What Are the UN Sustainability Goals and How Does Slow Nature Live Up to Them?
What Are the UN Sustainability Goals and How Does Slow Nature Live Up to Them?
The fashion industry ranks among the keys industries on the frontline of developing a more sustainable world. But just how do we measure sustainability? The UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development includes 17 target areas known as the Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), designed to cover a wide range of subjects like our oceans, discrimination and sustainable consumption.
There are many cross-sections between the UN Sustainability Goals and the fashion industry. Here at Slow Nature, we are working towards UN Sustainability Goals 9, 8, 12, 13 and 17. Let’s have a closer look at what they mean:
Goal 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth
Eco-fashion might be a burgeoning sector but we are under no illusion that it’s the exception to the rule. Our mission is to act as a catalyst for green brands and bring together the most environmentally conscious producers under one roof. The UN Sustainability Goals encourage economic growth for green companies. That’s why we put sustainable fashion in the spotlight – just look at our 100% sustainable look campaign. Investing in the marketing of eco-friendly businesses is at the heart of Slow Nature. After all, companies that put the planet before profit deserve visibility!
Goal 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Fashion has a hunger for innovative ideas, and not just on the catwalk. The UN Sustainability Goals give investors and businesses the drive to come up with solutions as risk-management tools and to respond to changing markets. Slow Nature’s online marketplace is fully automatic and enables our manufacturers to start selling their products with us in a matter of 30 seconds. With no uploads or stock updates to communicate, our partners can effortlessly attract the eco-conscious buyer at the click of a button.
Goal 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production
The fashion industry most undoubtedly falls short when it comes to social responsibility. While brands benefit from all the advantages of outsourcing production to developing countries, the issues of sub-standard wages, gender inequality and dangerous working conditions are rife. Only brands that are sustainably manufactured and have the relevant certifications to prove it – such as GOTS, Fairtrade, Oeko-tex – are allowed on the Slow Nature platform after a rigorous screening process. This process is designed to only select products made using eco-friendly materials and with ethical working conditions. In addition, we use plastic-free shipments and work with organic, recycled and innovative fabrics.
Goal 13 – Climate Action
As the ecological and climate emergency worsens, consumers as well as brands are looking to limit their carbon footprint. But what does that have to do with fashion you may ask. Well, just take water for example. It takes 2,000 gallons just to make one pair of jeans. If you think about the lighting, sets, one-off samples, long-haul flights, bottles of water and the many other elements which go to make up a fashion show, the carbon cost is horrendous. Slow Nature’s products are all made in the most environmentally-friendly way possible today, saving millions liters of water and diminishing drastically CO2 footprint.
Goal 17 – Partnerships for the Goals
The UN Sustainability Goals are calls for action to build a better world for humanity and the planet. The UN is pushing for companies to form partnerships to work in collaboration towards achieving these sustainability goals. Coordinating resources and efforts is the only way we can realize this vision and Slow Nature recognizes this. Today, we already partner with fifty sustainable businesses and that figure will swell to 300 in the very near future. Tackling the problems we are facing will only happen in a culture of collaborative teamwork and by uniting green fashion in one place Slow Nature joins unites the forces of those committed to changing the face of fashion’s future.
We have seen that fashion can have a seismic impact on people and planet. By working towards the UN Sustainability Goals, we hope to not only reduce our carbon footprint but change the way we shop. The UN Sustainability Goals acknowledge that industries such as fashion need to fulfill basic needs and improve the lives of people, however they also stress that this must be done while reducing emissions, pollution, toxic materials and wasting natural resources. We want to encourage a better kind of consumption in the age of fast fashion… the slow kind.
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