The Monster in Our Closet | Patagonia Films

Summary

Dieses Video skizziert die Auswirkungen der Modeindustrie auf das Klima und die Umwelt. Es zeigt, dass die meisten Kleidungsstücke aus Plastik hergestellt werden, was auf fossile Brennstoffe zurückgeht. Die Diskussion umfasst Gesetzgebung, um den negativen Einfluss der Branche zu verringern, sowie die Bedeutung recycelten Materials und nachhaltiger Praktiken. Es wird betont, dass Verbraucher bewusstere Entscheidungen treffen und Gesetzgeber Maßnahmen ergreifen müssen, um eine nachhaltigere Zukunft zu gewährleisten.

Takeaways

• 🌍 Die Modeindustrie hat einen erheblichen Einfluss auf die Umwelt, da sie eng mit der fossilen Brennstoffindustrie verbunden ist.
• 👕 Mehr als 50% der Kleidungsmaterialien bestehen aus Kunststoff, meist in Form von Polyester, welches aus Öl und Gas gewonnen wird.
• 🛑 Die Verwendung von Plastik in Kleidung führt zu einer Zunahme von Treibhausgasemissionen und ist ein Problem für die globale Kohlenstoffbilanz.
• 📈 Die Modeindustrie ist für bis zu 76% der Treibhausgasemissionen des Lebenszyklus einer Verpflegung verantwortlich.
• 📚 Es gibt ein wachsendes Bewusstsein für die Notwendigkeit von Gesetzen, um die Auswirkungen der Modeindustrie auf das Klima zu regulieren.
• 👗 Fast Fashion basiert auf einem Konsummodell, das auf Billigheit und kurzlebigen Trends setzt, was zu einer erhöhten Kleidungsproduktion und -konsumption führt.
• ♻️ Wiederverwendung von Plastik ist ein wichtiger Schritt zur Dekarbonisierung, kann aber nicht die einzige Lösung für die Herausforderungen der Modeindustrie sein.
• 👖 Patagonia ist ein Beispiel für eine Firma, die sich bemüht, nachhaltigere Materialien und Verfahren zu verwenden, um den ökologischen Fußabdruck zu reduzieren.
• 🔍 Transparenz und Offenlegung in der Lieferkette sind entscheidend, um Verbrauchern mehr Informationen über die Herkunft und den Aufbau ihrer Kleidung zu geben.
• 🏛️ Gesetzgeber müssen eingreifen, um die Verantwortung der Modeindustrie für ihren ökologischen Schaden zu klären und nachhaltigere Praktiken zu fördern.
• 👥 Eine kollektive Veränderung erfordert die Beteiligung aller Beteiligten - von Designern, Materialentwicklern, Verbrauchern bis hin zu internationalen Regierungen.

Q & A

Woher kommt die meisten Kleidung und was hat das für Auswirkungen?

Die meisten Kleidungen werden aus Plastik hergestellt, was einen signifikanten Einfluss auf die Umwelt hat. Die Modeindustrie ist eng mit der fossilen Brennstoffindustrie verbunden, da Plastik aus Öl und Gas stammt.

Was ist der Hauptbestandteil von Plastikfleece?

Der Hauptbestandteil eines Plastikfleeces ist Polyester, das aus Ethylen hergestellt wird, welches wiederum aus sekundären Chemikalien wie Ethin gewonnen wird, die bei der Destillation von Rohöl entstehen.

Wie ist die Beziehung zwischen der Modeindustrie und der Erderwärmung?

Die Modeindustrie trägt zu den Treibhausgasemissionen bei, da sie einen signifikanten Anteil an Plastik und synthetischen Fasern verwendet, die aus fossilen Brennstoffen gewonnen werden.

Was ist das Ziel von Maxine Bédat, als sie an der UN arbeitet?

Maxine Bédat zielt darauf ab, durch gesetzgeberische Maßnahmen Märkte zu verändern, um die Auswirkungen der Modeindustrie auf den Klimawandel zu verringern.

Was könnte ein Gesetz, das von Maxine Bédat vorgeschlagen wird, bewirken?

Ein solches Gesetz könnte globale Auswirkungen haben, indem es Unternehmen verpflichtet, sich an bestimmten Regeln zu halten, wenn sie in New York tätig sein wollen, was dazu führen könnte, dass sie ihre Geschäftspraktiken ändern.

Was ist das Hauptproblem der Modeindustrie hinsichtlich des Klimawandels?

