How to succeed in eco-responsible shopping?

As you know, fashion is a very polluting sector. Western clothing consumption has doubled in 10 years and “fast fashion” is pushing us to over-consumption.
If you want to know the exact figures, here is a summary from ADEME (Environment and Energy Management Agency).
Faced with this, how do you find your way when you want to do eco-responsible shopping? Here is a guide to help you exercise your power as a consumer-actor and change fashion on your scale.

Do you really need to go shopping?

Responsible fashion, something bohemian?

It is true that anything eco-friendly has long been seen as something for wealthy people, because not everyone can afford these good intentions.
But today, many brands are finding ways to offer eco-responsible clothing at affordable prices.
Sure, searching can be tedious, but there are plenty of tools like the SloWeAre search engine to quickly find what you're looking for.
Of course, prices will remain higher than those of fast fashion. If sustainable development were profitable, fashion would already be zero waste. But short circuits allow responsible companies to reduce their costs.

Choosing resilient clothing

If we buy twice as many products as we did 15 years ago, we do not own twice as many clothes, their lifespan has simply been halved.
And this is where you, the savvy person, will see the good deal.
Indeed, buying a t-shirt for 40 euros instead of 20 may seem like a bad deal. But your t-shirt, in addition to polluting less, will also last longer than a classic t-shirt bought in fast-fashion.
In the long run, buying sustainable clothing will therefore be a very good deal. And by spreading your expenses well, you will relieve your wallet as well as the environment.
To find these clothes without being an expert, you have to rely on the labels (sic.).
Labels are not an exact science, and several investigations have already shown their flaws.

Our solution? Trust Made In France!
While in some countries, obtaining a label may have some flaws, this is generally less the case in France. It will generally be of good quality, whether for you or the environment.

Beware of greenwashing!

With consumer awareness, sustainability and ethics have become selling points. And like all selling points, they can be wrapped up in marketing deception and turn out to be completely false.
The latest example was the famous “fashion pact”, which was presented on the sidelines of the G7 in Biarritz.
This pact, bringing together 30% of fashion players, represents a real awareness on their part, but presents unrealistic objectives with poorly defined scopes.
For example, the various stakeholders are committed to using only renewable energy by 2030. This is totally unrealistic; it would mean using neither electricity nor oil.
Moreover, not a word about fast fashion and the economic model, while we should reduce the production of clothes and increase their lifespan.
Since the pact does not establish any independent control of these commitments, it is likely that it will remain nothing more than a grand communication operation.

The magic of second hand

If a garment is used twice, its ecological cost is divided by 2! Thrift stores have a great ecological advantage, because they allow you to get clothes without having to reproduce a new one.
When you want to get rid of a piece of clothing, textile terminals are your best choice, since you will make someone happy who will be able to get a piece of clothing at a low price for their wallet and the planet.
And if you want to get a product, second-hand will also allow you to find gems at low prices.

The final word

The idea of ​​this article is not to make you feel guilty, everyone does what they can on their own scale. Nor should ecology become a witch hunt, whether it concerns businesses or consumers.
There is no such thing as a 100% eco-friendly product, and even this item has an ecological impact and has emitted CO2. But with awareness from consumers and especially businesses, we could succeed in reducing the impact of humanity on its environment.