most of the content would be “nothing to do with brands”.

The platform would be promoted on social media and through brand channels.

When change is good change!

Across the globe, initiatives are increasingly developing that promote the concept of cloth sharing and exchange.

People are noticing their bank account under stress and the potential social benefit recycling brings however are yet to choose to distribute their resources more wisely.

Making a change is a phenomenon which seems simple in theory, yet much harder to implement in reality.

However, there are a few who are making waves in society.

Ira Baseman in the United States is one such man.

Baseman is the President of Community Recycling, a socially conscious, for-profit recycling business, championing the reuse movement across the world.

What initially began as a recycling dream, Baseman and his team have worked tirelessly to deliver an initiative which stimulates not only the creation of social capital yet economic as well.

The team at Community Recycle have a desire to elevate the discussion surrounding cloth recycling, challenging individuals and business owners alike to rethink their waste and recycling habits when it comes to their fashionable possessions.

Baseman believes the reuse movement should be about making recycling personal.

It should focus on creating and delivering an experience for consumers where they can give something and gain a little more at the same time.

Every action within the reuse movement creates a community benefit and these should be harnessed to create the greatest possible worth to society in the long run.

Any possible social engagement, cost saving and waste reduction is crucial to the way society functions and develops, and for this to be implemented through a fashion based initiative is something that everyone can be a part of.

Recent statistics from the US show that as a nation, 26 Billion pounds of apparel, textiles and footwear are generated annually, yet only 15 per cent is recycled!

I was unable to find the statistics in Australia however I wouldn’t be surprised if the statistics were much the same (per capita of course).

However, Baseman and his team have seen this situation as the perfect opportunity to act.

More so, Community Recycle has noted the opportunity, acted and is now aiding the whole economy through their actions.

They are generating economic stimulus through the collection of unwanted materials and delivering them to those working in the textiles industry.

The vast array of unwanted materials held by individuals and businesses alike are reused by the fashion and textiles industries  in order to stimulate their production of goods and services, encouraging people to get out and purchase the clothing and spare those unwanted threads the chance of living out the rest of their days in a landfill wasteland.

Community Recycle is just one simple example of how people are utilising each others resources in order to get ahead and make a difference.

We in Australia can also make a difference for each other, save money, increase social capital and positively contribute to the environment too if we get involved.

If you think that’s you, join the #notdeadthreads conversation today!

Can change come for Aussie threads?

On a daily basis, people are worried about the cost of living and the weight placed on them through the burdens they carry.

However, how often are people willing to make a change and break the mould.

People so often ‘talk the talk’ however fail to follow that up with the all important walking motion.

As great as having grand plans are (don’t ever put a halt to your grand plan), people need to take smaller steps when aiming to overcome the bigger problem.

To use a cliche more cliched than cliche, you must crawl before you walk.

Essentials are the place to start and what’s more essential than clothing!

As some people may dispute my previously made comment, clothing possess such a wealth of our existence in today’s society that it has become near our most prized possessions.

It says so much about who we are as people, what we want people to think of us and who we categorise ourselves with.

So, NotDeadThreads has been created to work in harmony with these two issues grossly affecting society each in their individual ways; peoples love of saving money and their love of fashion.

Here, Not Dead Threads facilitates the swapping of clothing between the environmentally conscious to those just seeking a new look at a much less hit to the back pocket.

With the rise of the share economy within society, there is no better and more popular time to get involved in sharing your own possessions for others.

So getting chatting about this and stay tuned for more on the way Not Dead Threads can help you not only give something back to society yet hold onto those extra dollars.

#notdeadthreads

Collective consumption, lets share it round!

Here is a fantastic video all about the concept which NotDeadThreads was born out of; collective consumption.

In this piece, Rachel Botsman speaks about how we as a society can learn from the idea of collective consumption and in turn, live better, more sustainable as a result.

Have a watch!