Das Hauptproblem ist, dass die Modeindustrie einen signifikanten Beitrag zu den Treibhausgasemissionen leistet und dass es bis 2050 25% des globalen Kohlenstoffbudgets ausmachen könnte, wenn keine Änderungen vorgenommen werden.

Wie ist der aktuelle Ansatz von Patagonia, um nachhaltigere Materialien zu verwenden?

Patagonia konzentriert sich darauf, hochwertige, leichte und leistungsstarke Materialien herzustellen, die aus Abfall gewonnen werden können, und vermeidet so den Einsatz von nicht erneuerbaren Ressourcen wie Rohöl.

Was ist der Unterschied zwischen der Verwendung von Plastik bei Patagonia und in der gesamten Bekleidungsindustrie?

Patagonia verwendet Plastik, um die Lebensdauer ihrer Produkte zu verlängern, während die Bekleidungsindustrie oft billigere, schnellere und größere Mengen an Waren herstellen möchte, was zu einer höheren Konsumtion und einem größeren Umweltverschmutzung führt.

Was ist die Rolle von Recyling im Kampf gegen den Klimawandel in der Modeindustrie?

Recycling kann dazu beitragen, Emissionen zu reduzieren, indem es einen signifikanten Einfluss auf die Dekarbonisierung hat, ist aber nur ein Teil des Lösungsbildes und nicht die Alleinsilberung für alle Probleme.

Wie kann die Dekarbonisierung der Textil- und Bekleidungsindustrie erreicht werden?

Die Dekarbonisierung erfordert die Zusammenarbeit von Designern, Materialentwicklern, internationalen Regierungen und allen, die an der Herstellung und dem Kauf von Kleidung beteiligt sind.

Was ist die Botschaft von Kendra Pierre-Louis an die Zuschauer?

Kendra Pierre-Louis empfiehlt, herauszufinden, was man tun kann, um seinen eigenen ökologischen Fußabdruck zu verringern, ohne sich zu sehr zu belasten, und dann die Energie, die man sonst für die Perfektionierung des Lebensstils aufzuwenden, in sozialen oder gemeinnützigen Projekten einzusetzen.

Was ist die Hauptempfehlung für Verbraucher, um ihren Einfluss auf die Umwelt zu reduzieren?

Verbrauchern wird empfohlen, weniger Kleidung zu kaufen, bessere Qualität zu wählen, Kleidung so lange wie möglich zu tragen, sie zu reparieren und sie dann richtig zu entsorgen oder sie zu Zweitverwenden.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Unbekannte Konsequenzen der Modeindustrie

Dieser Absatz thematisiert die Unwissenheit vieler Menschen über die Herkunft und den Einfluss ihrer Kleidung. Es wird betont, dass die Planetenbedingungen dringlich sind und dass die Modeindustrie Teil der fossilen Brennstoffindustrie ist. Die Sprecherin MAXINE, eine Anwältin und UN-Mitarbeiterin, betont die Notwendigkeit von Marktänderungen und gesetzlicher Regulierung, um die Umweltauswirkungen der Modeindustrie zu reduzieren. Sie arbeitet an einem Gesetzesentwurf, der Unternehmen verpflichten würde, sich an New Yorker Regeln zu halten, wenn sie dort tätig sein möchten.

05:03

🌱 Die Umweltauswirkungen des Modegeschäfts

Der zweite Absatz konzentriert sich auf die Umweltauswirkungen des Modegeschäfts und wie sie zum Klimawandel beitragen. Kendra Pierre-Louis, Senior-Klimareporterin, untersucht die Verbindung zwischen der Modeindustrie und dem Plastik, das in vielen Kleidungsstücken enthalten ist. Es wird erklärt, dass Polyethylen, ein Kunststoff, aus Erdöl hergestellt wird, und wie dieser Prozess zu den Treibhausgasemissionen beiträgt. Die Diskussion umfasst auch die Strategien von fossilen Brennstoffunternehmen, um durch den Einsatz von Plastik in der Modeindustrie ihre Geschäftsmodelle zu sichern.

