Saturday, November 6, 2021
HAVE BRANDS STOPPED BURNING THEIR PRODUCTS? AN UPDATE ON BURBERRY’S PRODUCT DESTRUCTION CONTROVERSY.
Tuesday, October 26, 2021
The sustainability and finance of Online Shopping and Returns: Who is to blame?
It’s no secret that COVID19 has made pivotal changes to the fashion industry. The ‘Online Fashion Revolution’ was already gaining speed, but with national lockdowns and high street shops shut, people are using internet businesses now more than ever. With everyone staying in rather than going out, the pandemic has severely affected not only what we shop for, but how we shop.
65% of European and US consumers saw a decrease in overall spending on apparel, but spent more online, according to The State of Fashion Report 2020 (ref). By 2024, the revenue from online fashion in the UK is expected to increase to over $35,000 million (ref).
With online shopping becoming the future, online returns have now also become a significant factor in the shopping process.
There have been accusations of companies sending brand new returns from online to landfills. Greenstory, an online Canadian firm specialising on the environmental footprint of businesses, claim that 20% of online returns get sent to landfill because they are unable to be resold (ref).
Optoro, a company specialising in returns logistics, also follows the same narrative. They state that in the US alone each year, £390 million worth of clothes are returned and 5B lbs of waste are sent to landfill. They estimate that only 50% of returned products go back into stock which means that the rest either gets sent to outlet stores or landfills (ref).
The sustainability of returns looks pretty bleak, to say the least.
However, Dr Mark Sumner, Lecturer of Fashion and Sustainability at Leeds University, disagrees with this number of wasted returns.
Due to the small profit margins of fashion brands with low price points, it would not make sense economically to send them to landfills.
“There's lots of myths about the scale of products that go into reduced or doesn't sell”, he said.
The ‘cost of reduced’, which is products selling at a lower price to clear warehouse space, is usually only around 1% for stores. It would cost more to pay for the collection and disposal of products than selling them onto outlet stores. Therefore, stores would not be sending their stock unnecessarily to landfills.
In the wake of environmental media coverage, brands are now held up to a much higher level of accountability. This means that brands are paying closer attention to their ethics in terms of waste in order to maintain their reputation.
Stores such as ASOS, Next and M&S donate their unwanted items to Oxfam and similar charities. ASOS says in their corporate responsibility report that they were taking actions “working towards meeting our target of sending zero waste from our business operations to landfill.” (ref)
Even brands such as Burberry have begun focusing on more sustainable methods of disposal, after they came under fire in 2018 for burning £28 million worth of products. They have since begun to make extra effort in reducing waste, such as donating leftover materials to fashion students. (ref)
This shows that, at least in terms of waste, fashion brands are attempting to make changes and cannot be totally to blame for the unethical practices of online shopping.
Companies are now under increasing pressure from all sides to ‘do the right thing’ but Sumner argues that it is not so simple. Due to the pandemic, brands were criticised for cancelling orders and contracts with overseas suppliers to reduce the production. However, this is an effective way to reduce waste in the industry.
He said: “Consumers and even commentators really do not understand how the industry works and really don’t understand the consequences of these sometimes very flippant, uninformed statements about what the industry should be doing.”
None of this is to say that there is no environmental impact from returning products; CO2 transmissions from transportation, resources used for packaging and relabelling all are reasons which reflect the unsustainability of online shopping and returns.
But are the brands to blame? Sumner suggests that although brands have control over the production of clothing, the item is at the hands of the consumer once it has left the warehouse.
“Consumers have a big part to play in how they manage their own purchases and how they manage their own waste.”
So, what is the solution? It appears that a sustainable system for online shopping would be difficult to achieve. It is about more than eco-friendly packaging and keeping products on the shelf.
“What we need to be thinking about is how do we buy better and how do brands transition from a volume model to something which is more value orientated”, says Sumner. We need to start seeing the value in the clothes that we already own and find an “emotional connection” with them for them to be kept longer.
Fashion companies alone cannot be the only ones told to make a change, but the system itself. No matter what people critique about the industry, the complexity to the issue has been greatly underestimated.
Written by: Imogen Bowlt
Resources:
Dr Mark Sumner: https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/design/staff/472/dr-mark-sumner
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion
Water Voles habitat to be polluted by Owlthorpe development plans
Written for ShefLive:
Owlthorpe Field Action group have warned of development plans polluting water voles habitat.
The group think that they have discovered water voles, a protected species, in the river, Ochre Dyke, nearby.
Claire Baker, chairperson of Owlthorpe Field Action Group, said: “The surface water is contaminated with car oils, soaps, salt from gritting roads and all of that is going to end up in Ochre Dyke.”
When the Campaign group brought up this argument, they said that they had been “ignored”.
Pond is 500m away from where the water voles are suspected to be living.
An attenuation pond is a drainage pond for drainage run off to slow down water released into the river.
“For instance, if someone spilt antifreeze on the drive and it went down into one of the surface drains, that would be piped down into an attenuation pond and dumped into the river.”
