7 Ways to Make Your Fashion Brand More Sustainable this Earth Day

Hey- you! Celebrating Earth Day and want to make your fashion brand more sustainable? We have some tips for you. In fact, we're going to share 7 of them with you in this blog post! You can be a sustainable trendsetter and help save the planet all at the same time - how cool is that?

It's no secret that the fashion industry is one of the most destructive in the world. The fast-fashion trend has driven brands to produce more and more clothes, many of which end up in landfill sites.

Inkthreadable is helping to reduce this problem by encouraging small brands to choose sustainable fashion choices and avoid environmental damage by using local production and eco-friendly printers.

So without further ado, let's get into it!

First off - what is sustainable fashion?

Sustainable fashion is defined as a business that creates apparel in an ecologically beneficial way. This can include using sustainable materials, ethical production processes, and supporting fair trade.

Sustainable fashion brands are making every effort to reduce the negative environmental effects of fast fashion.

But how can your brand become more sustainable and help reverse the tide of fashion pollution? Your 7 tips are coming up!

1. Only produce what you need.

Many brands produce far more clothing than they can sell, and this excess clothing often ends up in landfill sites contributing to climate change - in fact, 13 million tonnes of textile waste is produced every year.

By producing only what you can sell, you'll minimise the amount of waste your brand produces.

One of the best ways to do this is by using print on demand services. With print on demand, you can produce what is needed, when it's needed, eliminating waste and minimising your environmental impact.

If you're ready to make your fashion brand more sustainable, why not sign up for our print on demand service today!

Read on for more tips on how to make your fashion brand more sustainable this Earth Day.

2. Use eco-friendly production methods.

Clothing manufacturing typically consumes a lot of energy and hazardous chemicals or dyes. You can make your fashion label more environmentally responsible by being aware of how your products are made.

There are many ways to do this. You can choose sustainable materials that require fewer resources to produce, use decoration methods that require less water to run, and you can even choose t-shirts that are made without the use of toxic chemicals.

Did you know that we offer eco-friendly t-shirt printing with our Kornit printers?

Our Kornit printers are some of the most sustainable on the market. They use water-based inks and produce very little waste. In fact, our entire production process is environmentally friendly and OKEO-TEX approved.

These printers produce no waste, toxic fumes, or harmful effluent, and they also save water and energy when compared to traditional decoration methods. This makes them a great printing choice for fashion brands looking to become more sustainable.

Although every production process has an impact on the environment, digital textile printing is by far one of the most eco-friendly options available to you now.

3. Reduce waste and carbon emissions from transportation.

Many fashion brands rely on bulk warehousing and distribution to get their clothing to customers. This often involves shipping clothes multiple times after production, which creates a lot of extra carbon emissions.

You can help reduce this by shipping directly to your customers.

Instead of shipping a large amount of clothing to your facility and then shipping again to customers, why not have products made and stored in the same place, and then ship them directly to customers!

This is exactly what we do at our print on demand facility. We never ship products until they've been ordered, which means there are no wasted shipments or unsold products taking up space (and energy) in a warehouse somewhere.

And you don't need to worry about quality either! We have a dedicated quality control team to thoroughly check every product before being sent to your customers.

4. Use sustainable clothing or recycled materials whenever possible.

One of the best ways to be sustainable is to use organic and recycled fabrics.

Cotton is one of the most commonly used fabrics in the world, and it's also one of the most environmentally harmful. Cotton is a water-intensive crop, and it takes a lot of pesticides and fertilisers to grow.

Organic cotton is a more sustainable option, as it's grown without the use of harmful chemicals.

You can also look for fabrics made from recycled materials, like recycled polyester.

Recycled polyester is made from post-consumer waste, such as water bottles or plastic bags. It takes far less energy and resources to recycle polyester than it does to produce new polyester.

FYI: We have plenty of organic cotton products available for print on demand here at Inkthreadable.

So there are a few sustainable fabric options for you to choose from! But what about the other aspects of your fashion brand?

Most sustainable fashion brands also use recyclable packaging. This helps reduce the amount of waste produced by the brand.

Inkthreadable takes sustainable packaging one step further by ensuring that all our packaging is paper-based, making it both recyclable and home compostable.

5. Your products are made to last longer, reducing waste over time.

There are a few things you can do to make sure your clothes last:

• Use premium base products

Try garments made from organic cotton with side seams and metal finishes. Some examples include the Creator t-shirt, Cruiser hoodie and Roller sweatshirt. 

• Communicate washing instructions with your customers.

Including washing instructions with your brand's packaging is a great way to help customers look after their clothes and make them last longer.

A lot of people don't know how to properly care for their printed clothing, which often leads to them being ruined prematurely.

By including clear instructions for washing clothes in your packaging, you can help your customers take better care, and keep wearing your designs for years to come!

• Use embroidery for a durable and long-lasting decoration.

Embroidery is one of the most durable decoration methods available, it can last for decades without ever fading or peeling.

This makes it the perfect decoration method for fashion brands that want their clothes to last as long as possible.

If you use premium materials and construction, your clothes will last longer and stand up to wear and tear better than cheaply made alternatives.

6. Support sustainable practices in the fashion industry.

Sustainability is about more than just the manufacturing methods used to make your clothes; it's also about the labour conditions of those who made them.

That's why sustainable fashion brands need to support fair and ethical practices in their supply chain.

One of the best ways to do this is to use blank garments that are associated with the fair wear foundation.

The fair wear foundation is a non-profit organisation that works to improve working conditions and achieve fair wages for every worker in the fashion industry. They do this by setting standards for fair labour practices, and by monitoring and auditing factories to make sure those standards are being met.

Stanley/Stella is a great example of a blank garment supplier meeting the highest standard for ethical clothing production. 

These are just a few of the ways you can support sustainable practices in the supply chain! Finally, let's talk about the buzzword that is circular fashion...

7. Pledge to circular fashion.

What is circular fashion? Put simply, circular fashion is the reuse and recycling of clothes and textiles without pollution, and it's the ultimate goal for truly sustainable fashion.

It's a way of designing clothes that takes into account the entire life cycle, from producing garments to end-of-life. It promotes a more mindful approach to fashion, with more responsible consumption, natural materials and inventive new business models.

Fashion Revolution, the organization behind Fashion Revolution Week, defines circular fashion as "putting the people who make our clothes at the core of fashion".

There are a few ways you can begin to incorporate circular fashion into your brand:

• Use products made from a mono-material, such as 100% organic cotton.
• Keep garments in use and reuse them as long as possible, like selling second-hand clothing or offering fashion rental.
• Encourage customers to sell or donate their pre-loved fashion.
• Use sustainable materials that can be recycled or composted, as opposed to plastic fabrics like polyester.

Final thoughts.

There are a lot of new sustainable fashion practices out there, and it can be overwhelming to try to implement them all at once. But if every brand took even just a few of these sustainable fashion tips on board, we would be in a much better place.

So this Earth Day, let's pledge to make our fashion brands more sustainable. It's time to start thinking about the entire lifecycle of our clothes, from production to end-of-life. Let's pledge to use sustainable materials, support fair labour practices, and design with the environment in mind. We can all have a positive impact!

Do you have any other tips on how to make your fashion brand more sustainable? Share them in the comments below!

Thanks for reading! Until next time...

P.S. Want to learn more about our commitment to sustainability? Check out this video we made for Earth Day: