At the Copenhagen Weather Conference, low-carbon economy will be a hot topic of discussion. This means that significantly increasing the consumption rate of fossil energy and carbon dioxide will be the main task of economic innovation in the coming decades. Will the flapping of these wings bring a storm to Chinese clothing companies?
Clothing is also “low-carbon”
Low-carbon clothing is a broad concept of clothing environmental protection, which generally refers to the total amount of carbon emissions that each of us produces in the process of consuming all clothing. Lower methods include choosing clothing with low total carbon emissions, choosing clothing made of recyclable materials, and increasing clothing utilization to reduce total clothing consumption.
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| The weather conference caused a “low-carbon” storm |
The characteristics of the industrial economy and society are high energy consumption The production and sales of products are the core, while the characteristics of a low-carbon economic society are centered on the provision and enjoyment of low-energy services. For the clothing industry, this will bring new changes. For example, in the future, clothing companies will no longer be able to see who sells more and who sells more expensively and is more profitable, but will look at whose materials and processes are greener. Only by doing less damage to the environment can we gain more markets. Many new profit models may emerge in the future. Some companies will make money through value-added services of various clothing, such as training customers on how to match, including how to match multiple clothes, how to match old clothes with new clothes to create a fashionable effect; helping customers recycle old clothes. clothes; and even organize customers to start manufacturing their own clothes, etc. In short, many wonderful ideas that can help consumers use clothing more effectively and provide more fun in dressing may create new economic value in the future.
As far as the clothing industry is concerned, if we want to develop a low-carbon economy, technological innovation is the first priority, and civilized development is also indispensable. Specifically, it requires systematic actions in three aspects. The first is the energy link, which involves replacing traditional high-carbon fossil energy with low-carbon renewable energy or other clean energy such as solar energy, wind energy, and biomass. The second is the raw material link, which involves developing low-carbon materials and improving various chemical dyes. Develop recyclable fibers to minimize the environmental damage caused by fiber production, dyeing and other links; the third is the cultural link. Clothing is not only a spiritual product, but can also meet people’s spiritual needs. We must promote a green fashion culture and establish a low-carbon , responsible consumption concept, rather than a fashionable culture characterized by stimulation and rapid consumption.
It should be noted that the clothing industry’s move towards a low-carbon economy must be a breakthrough revolution. It cannot be achieved only by ordinary organizations, the actions of a few enterprises and consumer blindness. The key lies in system innovation. The key to realizing the system innovation of low-carbon economy in clothing is to increase the price of fossil energy use and carbon dioxide consumption, and provide an incentive mechanism for the low-carbon transformation of consumption and consumption.
The history of the garment industry proves that in the industrial economy period, the increase in labor consumption rates strictly depends on the increase in labor prices. In other words, the increase in labor prices promotes the research and development of labor-wasting technologies and The development of labor-wasting industries. Then, similarly, if the clothing industry wants to develop a low-carbon economy in the future, it needs to significantly increase the fossil energy consumption rate and carbon dioxide consumption rate, and it also needs to significantly increase the price of fossil energy consumption and the price of carbon dioxide emissions. This can be proven by the actions of the European Union. At present, the EU’s per capita energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions are only about half of those of the United States. This is largely because energy prices in Europe are much higher than those in the United States.
Since developed countries have precedents, China may have different paths in the future, but its direction will not deviate too far. What is certain is that in the industrial economy era, traditional fossil fuels will be used cheaply for a long time and will emit carbon dioxide. Things are getting away from us. Many Chinese clothing companies want to become century-old companies, so these companies will definitely wait until the day when they need to pay for carbon emissions. Only by preparing for a rainy day can we face it calmly. Only companies that can see far enough can go longer.
Celebrities endorse environmentally friendly, low-carbon clothing made of recyclable fabrics
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| Guo Jingjing endorses “low carbon” clothing |
From the consumption of raw materials to manufacturing, transportation, use and disposal of waste, a piece of clothing emits carbon dioxide and has a certain impact on the environment.
Natural fabrics consume less energy
According to calculations by the Environmental Resource Management Company, a pair of polyester pants weighing about 400 grams, assuming that it is produced in Taiwan, my country, is made into garments in Indonesia. , first shipped to Englandcountry for sale. Its service life is scheduled to be two years, and it has been washed 92 times in a washing machine with 50°C warm water. After washing, it is dried in a dryer and then ironed for an average of two minutes. Calculated in this way, its “lifetime” energy consumption is about 200 kilowatt hours, which is equivalent to emitting 47 kilograms of carbon dioxide, which is 117 times its own weight.