10:04

👕 Nachhaltige Materialien bei Patagonia

In diesem Abschnitt wird auf die Anstrengungen von Patagonia eingegangen, um nachhaltigere Materialien in ihre Kleidungsproduktion zu integrieren. Es wird erläutert, dass die Umweltauswirkungen von Polyethylen, das in vielen Kleidungsstücken verwendet wird, beachtlich sind und dass Patagonia versucht, recyceltes Polyester aus Plastikflaschen zu verwenden. Die Herausforderungen, die damit einhergehen, wie z.B. die Langlebigkeit von Kleidung und die damit verbundenen Umweltauswirkungen, werden ebenso thematisiert wie die Kritik an der Geschäftsmodell der Fast Fashion, die auf Verbrauch undisposablen Kleidung basiert.

15:04

🚮 Probleme des Kleidungsrecyclings

Dieser Absatz behandelt die Probleme des Kleidungsrecyclings und wie sie zur Umweltverschmutzung beitragen. Es wird gesagt, dass nur ein kleiner Teil der gesammelten Kleidung tatsächlich wiederverkauft wird und dass der Rest oft in Länder wie in subsaharischen Afrika exportiert wird, wo er als Abfall endet. Die Sprecher betonen die Notwendigkeit gesetzlicher Schritte, um die Umweltauswirkungen des Modesektors zu regulieren, und fordern eine verantwortungsvollere Herstellung und Entsorgung von Kleidung.

20:06

🔄 Recycling und Dekarbonisierung in der Modeindustrie

Der fünfte Absatz konzentriert sich auf das Potenzial des Recyclings zur Dekarbonisierung der Modeindustrie. Es wird erkannt, dass Recycling zwar einen positiven Einfluss haben kann, jedoch keine Alleinklagem zur Lösung des Problems ist. Die Herausforderungen, die mit der Herstellung von Kleidung aus recyceltem Material verbunden sind, werden ebenso thematisiert wie die Notwendigkeit, die Umweltauswirkungen des gesamten Produktionsprozesses zu reduzieren. Die Sprecher betonen die Bedeutung von Zusammenarbeit zwischen Designern, Materialentwicklern, Regierungen und Verbrauchern, um eine nachhaltigere Modeindustrie zu schaffen.

25:08

🌐 Verbraucherrollen und gesetzliche Veränderungen

Schließlich wird in diesem Abschnitt die Rolle der Verbraucher und die Bedeutung gesetzlicher Veränderungen für eine nachhaltigere Modeindustrie thematisiert. Die Sprecher betonen, dass es nicht nur um den Kauf von besseren Produkte geht, sondern auch darum, sich als bürgerschaftlich aktive Individuen zu sehen, die die Gesellschaft und die Gesetze, die sie regeln, verändern können. Sie rufen dazu auf, die Augen für das Ausmaß des Problems zu öffnen, gleichzeitig aber auch zu erkennen, dass jeder Einzelne mehr Macht hat, als manchmal angenommen wird. Die Notwendigkeit eines kollektiven Handelns und der Unterstützung von Gesetzesänderungen, die den Bedürfnissen von Mensch und Planet gerecht werden, wird betont.

Keywords

💡Kleidung

Kleidung ist ein grundlegender Bestandteil des täglichen Lebens, der in diesem Video als zentrales Thema für Umweltauswirkungen und Nachhaltigkeit hervorgehoben wird. Die Diskussion konzentriert sich darauf, dass die meisten Menschen keine Ahnung haben, aus welchen Materialien ihre Kleidung besteht und welchen Einfluss sie auf die Umwelt hat. Im Video wird betont, dass die Kleidungsindustrie Veränderungen erfordert, um den ökologischen Fußabdruck zu reduzieren.

💡Umweltauswirkungen

Umweltauswirkungen beziehen sich auf die Auswirkungen, die menschliche Aktivitäten auf die Natur haben. Im Kontext des Videos sind Umweltauswirkungen besonders in Bezug auf die Herstellung und den Einsatz von synthetischen Fasern in der Kleidungsherstellung von Interesse. Es wird darauf hingewiesen, dass die Kleidungsindustrie zu den fossilen Brennstoffen und damit verbundenen Emissionen beiträgt.

💡Synthetische Fasern

Synthetische Fasern wie Polyester stammen aus fossilen Brennstoffen und machen einen Großteil unserer Kleidung aus. Im Video wird erklärt, dass mehr als 50% der Kleidungsmaterialien aus Plastik besteht, was ein Problem darstellt, da Plastik aus Öl und Gas stammt und zu den Treibhausgasemissionen beiträgt.

