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Libya Giuggioli Perth’s environmental activism involves many elements.
She started the Green Carpet Challenge, advocating for the wearing of carpets. Showcasing sustainable and ethical clothing on the red carpet, And we made a documentary that delved into the secret underbelly of the exploitative workplaces of the fashion industry.
She also co-founded Eco-Age, a company that helps businesses adopt regenerative models and avoid greenwashing. Sadly, Eco-Age had to close earlier this year, as Giuggioli Firth describes in a touching piece. Instagram PostsWhen you have been targeted by criminals and have not been able to recover financially.
She is also a member of the UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Civil Society Advisory Group. But despite this long list of accomplishments, she says, “I always think of myself as an activist.” Independent.
The businesswoman has been working in sustainability for decades, but the moment that “changed everything” came in 2008 when she first traveled to Bangladesh with journalist and environmental activist Lucy Siegel. The Circle, It is a charity she co-founded with singer and activist Annie Lennox and other women.
“We were smuggled into a factory producing clothes for a French supermarket brand and what I saw was absolutely shocking. Rooms were full of terrified women, sewing 100 items an hour but earning nothing. There were prison bars on the windows and guards with guns at the entrance… I saw women exploited to make clothes for us,” she said.
“And from that moment on, once you see it, you can never turn away from it.”
This experience led her to work that highlights the environmental consequences of fast fashion, which she believes are much more present in people’s minds than the social impacts. At the heart of the issue is how fast fashion has grown so explosively worldwide.
“There used to be fashion, then there was fast fashion, and now there is ultra-fast fashion,” she says, describing it as “completely out of control.”
Giuggioli Firth says this model tells us that “living cheaply is our democratic right,” but workers’ rights are not considered and are rarely mentioned. We are constantly told that we need more new things to look good and be happy. “And unfortunately, social media is a big part of this problem,” she adds.
Fast fashion relies on two key drivers, says Giuggioli Firth: fossil fuels and slave labor, issues that were at the heart of her 2015 documentary. Actual cost, We looked into the hidden costs behind these piles of cheap clothes.
The film was made in the wake of the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, which killed 1,138 people. But a decade later, the industry has seen little improvement, says Giuggioli Firth.
“The first issue we have to address is paying all garment workers their wages,” she says.[But if] “If we legislate to do that, the fast fashion industry will be in trouble.”
The fashion industry also accounts for a huge portion of the world’s carbon footprint, generating 10% of carbon emissions – more than all international flights and shipping combined. According to the World Bank.
And this pollution behemoth is getting bigger, according to a recent report from a nonprofit organization. Fashion Revolution It is predicted that within 10 years, 73% of fashion will be produced using fossil fuels.
Current Estimate 69% of all clothing is made from synthetic fibers. These cannot be recycled and instead break down in our environment, releasing microplastics into our soil, rivers and oceans.
“We were told that the circular economy was going to save us, that we would be okay because we would get out of this mess by recycling,” says Giuggioli Firth.
“That’s not true. Considering that most clothes today are made using synthetic fibers, which are fossil fuel fibers, recycling is basically impossible.”
What really happens with all this fast fashion is that it is not “donated” to African countries, but dumped. “About 2.3 million garments arrive there a week,” explains Giuggioli Firth, at the Kantamanto market in Accra, Ghana. And a lot of it gets burned.
“The circular economy is a myth unless we invest in fibres that are truly recyclable and not dependent on fossil fuels,” she added.
Despite the bleak situation, Giuggioli Purse is still hopeful. Some European countries are considering regulations on fast fashion and are imposing taxes on production and waste. And there are things individuals can do.
“I believe very much in civic activism and taking responsibility for ourselves. We can say, ‘I don’t want to consume that way anymore.’ We have enough clothes to feed two planets, we don’t need any more, and we can start to change that. And that makes me feel very positive, even in this terrible situation,” she said.
The Independent reports: Climate100 List We are hosting an event in New York next week that you can attend online. To reserve your spot, Click here
