How to Quickly Tell if a Brand is Sustainable

Whether or not you’re a clotheshorse, we’re all becoming more attentive to how our buying habits shape working conditions and environmental impact of the fashion industry. We have a conundrum – the world is on fire, brands continue to use sweatshops, and information on brand sustainability and ethical practices is often obtuse at best. There is a lot of competing information out there, cleverly-worded marketing tactics, and an avalanche of reporting on which brands may-or-may-not-be greenwashing. So here’s our question: how to quickly tell if a brand is sustainable?

I know, this is sounding like a bad infomercial, and it’s about to get worse. Sorry. But really – who has the time to research brand ethics every time we make a clothing purchase? I suppose you could say that that haste is part of the problem – we buy out of reflex and seem to avoid conscious consumerism at all costs – but the reality is that getting the dirt on fashion brands takes time and patience.

Especially patience. Supply chains, the pros and cons of organic cotton, the true efficacy of recycled plastics, the ins and outs of labor laws – it’s a freaking mess.

There is, however a resource I’d like to share to mediate the chaos. Other than reducing – or even better, nixing – your fast fashion buys, buying secondhand, renting, recycling or donating your clothes, and wearing what you already have (did you get all that? haha), check this one thing before buying.

How to Quickly Tell if a Brand is Sustainable: Good On You

The gist: if you want to know if you’re supporting an ethical and sustainable brand, go to GoodOnYou.eco , hit the search ratings tab, and type the brand name in.

Voila! The Good On You folks have done all the work for you. They’ll give you a clear, easy-to-read, and informative overview of how a given brand fares with workers’ rights, animal welfare, and ecological impact. Check out their ratings guide to see which parameters they use and how they get their data – it’s fairly comprehensive and safe to say they do a good job.

Easy peasy, right?

The Long Way to Tell if a Brand is Sustainable

If your brand of choice isn’t on Good On You’s radar, here’s what to do:

1. Fix your gorgeous laser eyes on the brand’s marketing. Are they specific with their claims of eco-sainthood? Do they give broad terms like “environmentally-friendly” without backing it up with exactly how they achieve this? This is one instance where you can and should be JUDGEY. If you smell bullshit, it’s because you’re about to step in it. Listen to that inner critic.
2. Check up on their transparency. Do they disclose their supply chains? Do they collect data on environmental impact? Are they sneaky bastards about where their animal products come from? Sometimes you can glean this info from their website; others, not so much (which should give you a hint at how they value transparency). In the latter case, check out the Fashion Transparency Index, a yearly report and exactly what it sounds like – a register and rating of the transparency of about 250 brands.
3. Keep abreast of the news. Journalists over at The New York Times, Washington Post, and other publications are constantly sticking their noses into the fashion supply chain and writing about it. The more you keep your eye out, the more you’ll start to notice these articles. Just this summer, Boohoo was outed by The Sunday Times for paying their factory workers in Leicester a mere £3.50 per hour (that’s about $4.50). This ignited lawsuits, transparency pledges, and even plummeting stock prices – it pays to pay attention, yes?

Yes, it’s a pain in the peach-emoji to have to practically babysit brands and make sure they’re behaving. But one thing we’ve learned this summer, especially here in the West with all the fires, is that we need to turn this ship around. It’s going to take all of us, and all of our little, day-to-day decisions, to course-correct. We can do thissssss!

If you have any suggestions or additional resources, I WANT TO KNOW! Sharing is caring, friends!

love,

Stig.

P.S. And that gorgeous dress I’m wearing in the cover photo? Doesn’t pass muster with Good On You – Alice McCall, the dress’s designer, earns a “Not Good Enough” rating due to lack of transparency. BOO!