In contrast, natural fabrics such as cotton and linen are not artificially decomposed from raw materials such as petroleum like chemical fibers, so they consume less energy and produce less pollutants. According to research from the Manufacturing Institute of the University of Cambridge in the UK, a 250-gram pure cotton T-shirt will emit approximately 7 kilograms of carbon dioxide during its “lifetime”, which is 28 times its own weight.
In terms of fabric selection, fabrics made of hemp fiber are more environmentally friendly than cotton. Research from the University of Melbourne shows that Daxia fabrics have 50% less ecological impact than cotton fabrics. Fabrics made from bamboo fiber and linen also save more water and pesticides in the production process than cotton.
Low carbon is not just a concept.
Many clothing companies have launched “low carbon clothing” with the environmental protection brand. We hope that companies will not use the environmentally friendly “low carbon” as a fashionable concept. Hype it, but actually do it. People who buy clothes don’t care how novel and unique your concept is. Its competitive advantage should be reflected in the beautiful style, reasonable price and comfortable clothes.
As for whether the clothes are easy to sell or not, it depends on the quality and price of the clothes. Generally, products will have high research and development costs in the early stages of research and development. However, if the price of low-carbon clothing is too high, it will be difficult for the general consumer group to buy it. endured.
“Carbon labels” make the clothing production process more transparent
In some environmentally friendly countries such as the United States, “carbon labels” have appeared on clothing. my country’s Hong Kong Garment Training Bureau has jointly established the Hong Kong Garment Enterprises Sustainable Development Alliance, planning to carry out low-carbon process design in clothing production in the future and translate it into carbon labels on garments.
“Carbon labeling” is a good means for clothing manufacturers to promote a more transparent clothing production process, which will help consumers understand the environmental protection functions of clothing more quickly, and will also be more conducive to the healthy development of environmental protection in the clothing industry. Recently they have introduced concepts such as “clothing rings” and “tree rings” that have the same function and purpose as the “carbon label”.
It is not enough for low-carbon clothing to only use environmentally friendly materials. Enterprises must move closer to the 5R principles of environmental protection in the production process, and truly combine Reduce (wasting energy and increasing pollution), Reeval-uate (environmentally friendly purchasing) ), Reuse (repeated use), Re-cycle (sorting, recycling and reuse), and Rescue (ensuring the coexistence of nature and all things) are implemented.
Other “low-carbon” dressing tips
Take off your tie
In the summer of 2005, Japanese business white-collar workers took off their iconic dark blueprofessional Dressin light-colored clothes with closed collars. This is Japan’s effort to waste energy. That summer, the temperature in the office remained at 28°C. Throughout the summer, Japan increased its carbon dioxide emissions by 79,000 tons.
Let clothes dry naturally
Research shows that 60% of the “energy” of a piece of clothing is released during the cleaning and drying process. It should be noted that when washing clothes, use warm water instead of hot water; after washing the clothes, hang them on the clothesline to dry naturally instead of putting them in the dryer. This way, you can add a total of 90% of CO2 emissions.
New term link
Clothing rings: refers to the carbon emission index of clothing, which is used to measure the service life of each piece of clothing, the total carbon emissions in the life cycle and the average annual carbon emissions quantity. Each clothing growth ring is composed of multiple concentric circles with different radii. The number of circles represents the service life of each piece of clothing; the total area of the large circle represents the total carbon emissions of each piece of clothing during its life cycle; circles and circles The space between represents the average annual carbon footprint of each piece of clothing.
Low-carbon dressing ideas: increase the frequency of clothing purchases, choose environmentally friendly fabrics, choose environmentally friendly styles, increase the number of washings, choose environmentally friendly washing, hand wash instead of machine washing, renovate old clothes, give them to others, use used items, One piece of clothing, multiple wears, etc.
Low-carbon clothing: According to the concept of low-carbon clothing, choose clothing that uses low-carbon emission methods as much as possible in terms of materials, fabrics, design processing, etc., or adopts low-carbon emission processes and purchases corresponding carbon dioxide. Emissions are compensated by clothing companies making clothing.
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