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Big Closets Small Planet

Fashion and apparel. It touches nearly everyone. When its at its best, fashion and apparel is not only functional, but also fun, expressive, sexy, and for some businesses, very profitable. But when it is at its worst, fashion and apparel is superficial, exploitative, polluting and extremely wasteful - in other words the essence of unsustainable consumption. And while it is argued that the industry's rapid growth has created employment opportunities for more than 300 million people worldwide, especially for women in poorer countries and those in extreme poverty, many garment workers still struggle to earn enough to pay to meet even their most basic needs. More alarming is the fact that as the industry grows - by 2030 more than 8 billion people will live on the planet, and nearly 5 billion of these will be part of the global middle class - its negative environmental impacts may become unmanageable, potentially undermining its social benefits and contributing to ecosystem degradation on local, regional and global scales. Who would have thought garments could be so destructive? The fashion industry must change now, but will we manage in time? Join Mike Schragger, founder of the Sustainable Fashion Academy, as he explores the challenges, incentives and disincentives and emerging solutions needed to rapidly transform the industry. Listen in as he talks with the business leaders, activists, researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs, investors, legislators, consumers and citizens - who are racing against the clock to find solutions that will transform the industry, thus ensuring it truly operates for the benefit of people and the planet. www.sustainablefashionacademy.org/podcasts/big-closets-small-planet

info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: Do we need to reimagine growth in apparel? Textile Exchange makes the case. 06/13/2025
info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: Ken Pucker is a thought leader and an independent voice. Is anyone listening? 06/13/2025
info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: How much is enough? Can a “sufficiency” approach be applied to textile policy? 06/13/2025
info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: How Elisabeth Peregi, the Kappahl Group’s CEO, views climate action. 06/12/2025
info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: Status Update: Will the New York and California Fashion Act bills pass? 06/12/2025
info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: Will EU’s textile legislation reduce industry emissions at the pace and scale required? 06/12/2025
info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: Watchdogs Action Speaks Louder & Fashion Revolution want more from the industry. 06/12/2025
info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: Heat is putting Indian garment workers’ lives at risk today. We need to act now. 06/11/2025
info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: Professor Hakan Karaosman is still asking: “Where are the workers’ voices?” 06/11/2025
info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: The Laudes Foundation explains its approach for ensuring a Just Transition. 06/11/2025
info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: Jason Judd wants the apparel industry to take heat stress very seriously. 06/11/2025
info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: Apparel Impact Institute has a decarbonization strategy for the industry. Is it working? 06/10/2025
info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: Will climate-related innovations save us? We asked Lutz Walter from Textile ETP. 06/10/2025
info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: WRAP believes we need a standardized way to measure circular business models. 06/10/2025
info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: The Good Fashion Fund has tested its impact model. It is time to scale up. 06/10/2025
info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: Will we soon see a breakthrough for “next-gen” man-made cellulosic textiles? 06/10/2025
info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: Will H&M reach its climate targets and decouple emissions from financial growth? 06/09/2025
info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: These manufacturers argue a paradigm shift is needed for successful climate action. 06/09/2025
info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: Will energy benchmarks for apparel change the game? Kurt & Phil think so. 06/09/2025
info_outline CLIMATE ACTION WEEK: Factory decarbonization expert Peter Ford is surprisingly optimistic about 2030. 06/09/2025
info_outline THOUGHT LEADERSHIP: Dr. Jennifer Hinton Thinks Not-for-Profit Business Models Can Help Address The Problems of Fast Fashion. 05/08/2024
info_outline THOUGHT LEADERSHIP: For Ken Pucker, circularity is just another win-win fantasy & distraction for the fashion industry. 06/29/2023
info_outline HOT OFF THE PRESS: Climate & The 1 Trillion Dollar Question 04/06/2022
info_outline HOT OFF THE PRESS: Fashion is endangering our forests. A new report from Canopy weighs in on what we need to do about it. 12/16/2020
info_outline HOT OFF THE PRESS: Are the Sustainable Apparel Coalition and the HIGG tools making a meaningful difference? A new report weighs in. 11/25/2020
info_outline DEBATE: Part 2 - A proposed Swedish chemical tax on textiles - is this a case study in great government leadership or political greenwash? 11/11/2020
info_outline DEBATE: Part 1 - A proposed Swedish chemical tax on textiles - is this a case study in great government leadership or political greenwash? 10/28/2020
info_outline THOUGHT LEADERSHIP: Sustainable investment expert Sasja Beslik thinks the fashion industry is a very poor performer and possibly a stranded asset. 10/14/2020
info_outline MAKE YOUR CASE: Phil Patterson believes the way we use chemicals in the textiles industry is broken and here is his plan to change it! 09/30/2020
info_outline FACT OR FICTION: Alden Wicker and Sandra Roos think the fashion industry has a misinformation problem... do you agree? 09/16/2020
 
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