Hello again friends of Fair JAKE!
I just wrote my last exam of my undergrad in Natural Resources Conservation at UBC, and am super excited to finally be finished with school. That being said, I did really enjoy learning about conservation and I’d like to share a neat new(ish) tool for measuring sustainability called Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). LCA is a scientific method used to quantify the impacts created by products and services over their life cycle. The inputs, processes, and outputs are all taken into account, evaluated, and interpreted to make more informed decisions. I’ve been using LCA to look at the environmental impact of all sorts of products and services, including a cup of coffee, and hydropower dams, as well as to compare different biofuels. So, what about clothes?
Clothing is second only to food and beverages as a consumer good; it is purchased and replaced often. This, along with energy intensive use phases make clothing an important product to consider in LCA. LCA can help answer questions about clothing production, such as material comparisons and washing practices.
Levi’s is one company that uses LCA to measure their environmental impacts. They began using it in 2007 and now use it in the design process to base decisions on regarding fabric choices, washes and dyes. Nike is another company that uses the tool with the goal of reducing toxin levels and supporting more sustainable materials. Fair JAKE has made the decision to use sustainable and eco-friendly fabrics such as organic cotton and up-cycled fabric. It would be of interest to see how much of a difference those choices make with regards to their environmental footprint.
From the few LCAs I’ve looked at, consumer use appears to be by far the greatest source of energy consumption of a piece of clothing. Overall all fabrics have some sort of environmental impact. Natural fabrics seem to use far less energy than synthetics and emit less greenhouse gasses. However, natural fabrics, such as cotton and silk use more water in production. And natural fabrics have a greater impact on direct land use.
LCA offers valuable information for those interested in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impact. Hopefully LCA will begin to reach consumers outside of the scientific community, and the fashion world will continue to shift to a more sustainable industry. I encourage you to check out some of the links provided and begin exploring this topic for yourself. Know your values and be a conscious consumer!
-S.
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