The developers, Avant Homes, are planning to drain the surface run off from the concrete into an attenuation pond. This water would then end up in the nearby river.
Plans for housing development of the Fields had already been controversial and was challenged by OFA previously. However, they had to withdraw from legal action after succeeding in changing the council
Avant Homes responded to their OFA’s open letter which accused developers that they would “rip the heart out” of Owlthorpe Fields.
They said: “The Planning Inspectorate also found that there was no substance behind both the reasons for refusal and the objections brought about by the Owlthorpe Action Group. These findings, in turn, allowed our appeal to succeed.
“Our development plans have been carefully considered and meticulously prepared to ensure we can successfully deliver much-needed new housing for local people whilst respecting the surrounding environment.”
The group have also gained support from residents and campaign groups including Sheffield Friends of the Earth.
Lindy Stone, coordinator of Sheffield FoE, said: “We are fully supportive of all of the work Owlthorpe Fields Community Action Group have done and are full of admiration.
“Things will be better because of the work that Owlthorpe fields have done now. Unfortunately, they are not going to specifically benefit from it.”
Sheffield Hospitals work together to reunite mother and father at the birth of thier child
A paralysed father and his wife were reunited for the first time in six weeks with the birth of their daughter.
Jordan Anderson, 24, was paralysed from the ribcage down
after an abscess burst in his spinal cord just a month before his wife, Emily
Anderson was to give birth.
Mr Anderson said: “I was more upset at the concept of not
being at Elsie’s birth than me losing the ability to move and use most of my
body.”
The injury meant that Mr Anderson required 24-hour
specialist care at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals. This was 20 miles away from
where Ms Anderson, 23, was to have her daughter in Chesterfield Royal Hospital.
The hospitals worked together to enable Mr Anderson to be
with Ms Anderson during the birth.
He said: “I can’t thank everyone enough for helping me to be
there with Emily at one of the most important moments of our lives.”
Their daughter Elsie was delivered through an emergency
C-section which was when one of the porters brought Jordan into the theatre to
be there at the birth.
The hospital enabled Mrs Anderson an extended stay at the
hospital which gave the couple some time together to bond with their daughter.
Mrs Anderson said: “They’ve moved heaven and earth to give
us such a precious week together as a family.”
Jemma
Cox, Mrs Anderson’s midwife said: “Not having him here was a source of anxiety
for Emily so the two hospitals came together to see if it was something that
could be made possible.”
After spending some time with his wife and daughter, Jordan
was transferred to the Princess Royal Spinal Cord Injuries Centre at Sheffield
Teaching Hospitals where will continue with his physiotherapy for the next few
months.
The two hospitals coordinated through several virtual
meetings to allow the couple to be together on their due date which involved up
to 20 clinicians.
Simon Towers, Chesterfield Royal Hospital communications
advisor said: “It was the attitude and willingness to make it happen that underpinned
the clinical ‘know how’.”
Alina
Vais, consultant obstetrician, said: “We’re delighted to have been able to work
together to help make this precious and unforgettable moment possible.”
Written for ShefLive
Woman attacked by group of men on Sheffield Streets
A British Pakistani woman had eggs thrown at her and verbally assaulted by a group of men yesterday walking down Chesterfield Road.
The attack took place at 2.15pm near the junction near
Broadfield Road at the bottom of Heeley.
Ali Shehla, 23, was walking with her headphones in when an
egg was thrown out of an orange Skoda with a group of men inside.
The car then stopped, and a man got out and started
shouting abuse at her. He then returned to the car which drove off towards
Ponsford furniture shop.
Miss Shehla reported the incident to the police and
tweeted about her experience to spread awareness of street harassment.
She said: “I was shocked at what happened but not
surprised.
“When it comes to women of colour, most of the incidents
towards are not really reported on.
“There is a lack of representation… I just want to be taken
seriously and for no one else to have this happen to them.”
Miss Shehla wants the police to find the men who attacked
her.
“They need to be held accountable. It’s not enough to wait
for it to happen to someone else.”
“I see these vigils happening and although they are
important for raising awareness, I’d like to see practical steps taken.”
The attack occurred in broad daylight and it has made Miss
Shehla hesitant about going out alone.
“I have to make others aware and to be extra vigilant then
that’s what I will do, but It’s not really enough knowing people like that are
still out there and think they can get away with it.”
The South Yorkshire Police are still searching for the perpetrators;
however, they are not treating the attack as a hate crime.
Gemma Bartholomew - Kenyon, communications officer of South
Yorkshire police said: “Enquiries are continuing but at this stage we do not
believe it to be racially motivated.
“We are
keen to hear from anybody who may have witnessed the incident or have
information that could help the investigation to contact the police.”
If anyone
has more information which would help to identify the attackers, please call
101 quoting crime reference number 14/43435/21.
Written for ShefLive
Building on Owlthorpe Fields and green spaces: "Nature needs to be put into recovery."
Created for University of Sheffield Journalism assignment mobile video
Monday, February 8, 2021
DRIVER'S LICENSE DRAMA: ARE WE READY TO TALK ABOUT THE SEXISM YET?
Written for my blog, Unreported
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)