Fashion for Global Climate Action

Anxious about their future on a hotter planet and angry at the world, inspired by the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, young people took to the streets over the weekend for a day of global climate protests. The estimated total number of protesters in cities around the world was around four million. A global protest such as this begs us the question of what are we doing to combat climate change?

Fashion: is it a dirty word? Although it doesn’t have the reputation of, say, the oil industry, it is making a sizeable contribution to warming the planet – the fashion industry contributes to around 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions due to its long supply chains and energy-intensive production. In fact, the industry consumes more energy than the aviation and shipping industry combined.

Shifting practices in the fashion industry to reduce carbon emissions is obvious and necessary. Reaching zero net greenhouse gas emissions, however, will require paradigm shifts in the way we produce and consume clothes. For instance, currently, fewer than one percent of garments are made into new clothes, with only 20% of fabrics being recycled at all – the rest goes into landfill or gets incinerated.

This problem of waste is however exacerbated by the fast fashion trend of recent years. We are buying more clothes than ever before, wearing them fewer times, repairing them less, and throwing them away sooner. So what can the fashion industry do to reverse its harmful practices, and who is providing leadership on the issue?

Here at KitePride we are doing our part to decrease our carbon footprint by repurposing fabrics that would have otherwise gone to landfill. We inspire ocean lovers from around the world to donate their used kites, sails, parachutes, and wetsuits. In turn, we upcycle and repurpose the fabrics, turning them it into beautiful, lightweight and durable bags! We work tirelessly to find the best way to reuse the materials and we have a lot of PRIDE in our awesome results. Hold on, that's not it! Our employees creating our incredible products are men and women escaping human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Our bags literally say it all!