💡Fossil-Fuel-Industrie

Die Fossil-Fuel-Industrie bezieht sich auf die Branche, die Erdöl und Erdgas als Brennstoffe für verschiedene Zwecke wie den Transport und die Herstellung von Plastik produziert. Im Video wird betont, dass die Modeindustrie eng mit dieser Industrie verbunden ist, da die Herstellung von synthetischen Fasern für Kleidung auf fossile Brennstoffe angewiesen ist.

💡Nachhaltigkeit

Nachhaltigkeit ist das Konzept, Ressourcen verantwortungsvoll zu verwalten, um eine dauerhafte Entwicklung zu gewährleisten. Im Video wird die Notwendigkeit von nachhaltigeren Praktiken in der Kleidungsherstellung hervorgehoben, um den ökologischen Fußabdruck zu reduzieren und umweltfreundlichere Alternativen zu fördern.

💡Recycling

Recycling bedeutet, Materialien nach ihrer Verwendung wiederzuverwenden, um Ressourcen zu schonen und Abfall zu reduzieren. Im Video wird die Verwendung recycelten Plastiks, zum Beispiel aus PET-Flaschen, für die Herstellung von Kleidung diskutiert. Es wird angemerkt, dass Recycling ein wichtiger Schritt zur Dekarbonisierung der Textilindustrie ist, ist jedoch keine Alleinlösung.

💡Fast Fashion

Fast Fashion bezeichnet eine Geschäftsmodell der Kleidungsindustrie, bei dem neue Modetrends schnell und günstig auf den Markt gebracht werden, um das Konsumverhalten zu fördern. Im Video wird kritisiert, dass dieses Modell auf synthetischen Materialien basiert und zu einer erhöhten Konsumption und einem verkürzten Nutzungsdauer von Kleidung führt.

💡Konsumenten

Konsumenten sind die Menschen, die Güter und Dienstleistungen kaufen und nutzen. Im Video wird betont, dass die Verantwortung für den ökologischen Fußabdruck der Kleidung nicht nur bei den Konsumenten liegt, sondern dass die Industrie Veränderungen vornehmen muss, um nachhaltigere Produkte zu schaffen.

💡Gesetzgebung

Gesetzgebung ist der Prozess des Erlasses von Gesetzen durch Regierungen, um bestimmte Probleme zu lösen. Im Video wird argumentiert, dass Gesetzgebung notwendig ist, um die Kleidungsindustrie zu regulieren und sie dazu zu verpflichten, nachhaltigere Praktiken zu verfolgen.

💡Klimakrise

Die Klimakrise beschreibt die dringende globale Herausforderung, die durch den Anstieg der Treibhausgasemissionen und den Verlust der biologischen Vielfalt verursacht wird. Im Video wird die Rolle der Kleidungsindustrie bei der Klimakrise thematisiert und die Notwendigkeit diskutiert, Maßnahmen zu ergreifen, um ihre Auswirkungen zu reduzieren.

Highlights

People are largely unaware of the origins and impacts of their clothing.

The planet urgently requires sustainable fashion practices.

70% of clothing is made from plastic materials.

The fashion industry's connection to the fossil-fuel industry is often overlooked.

Maxine Bédat's work at the UN emphasizes the need for market changes in fashion to address climate crisis.

Legislation is needed to drive sustainable practices in the fashion industry.

A bill being worked on aims to have global impact by setting operational rules for businesses in New York.

The fashion industry contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions.

The industry is beginning to recognize its role in environmental harm.

Plastic in clothing comes from oil and gas, specifically from ethylene derived from crude oil.

Fossil fuel companies are investing in plastics to sustain their business.

Patagonia is working on proving that technical materials can be made from waste.

Fast fashion relies heavily on synthetic, plastic-based materials.

The US has seen a 60% increase in clothing purchases over the past 15 years, but clothes are worn half as long.

Donating clothes is not a complete solution as much of it ends up as waste in the Global South.

Legislation and government intervention are necessary to address the systemic issues in fashion.

The Act on Fashion Coalition is pushing for New York to lead in sustainable fashion practices.

Consumers should focus on reducing their impact and advocating for change.

It's important to consider the entire lifecycle of clothing, from production to disposal.

Decoupling emissions from growth is a key challenge for sustainable fashion.

Everyone involved in the fashion industry, from designers to consumers, must contribute to change.

Transcripts

By and large, people have no idea

where their clothing is coming from,

what it's made out of, the impact that it has.

[intense music playing]

First of all, most importantly,

the planet freakin' needs this.

Like, and we don't have time to like be dicking around.

Excuse me.

