Ultra-fast Fashion Rot Spreads to Amazon
On July 8, 2024 by Ken PuckerShein and competitors like Temu have grown so big that Amazon may be the only retailer that can compete with them. And that’s exactly what it plans to do with a new discount marketplace that would allow the same suppliers who make goods for the ultra-fast fashion titans to sell their stuff through Amazon. Unbranded […]
The fizz firm fudging its footprint
On July 3, 2024 by Ken PuckerHow can Keurig Dr Pepper report a 12% reduction in scope 3 emissions when they’ve actually increased by 14%? David Burrows reports. If more companies commit to measuring and reporting publicly on their sustainability performance, four things should happen. ESG performance should improve; more ‘sustainable’ companies should be rewarded; a link tying companies with better […]
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT SHEIN
On June 22, 2024 by Ken PuckerUp until this point, there’s something we’ve avoided talking about almost entirely. Giving this thing extra air time, extra oxygen, felt counterintuitive to everything we stand for. Even if we were being critical – which we would be – we wouldn’t be telling people anything they didn’t already know; preaching to the converted just for […]
Inside Shein’s plan to recycle ‘deadstock’ material into new clothing
On June 3, 2024 by Ken PuckerShein has many vocal critics such as Tufts’ Pucker, who say the company’s low prices and hyper-fast new product cycle encourage unsustainable consumption and resource use. “It’s not just that it’s more polyester, chemicals and microfibers, it’s the associated negative externalities that are unfunded and impact all of humanity.” https://www.greenbiz.com/article/inside-sheins-plan-recycle-deadstock-material-new-clothing
Conscious consuming: Sustainable fashion practices help slow climate change
On May 23, 2024 by Ken PuckerConscious consuming: Sustainable fashion practices help slow climate change
The fashion industry primes us to reinvent ourselves every season. Don’t fall for it.
On May 21, 2024 by Ken PuckerPucker explained that the dangerous cycle of overproduction and overconsumption is coupled with complicated global supply chains that are hard to trace and make transparency tedious. And disclosure regulations are near non-existent. He noted that when fashion companies release emissions reports, the majority of these reports include only Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, as […]
Why It’s So Hard to Track the Fashion Industry’s Emissions
On May 16, 2024 by Ken PuckerA growing number of fashion companies are talking about substantially cutting their greenhouse gas emissions. But evaluating those efforts is tricky. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-05-16/is-your-favorite-fashion-brand-cutting-emissions-it-s-tricky?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTcxNTg2MzMxMSwiZXhwIjoxNzE2NDY4MTExLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTREtUQUtEV1gyUFMwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJFMkUzODg2QzgzREM0NTUxOEVFM0M2MDRGN0ZBRTlGMyJ9.B64jSM_CdVSN7A39q7ZLbDr9cAb74sWGex6lDznvwLQ&sref=fnjoKOAK
Will Americans Ever Get Sick of Cheap Junk?
On April 29, 2024 by Ken PuckerA column about consumerism EXPLORE By Amanda Mull Illustration by Matteo Giuseppe Pani. Source: Getty. APRIL 29, 2024, 7 AM ET SHARE & GIFT SAVE In all the years I’ve spent covering American consumerism, I’ve heard one type of question from readers far more than any other: This can’t go on forever, right? Maybe they’d […]
Why H&M is turning away from polyester recycled from bottles
On April 14, 2024 by Ken PuckerH&M’s new deal to buy $600 million of “circular” polyester over seven years from Syre, a Swedish startup it co-founded, underlines one of fashion’s dirty secrets: Making new polyester from recycled bottles sounds environmentally friendly but, in reality, polyester is a huge source of pollution. And recycling bottles to make more polyester might be worse […]
Can Syre Succeed Where Renewcell Failed?
On April 8, 2024 by Ken PuckerKen Pucker, professor of the practice at The Fletcher School at Tufts University, worries about many things. One of them is whether the fashion industry is going about circularity the wrong way. The collapse of Renewcell, which until recently transmuted clothing castoffs into sheets of dried pulp that could be dissolved to create viscose, rayon […]