Running your own business, particularly within the fashion industry, requires you to pay close attention to the latest trends, on and off the runway.
After all, not only does this mean that you are bringing the hottest trends to your store, but it also helps you on your way to running a successful business.
While some trends or fads pass by in the blink of an eye, it is clear that others are here to stay. For example, ‘going green’, or making sure that your company is as environmentally friendly as possible, is a trend that is likely to become as eternal as the little black dress.
Why is going green good for my business?
There are many reasons why going green is good for your business. For example:
- A growing number of customers are willing to pay more for products that are eco-friendly or that are made from recycled or sustainable materials
- The vast majority of customers prefer to shop with brands that make an effort to minimize their impact on the environment
- 85% of investors take sustainable efforts into account when choosing which brands they work with, which could make it easier for you to obtain funding that can be used to support growth and development
- Public attitudes to fast fashion are quickly changing, and companies that use these practices are likely to fall out of favor.
In addition to this, you can rest easy knowing that your business is not contributing to growing environmental issues. This means that you are, therefore, part of the solution to what we are facing, not the problem.
How can I make my business more environmentally friendly?
Fortunately, there are many steps that you can take to make your business a little more eco-friendly.
Choose eco-friendly suppliers. Partnering with eco-friendly suppliers is one of the easiest ways to ensure that you are running an eco-friendly fashion label. After all, this means that you know exactly where your products are coming from. In order to achieve this goal, you need to know exactly what questions to ask during meetings. For example, you should ask potential suppliers and partners to discuss:
- Their carbon emissions
- Their efforts to reduce water consumption
- How they source their own materials and supplies
- The steps they are taking to become more environmentally friendly
Ideally, you should work with suppliers that are within your local area. This can help you to lower your carbon footprint, as you do not need to ship products from overseas.
Manage your waste effectively. Learning how to effectively manage your company’s waste is one of the easiest ways in which you can reduce the impact your daily practices have on the environment. For example, this means that you’re able to reroute waste from landfills to recycling facilities, while also identifying strategies that you can use to lower the amount of waste you produce.
However, in order to make this possible in the first place, you must ensure that you have the level of understanding necessary to navigate the complex world of commercial waste disposal. One way in which you can achieve this goal is by checking out this CurbWaste industry glossary.
Become a clothing recycling point. If you want to make a real, positive difference through your business, then you may want to become a space where customers can drop off old clothing as opposed to throwing it away. You can then re-route these items to local charity shops or recycling facilities yourself. You could incentivise this by allowing customers to receive an exclusive discount each time they drop products off at your store.
Consider using recycled materials when making your clothes. Using recycled materials when designing new items of clothing is also an option. Not only does this mean that you’re making a real, positive difference in the fashion world, but it could also become part of your USP. As shoppers become gradually more eco-friendly, these kinds of products become all the more attractive. Not only that, but it could be a great way to differentiate your brand from your competitors, who may be lagging behind when it comes to sustainable practices.
Avoid using AI. Over the past few years, more and more business owners have begun to utilize AI in their daily practices. While there are some undeniable benefits associated with this, especially when it comes to saving time, this kind of tech is having a catastrophic impact on the environment. For example, it increases your carbon emissions quite considerably. As such, this is something that you should avoid using wherever possible.
Choose eco-friendly packaging. If you run an online store, choosing eco-friendly packaging is also a must. This can help to reduce waste, our reliance on single-use plastics and other non-sustainable materials, and improve a buyer’s perception of your brand. For example, a recent study found that “64% of buyers say they are more likely to buy products from a brand or retailer if its packaging is sustainable.”
There are many different options to choose from here. For example, you could use paper or cardboard packaging that can be easily recycled, or packaging made from biodegradable materials and supplies. You should ensure that you feature information on how to properly dispose of your packaging after use on the packaging itself, so that customers do so correctly.
Make sure that you aren’t greenwashing. While you should publicize your efforts to make the planet a better place (especially as this will form a core part of your identity), you should make sure that you are not inadvertently greenwashing when doing so.
If you are not familiar with the term, greenwashing includes making unsubstantiated claims about what you are doing (or hope to do) for the environment, without actually following up on your claims. This is something that customers can quickly see through, which in turn, will lower their perception of your brand. For example, studies have found that “companies that consumers believe to be greenwashing experience a 1.32% drop in customer satisfaction.”
Final thoughts. Some styles and trends come and go – others are here to stay. Going green is an example of this, especially as society becomes more environmentally friendly as a whole.
For this reason, the more effort you make now to ensure you are running a green business, the better your chances of success in the long run. This also means that you are then setting an example for other fashion labels or companies, showing them that they can succeed while caring for the planet.
In addition to this, there are many well-documented benefits of sustainable practices, from improving customer satisfaction or willingness to buy from your brand, to saving money (and of course, saving the planet).
Fortunately, there are many different ways in which you can achieve this goal, including:
- Partnering with eco-friendly suppliers who share your core values on sustainability and environmentalism
- Ensuring that you both minimize waste production and that you dispose of any waste safely and securely
- Offer on-site recycling services for clothing and fabrics
- Using recycled materials when designing and creating new clothes for your brand/label
- Avoiding using AI in your day-to-day practices, even if it may seem a great way to save time and energy
- Ensuring that you are not greenwashing, and that you are actually following up on the plans that you have put in place
By following the above guidelines, you can make sure that you’re running an eco-friendly company that will never go out of style.