WOMAN:

Mm-hmm.

WOMAN 1: This is my closet, a very messy closet.

WOMAN 2: 70% of all our clothing is made out of plastic.

97% polyester, baby, 3% elastane.

If we don't rein in oil and gas,

then what's at stake is the future of humanity on the planet.

That sounds very, um, melodramatic.

The world has not connected the dots

that the fashion industry is also the fossil-fuel industry.

This is a plastic fleece.

The industry has really started to understand

that we are causing this mess.

This is confidential.

Just thinking like, oh, my gosh, look at this monster we created.

What do we do?

MAXINE: As a lawyer and through some of the work

I was doing at the UN,

I saw how, if we are to find solutions to the climate crisis,

we're going to have to change markets,

and fashion is a particularly powerful way to do that

because we can all think about

what we put on our bodies every day.

[computer chimes]

Hi. How are you?

[indistinct chatter, laughter]

Oh, I think that... oh, we also have a little guest.

I never saw myself as an advocate.

You know, I was just like a person

trying to figure out her life.

-[child crying] -I'm sorry, guys, sorry.

She was very excited to talk to you guys. [laughs]

WOMAN: And I agree with that,

it has to come through legislation.

MAXINE: You know, if I look back to like

why I am doing what I'm doing,

it was really out of curiosity, I think.

How could I have no idea about this whole world?

[film projector rattling]

I'm working on a bill...

that would address the root causes

of the impacts of the industry.

Ta-da!

Okay. Here we go.

When this bill is passed, it will have a global impact, because what it will mean is,

if a company anywhere around the world wants to do business in New York,

they will have to operate by our rules,

and because New York is such a massive economic powerhouse,

a company is going to change the ways in which they do business

to be able to sell to New Yorkers.

[horn honks]

[upbeat music playing]

[indistinct chatter]

WOMAN: Nice to meet you.

Yeah. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.

ALEJANDRA: I work with Maxine Bédat at the New Standard Institute.

I'm a lawyer by background, but I've been in this space for like ten years.

You know, I think what we're looking for is to build a broad coalition.

That is why it's taken so long

to like get this massive industry on the agenda.

Every piece of legislation is a campaign.

You know, there are thousands of bills that get introduced that don't go anywhere.

You have to create that energy. The biggest hurdle is just to get over inertia.

This represents over 76%

of the total greenhouse gas emissions

of the life cycle of a garment.

If we do not change anything,

by 2050, this industry alone

will represent a quarter of the carbon budget globally.

We do now have the opportunity and people and a media environment

that cares.

Let's do this, right?

[laughter and applause]

Thank you so much.

Meanwhile we see the industry itself

doesn't even know their own role in the world.

We need to find the information, we need to get it out there,

we need to communicate it and have an independent voice.

ALAN: Welcome to "How to Save a Planet." I'm Alex Blumberg.

This is the show where we talk about what we need to do to address climate change,

how to make those things happen.

And joining me for that conversation

is "How to Save a Planet's" own senior climate reporter

and recovering economics major, Kendra Pierre-Louis.

I always forget you were an economics major.

KENDRA: Yeah, nobody remembers. I consider that a compliment, actually.

My job is to help inform people

so that they can make better decisions about how

to be participants in a democracy.

One of the things that I'm working on right now

is looking at the impact of sort of the fashion industry and climate change.

It's a huge footprint, and if we're trying to decarbonize,

then the fashion industry has to decarbonize as well.

And that kind of led me down this kind of question mark-- if everything we buy is plastic,

how did the plastic get into our clothing?

WOMAN:

I mean, the shirt is plastic.

That's how we're wearing plastic. It's woven, it's thread.

You might be able to tell if you set it on fire and it gets kind of melty.

There we go. Can't believe we didn't play with fire as children.

More than 50% of clothing material is basically plastic.

It's usually some form of polyester,

and that's a problem because plastic comes from oil and gas.

Basically, you have crude oil. That's a thing that comes out of the ground.

And then you have to distill it to make gasoline,

which is what we put in our cars.

But in that process of distilling it,

you end up with a whole bunch of other secondary chemicals.

One of those secondary chemicals is ethyne.

And ethyne, if you do a couple of things to it, it makes ethylene,

and ethylene is the primary ingredient for most plastics.

The naked plastic product that you end up with looks like a pellet.

They're called "nurdles," which is a really cute word

for something that is horribly destructive.

You can heat it and you can extrude it into lots of things.

