3 reasons we must make the economy truly circular

When buying clothes, most people don’t think about the impact it has on the environment. With more and more people buying from fast-fashion empires like Zara, H&M, and Forever 21, should this be a subject of concern for the public?   Fast-fashion is a new subject for most people, emerging within the last decade. Fast-fashion focuses itself on being cheap, trendy, and reliable.  Mass production always has negative impacts;, factories almost always have high pollution levels and poor work conditions.  According to a Princeton study on the impact of fast-fashion, approximately 20% of the wastewater worldwide is produced by the process of mass producing cotton for these brands. The same study shows that 35% of all microplastics entering our oceans are from producers turning to plastics for cheaper production. 

Prior to the emergence of the novel coronavirus outbreak, the recycled plastics industry had been making significant progress in its journey to end plastic waste. It was seeing positive results from high consumer and regulatory pressure on brands worldwide to improve their commitments to sustainability. Private companies, non-profit organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were all campaigning actively to increase consumer awareness of recycling and sustainability across the value chain. The message was finally getting through at a basic level, setting the stage for a fundamental shift in public attitudes. For example, consumers began rejecting single-use plastics such as drinking cups, straws and cutlery when they purchased take-away food; some vendors even offered incentives to customers who brought their own cups.

“We are facing legal challenges because we are occupying our land. We are criminalized for doing so and are forced to defend our land in court. We must maintain camp. Our Land is Home is a part of a mission to stop the Trans Mountain pipeline from crossing unceded Secwepemc Territory.”