Do you know what your clothes are made from?
If the label says ‘rayon’ or ‘viscose’ then it’s likely that you’re wearing the rainforest, possibly from Canada, Indonesia or the Amazon, which continues to be ravaged by the estimated 2,500 active fires spreading throughout Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay.
The plant-based fibres used for much of your wardrobe, from those silk-imitation dresses to that trusted cotton-blend T-shirt, were once thought to be eco-friendly alternatives to polyester due to their biodegradability. This is no longer the case, as Nicole Rycroft (founder and executive director of Canopy) points out, because these manmade materials are produced via the deforestation of the world’s last-remaining, irreplaceable old-growth forest.
“It’s not intuitive, right?” asks Rycroft, whose company is working with designers to create a better supply chain, source next-gen fabrics and move fibre production into sustainable second-growth forests. “That something that stands up 130 ft and can give you a splinter ultimately ends up as a soft, silky fabric that lines your suit jacket or gives your little black dress that really nice drape. I’ve essentially worked as a professional tree-hugger for the past 20 years, and I was surprised about the link when I found out.”
The impact of fast fashion
There are two main categories that link fashion to the degradation of rainforests. The first is where products, such as leather, are made as a result of deforestation and land clearing (Brazil and the Amazon are hit particularly hard here). According to Vogue Business, the South American country supplies around 22 per cent of the world’s leather exports, making it the single largest source of animal hides, of which the footwear industry is the single largest buyer.
The second refers to products directly made forests: manmade cellulose fabrics such as viscose, rayon and modal, as well as packaging. “Three billion trees disappear into packaging every year,” notes Rycroft, “and 150 million trees disappear into viscose every year. That figure has doubled since 2013, and is slated to double again within the next five to eight years.”
Changing the global supply chain
Set up in 1999, Rycroft’s Canopy works with businesses and fashion brands around the world to come up with sustainable solutions to safeguard high-carbon, high-biodiversity-value forests. “I felt that we could be doing things in a smarter way,” she says, “that we didn’t need to use 800-year-old trees to make a Jackie Collins novel, or something that hangs in our wardrobes, or the cardboard boxes that our online purchases come in.”
Rycroft now works with 750 of the world’s largest corporate customers of forest products, including packaging, paper, and viscose. Among the fashion brands who have made policy commitments to safeguard old-grown forests are Stella McCartney, H&M, Levi’s, North Face, Wrangler and Zara. “By working with viscose producers, we have been able to unpack their supply chains and have verified that close to 30 per cent of global viscose is now at low risk of originating from ancient and endangered forests,” she says. “That’s a pretty significant shift of a global supply chain within a five-and-a-half-year period.”
The current Amazon crisis
There’s still more work to be done, as shown by the devastating fires in the Amazon. The lasting impact of the previous three weeks remains unknown, but even before the flames ripped through the rainforest, satellite data showed that an area the size of a football pitch was being lost every minute. Under Brazilian President Bolsonaro, deforestation has risen more than 88 per cent in June compared to the same month last year.
“If we were to ever look for a silver lining in this crisis, it’s that it’s really bringing the attention of the global community to what an important role forests play in stabilising our climate and in the health of our planet,” says Rycroft. “But we can do things. And we can be smarter. We need to commit we need to start taking action as of today.”
Here, lists five ways you can make a difference:
Be aware of what you are consuming
Traceability and supply-chain transparency are more important than ever. Be aware that when you see viscose, rayon, modal, cupro, Tencel or lyocell, you should question where those wood-based fibres were sourced from. (You can consult Canopy’s partners here.) Remember that packaging also originates from forests.
Support brands that are taking bold leadership
Canopy now has formal commitments with 198 brands and global retailers to safeguard forests. During the G7 Summit, Emmanuel Macron’s Fashion Pact united 150 of the biggest names in fashion to tackle global warming, restore biodiversity and preserve the oceans. Among them are Stella McCartney, Gucci, Chanel, Nike, Alexander McQueen, Prada, Hermès, Burberry, Gap, Zara and Nordstrom (although LVMH remains absent from the coalition). “I see initiatives like the Fashion Pact as a positive step in publicly committing to changing the course of action,” says Rycroft.
Shop better, buy smarter
“As global citizens, we all have a role to play,” urges Rycroft. “Be it with the clothing that we buy or the way that our finances are invested, we are intimately linked to the current deforestation crisis in the Amazon.” Her advice? “Look to buy for a lifetime, rather than a season.” Don’t just buy products that are made to last, but also look into ones that require fewer resources to produce.
Actively support next-generation solutions
“Be it through recycling or innovating with new raw materials, these technologies are market-ready,” she says. “We need to see brands adopt them more, yes, but as consumers, we need to support these brands and the products that contain more circular design fibres.”
Volunteer or donate to your favourite environmental and social justice organisation
Follow in Stella McCartney’s footsteps and donate to Rainforest Alliance, which works with rural communities to conserve forests and support sustainable methods; Amazon Aid Foundation, which works to protect the Amazon; and the World Wildlife Fund, which protects the planet and endangered species. Otherwise, Global Witness is an international non-governmental organisation working with frontline communities and environmental defenders who are often on the receiving end of violence, and Canopy is an international non-profit, too.