You can extrude it into a plastic water bottle,

or you can extrude it really thin and then spin it,

and then you can make yarn, which becomes a precursor

for the fibers that will get woven into my T-shirt.

So the main ingredient in our clothing is fossil fuels.

[telephone rings]

Hi, it's Judith Enck.

Hi, Judith, it's Kendra.

I was wondering if you had any insight

into sort of like...

like how did the plastic get into everything,

like everything I'm wearing?

JUDITH: Yes.

It's certainly not due to consumer demand,

because study after study shows that consumers

want alternatives to plastic.

This is being pushed by the plastics industry.

My like "gulp" moment was in recognizing

the degree to which fossil fuel companies were really leaning into plastic

and were really trying to expand the use of plastic

as a way of staying in business.

JUDITH: I wanted to put this report out because

I was watching plastics becoming the Plan B for the fossil fuel industry.

Unless we act on plastics, those greenhouse gas emissions

will be replaced with greenhouse gas emissions from the petrochemical sector.

Broadly speaking, there has been an increased investment

in plastics facilities across the United States.

Because fossil fuel companies are pushing plastic

as a way of continuing to drill for gas and drill for oil,

the share of emissions that plastics is taking up is increasing.

As long as the fossil fuel industry are able

to continue to pump out cheap fibers

that the fashion industry finds desirable, they're going to keep doing it,

and it's gonna continue to be a mutually beneficial agreement.

MAN: When I first started working at Patagonia,

the biggest thing that I worked on at the start

was really just trying to prove

that technical materials

and performance materials and performance products

could be made from waste, essentially.

And no one believed that.

We first had to get through that barrier of like,

"Can we even build our product from waste material?"

Like, no matter where it comes from,

whether it's plastic bottles or post-industrial waste or whatever,

we first had to do that.

Because you had to prove that it was possible.

Yeah, so welcome to the United Nations of Patagonia.

[laughter]

Sometimes I've spent two or three years

developing one fabric.

Just because of all the different pieces that go into it.

Why do we use plastics in our clothes?

We're developing a lot of these highly technical materials, lightweight materials.

There's lots of performance aspects.

Higher strength, longer lasting, more durable,

more water resistant.

It's also an issue because they're so durable,

so when we're done with our garment,

it isn't just gonna break down,

it's gonna stay around for a really long time.

The number-one-used material in the world is polyester.

And so, if we're able to think about the kind of impacts and changes

that we're able to make in that space,

then, you know, we should really be able to really make a big difference.

We want to focus on this instead.

Right now if you were to look at Patagonia's line,

pretty much every polyester that we make,

if it's recycled,

it's mostly coming from plastic bottles,

and most of those plastic bottles

were coming from places that are really good at recycling.

I think it's a great improvement off of the alternative,

which is virgin petroleum based polyester,

which is using a non-renewable resource, but...

we could be sourcing polyester from a way more meaningful place.

We could be sourcing it from places in the world

where they don't have municipalities,

and we could be using our business

to funnel funds towards a community

that needs to be uplifted.

All right, moment of truth.

We've gone through the gauntlet for snagging,

and now we have to check out things like waterproofness,

and the mechanics of the face fabric

is one of the toughest things to get through

for a new fabric like this, so...

Yeah, yeah, let's run hydros.

Everything is on the line in the lab

because if I can't pass something simple

like tearing strength or snagging resistance

and that fabric isn't up to Patagonia's high level of quality,

then, like, we can't support that cause.

It's crazy...

the kind of commitment that it takes to like get through all this.

I think that the apparel industry as a whole

probably uses plastic in a very different way than Patagonia uses plastic.

I think we're using plastic in order to lengthen

the amount of time that our products last,

but a lot of times plastics are used in apparel

to create more commodity good,

something that is made faster, cheaper, and at greater scale.

What changed sort of the adoption of polyester and synthetic fibers

was the rise of fast fashion.

Fast fashion is the business model of disposability,

so instead of having limited styles every season,

you introduce new styles

and you introduce a new way of consuming.

This is a very new phenomenon.

We went for millennia of dressing ourselves

in things that came from a farm

to, in about two generations,

seeing synthetic, plastic-based materials

completely take over natural fibers.

Correlation does not lead to causation,

but in this case it's pretty clear

that fast fashion is a business model built on synthetics.

At the moment we are going from traditional fast fashion players

to even more fast fashion, even cheaper products.

I spent $2,000 online.

