The Concept
My Earthable is a conceptual project created to address sustainability issues in the fashion industry.
Tons of textile waste end up in landfills across America everyday. The carbon trail left in the wake of our penchant for fast fashion is smothering planet Earth. As textiles take more than 200 years to decompose, the need to find sustainable alternatives is urgent.
Tons of textile waste end up in landfills across America everyday. The carbon trail left in the wake of our penchant for fast fashion is smothering planet Earth. As textiles take more than 200 years to decompose, the need to find sustainable alternatives is urgent.
The Overview
- Of the 17,030 tons of textiles produced annually in America, 11,300 tons goes to landfills—a whopping 66.4%.
- Compared to the textile landfill waste three decades ago, the numbers have tripled today.
Source: www.epa.gov
The Objective
- Implement a sustainability business initiative that effectively addresses growing textile municipal waste in America.
The Opportunity
- Over the last twenty years, the volume of clothing thrown away in America each year has doubled, from 7 million to 14 million tons.
- Textiles can take up to 200+ years to decompose in landfills.
Rate of decomposition of commonly used fabrics. Source: www.hercircle.in
The Challenge
- Fast Fashion has reduced the quality of clothes produced making it difficult to reuse or repurpose them.
- Products marketed as sustainable, such as cloth bags made from new fabric, have a greater carbon footprint than plastic bags.
- Products made of new cotton fabric require thousands of uses before the carbon footprint generated is compensated.
The Solution
- Cloth bags produced from high quality pre-owned clothes can reduce the carbon footprint of fabric by extending the time taken to reach landfills.
Viability
- High-quality deadstock at thrift stores like the Salvation Army can be sourced at 80-85% less than new fabric.
- Time taken to sew cloth bags is under 5 minutes, incurring minimal labor costs
Marketing
- A multi-channel approach of press releases and local newspaper coverage
- Posts on NextDoor, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat
- Videos on YouTube and TikTok
- And talks at local schools and radio-stations
The Benefits
- Retaining the existing fabric designs from pre-owned clothes makes each bag a unique statement piece.
- Designer products can be made available to sustainability enthusiasts for 30% less than other ‘sustainable’ options available in the market.
- Young adults can accessorize in style without impacting the environment.
Caution: This concept is the work of Isabel Mathew. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon this information without her consent is prohibited.