Destination Sustainability: How To Measure Sustainable Tourism Success?

It all started with a simple yellow dress created from old, discarded blue jeans. It was the first garment made entirely from recycled clothing seven years ago by what was then a new company, Renewcell. “The dress shook up everything,” says Tahani Kaldéus, the head of research and development at Renewcell. “This changed the equation of consumption in the fashion industry.” When the Stockholm textile recycling company introduced its yellow dress to the fashion industry on a catwalk in June 2014, it received widespread praise, because the dress looks no different from one purchased at a leading retailer. The difference, however, is the technology.

E-waste is the world’s fastest growing waste stream and much of it is handled unsafely, causing pollution, human health hazards, and the loss of valuable finite resources. Take this short quiz to test your e-waste knowledge.

As the world comes to terms with the climate crisis and the environmental devastation of our over-consumption, we are increasingly being told that switching to greener products  will not only save us, but be good for the economy. This is the principle behind “green growth”, which encourages us to continue consuming as long as the products we buy are more sustainable. But could it be that someone is pulling wool over our eyes? The fashion industry has become one of the main culprits in the blaming-and-shaming for carbon-emissions, and numbers have been thrown around at a rate that rivals fast fashion. One of the most used statistics is that textiles in 2015 emitted 1.2 billion tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent or more than maritime shipping and international flights combined, a number that has since been challenged. However, the fashion industry is far from off the hook.