The fault is not on us, the consumers.

It's on the industry that has been marketing to us

in the most intense way possible.

KENDRA: Because oil and gas are so cheap,

the clothing that we get as a result is really cheap,

and in many cases not durable.

And so we end up spending less but we're consuming more.

In the United States, we have increased our clothing purchases over the past 15 years by 60%,

but we wear clothes half as long.

You're essentially telling people you can buy more clothes for less money.

And there's this other thread, which is we're telling people

you need to have the current style,

and those two together creates this huge marketing budget.

I'm not a nudist, so I embrace the reality that we need clothes.

And ideally if you're going to buy clothing,

you should be buying clothing that is better constructed,

uses better materials, that has fairer wages

and can last a long time.

But that isn't a solution.

That's just essentially living in the world that should be.

And so at some point we just need to stop consuming.

Where we've been failing is we create these products

and then we don't worry about how we're going to get rid of them.

We don't worry about the environmental impact-- that's somebody else's problem.

PASHA: You can't just throw your clothes into a blue bin, like recycling.

There's too many complexities with clothes.

MAXINE: We throw away over 80 pounds of clothes per person per year,

and that's just throwing it away, that's not even donating it.

When we donate our garments,

very little of that is actually ever resold.

Only about 6% of the clothing that comes in

is ever sold in those centers.

Some of it just immediately gets tossed out,

because they assume nobody will want it, and then the rest gets sorted,

and the lowest quality tends to go to sub-Saharan Africa.

It's going to end up ultimately becoming the waste

for the Global South to manage,

either in landfill there or burned more likely.

All of the carbon that has gone into the garment is burned

and put back into the atmosphere.

We've been led to believe that donating things

is an unqualified good thing to do.

But because of this disposable fashion,

if we don't find value in it, it's actually going to be very hard

for other people to find value in it.

So often what ends up happening is we become obsessed

with living these so-called like virtuous individual lives

buying, quote/unquote, "the right things,"

that we don't take any effort to sort of address

the larger systemic issues that are pushing us into these false decisions.

There's no way that the consumer can figure out this problem on their own.

At the end of the day, we really need legislation

and governments to step in

and really help to solve this problem.

There are a number of people, both overseas and in the United States,

increasingly pushing for this kind of legislation.

We need broader regulation around how things are constructed.

We need regulation over who bears the cost of disposing things.

But it needs to be more holistic than it currently is.

I think the real question is, what do we tell our legislators,

what do we tell our government officials?

How do we hold the systems of production accountable

for the harm that they're causing?

[indistinct chatter]

[office phone ringing]

How can we create legislation that is actually going to drive the changes that we need to see?

Step number one is the mapping and disclosures of the supply chain.

Because now the garment industry

is basically the plastics industry,

there's a key disclosure here on the materials,

like just a straight-up disclosure of how much material is being used

and what those materials are.

-MAN: Right. -WOMAN: Yeah.

MAXINE: We get no insight and information

as to what companies are actually doing.

These are all things that have been existing in a black box.

We don't want this to be just about disclosures.

Very key to this is that companies

have to both create science-based targets

and achieve the science-based targets.

The fashion industry, just in terms of greenhouse gas emissions,

has more impact than France, Germany, and the United Kingdom combined.

If you ensure science-based targets across that,

you are drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

This is our first time working, you know, working through this,

you know, really translating this into policy change,

so any guidance that you have on, if you were in our shoes.

The key I think is just to get, you know, uh...

you know, try to line up cosponsors.

With a bill like this, where I'm sure there'll be industry opposition to it,

you know, these kind of big-picture items take a while.

It could take years till the bill passes, so who knows?

MAXINE: We don't have time to spare

to get this industry under control.

If we want to do our part, it's to show our legislators

that this is something that matters

so they can set the rules for all of how business operates.

PASHA: Yeah, I can show you like the...

actually, those fabrics that I was literally talking about for fall '23.

So look, this is... this is the lightweight.

And then this is the heavyweight.

-Can you tell the difference? -KARBA: Interesting.

PASHA: This is what they wanted, and this is what we ended up with.

-KARBA: Yeah. -PASHA: But I had to really fight to make this happen.

I've been working with Pasha since...

almost since I started working at Patagonia.

I work very closely with the material developers.

I can basically add in environmental data,

so when he goes to the business, he can say,

"This is a little more expensive,

but there is a higher environmental impact reduction."

