Sustainable fashion matters: insights from Sujata Chatterjee, Founder, Twirl.store
In a Community Chat on the 'HerStory Women On A Mission' Facebook group, Sujata Chatterjee of Twirl.store shares her insights on shopping responsibly and the importance of sustainable fashion.
Sujata Chatterjee, Founder, Twirl.store
According to research, it takes 1,800 gallons of water to produce a single pair of jeans, and 400 gallons for a simple cotton t-shirt. So, while it may be tempting to keep up with the latest fashion trends and add new clothes to our wardrobes often, it’s important to keep the climate crisis in mind and practise sustainable ways of living.
In a Community Chat on the HerStory Women On A Mission Facebook group, Sujata Chatterjee, Founder of Twirl.store shared her insights on sustainable and eco-friendly fashion and talked about how one can be a more responsible shopper.
Twirl.store takes clothes from customers and gives them reward points to buy upcycled products on its website. The startup also donates some of the collected clothes.
Here are the edited excerpts from the discussion:
Q. What exactly is sustainable fashion? Does recycling our clothes after we are done with them also count as sustainable fashion?
Sujata Chatterjee (SC): Sustainable fashion is basically an effort to make fashion move towards greater ecological integrity and social justice.
Upcycling and recycling, of course, help in sustainable fashion — they reduce waste, help conserve natural resources, and enable the livelihood of a section of the society.
Q. What is the most important thing we should understand about sustainable living / fashion?
SC: I believe that we should regularly consider the effect our lifestyle choices are having on the environment and society. We cannot just go on a path of constant consumption without considering the world around us.
Q. What are some of the ways organisations and individuals can spread awareness on sustainable fashion?
SC: Organisations and individuals can spread awareness about sustainability by embracing upcycled or recycled products and by responsibly disposing of their unwanted things as well. By using or gifting handcrafted upcycled or recycled products, they can show their commitment to the cause and help make a difference to the world.
Q. How can I be more conscious in making clothing choices?
SC: Please don’t buy by just looking at the price tag or blindly following a trend. Consider the human effort and the environmental impact that has gone into making that clothing – a little awareness and consciousness can go a long way.
Q. What impact does fast-fashion have on the environment?
SC:
Mass production has a negative impact on the environment and a lot of pressure is put on natural resources like water in this age of fast-fashion.
For example, can you imagine that a cotton shirt takes as much water to make as a person may drink in over two years? Products like denim jeans emit CO2 to wash and make – nearly as much pollution as travelling 69 miles in a car. The World Economic Forum has repeatedly stressed on this negative impact of fashion industry, also mentioning that nearly 60 percent of the clothes thus produced either get wasted, neglected, or end up in landfills.
Q. There are reports of the labour force behind fast-fashion brands being exploited and underpaid, but people continue buying these garments. What's the fix for this?
SC: We live in an age of a retail boom where we constantly buy throughout the year and there seems to be never-ending discount sales encouraging us to keep shopping. But, let's stop buying by just looking at the price tag. Let’s appreciate good quality, focussing even more on handcrafted products and the human effort behind them.
We as individuals need to become more responsible consumers – if that happens, the industry will also change slowly.
Q. Why are many sustainable fashion brands so expensive?
SC: I think someone always pays in some way. If fast-fashion is not pinching our pockets, it’s definitely hurting the environment. As of now, sustainable fashion remains a smaller, niche category; which is one of the reasons it is more expensive.
Our efforts at Twirl.store are aimed exactly towards addressing this problem. We want to encourage everyone to be a more socially responsible consumer. We make it easy for you to join the sustainable circle by rewarding you for just clearing out the unwanted things from your wardrobe and embracing cost-effective, handmade, upcycled products.
Instead of aiming at a big lifestyle makeover, I think simple changes in the things we do or use in our lives can make a big difference to the society and environment at large.
Q. How does one verify the genuineness of sustainable brands?
SC: I think we can always check the credibility of a brand and its story, especially as the internet and information is now at our fingertips. Across the world, people are starting to ask, “Where did my clothes come from?”, and we in India must be ready to ask the same question for all the products we buy.
To be part of more such conversations, join us on the HerStory Women On A Mission group on Facebook.
(Edited by Athirupa Geetha Manichandar)