We absolutely do not want to be using virgin petroleum based materials in textiles.

That is a gigantic waste of resources.

Recycling definitely has an influence on decarbonizing

in that it can have a significant, in some cases,

greenhouse gas emission reduction

compared to the conventional petroleum-based counterpart.

But recycling isn't the silver bullet to all of our problems.

It's only one piece of the carbon puzzle.

PASHA: This is actually the one that's making it.

A few years ago, Patagonia did a study

to determine what our carbon footprint is.

We basically realized between 80% and 90%

of Patagonia's entire carbon impact

is coming from the manufacturing of the fabric.

The moment I realized the scale of the problem

was on a trip to this massive warehouse.

I was standing in this like observation window,

looking down on the warehouse,

and it's just machines as far as the eye can see.

You can't even really see the wall on the other side.

I was completely floored.

Just to think that Patagonia's order

will just take up a couple hours of their time

and they're operating 24 hours a day,

seven days a week for the entire year.

It really like put into perspective the scale

at which they were producing fabric.

I can look out the window and I can see

the coal-burning power plant,

and they are producing the energy and the electricity

to run all those machines.

That's CO2 emissions, that's global warming.

Definitely a huge wake-up call for our board.

We realized that, at the end of the day,

if you were to look at our year's impact,

if I did all this great work,

we introduced all this new recycled content,

all this kind of stuff, and then you look to see,

oh, well, our carbon emissions are actually higher than they were last year

because we sold more product.

Decoupling our emissions from our growth

is probably the most uniquely difficult challenge.

If we are going to successfully decarbonize

just the textile and apparel industry,

it is going to take designers, material and product developers.

It's going to take international governments.

It is going to take literally everyone

who is involved in making and buying clothing

to actually get it done.

MAXINE: I can't say that I've been eating or sleeping well,

but... it's also the most meaningful work

that I've ever done.

So whenever I, like, take things too seriously

or get too stressed out, I just remind myself of that.

[indistinct chatter, laughter]

Just personally to come full circle

and to see, like, yeah,

ultimately it is about marching in the streets

and it is about law and changing that law,

because law is what creates the rules of our society.

We have been trained to see ourselves as consumers.

Even after 9/11, President Bush said,

"The thing that you can do is come and shop,"

and that was the big contribution.

That has been the message that we have been sold on,

that our greatest role is to consume.

[crowd clapping]

But consumers are people and we are citizens.

And that's really the shift,

from seeing ourselves as a consumer,

this passive buying machine,

to people with a real sense of agency,

that they can change the society in which we operate.

They can change the laws that we have

so that they better meet the needs of people and planet.

We today come together in solidarity

as the Act on Fashion Coalition

to demand that New York once again leads the country

and stops fashion's exploitation of our planet and its people.

We have to have our eyes wide open on the scope of the problem,

but know that like each one of us has much more power

than we have been led to believe.

PASHA: It helps to be around other people,

to bring you up and remind you of all the great progress that we've made.

I think that's kind of an important piece that we shouldn't forget about,

is like all the great work that we're doing,

that we've done in the past,

and there's... there's hope for the future

that we could figure this out,

that we could fix this problem.

KENDRA: I think my official position

is essentially that you should figure out what you can do

to reduce your impact that doesn't make you crazy,

um, and then take the energy that you would be using to perfect your lifestyle

and use that energy in some sort of social community way and get to work.

[crowd cheering]

Guys, you didn't count to three!

[laughter]

MAXINE: It's going to take

a lot of imperfect people doing,

you know, the most that they can,

or contributing in the way that they can,

for us to collectively make change.

...to come out here today to have our voices heard.

[cheering]

Well, so first off, I want everyone who's watching

to take off their clothes and see where, you know,

the clothing tag and label is on their clothes.

Knowing what your stuff is made of

is, you know, the first step in understanding the impact.

The biggest impact that you can have

is how often you're wearing your clothes,

like how many uses you're getting out of them.

You can see I have, like, repaired a bunch.

Two kinds of fiber.

You got natural fiber and you got synthetic fiber.

Natural fiber you get from a sheep.

Buy fewer garments, buy better garments when we can,

and to wear them over and over again,

and when they've reached sort of their natural life,

find a proper way of disposing it.

Let's buy used things.

Let's buy things that still have a little bit more life in them.

And if you don't need to buy, don't buy.

Because you don't need so many clothes.

[indistinct chatter]

No! It's too messy.

Not that closet!