Restitching the Fashion Industry with Ethical Clothing

The fashion industry is facing a reckoning. Clothing production accounts for 10% of global CO2 emissions and textile dying yields 20% of global waste water. And shamefully, 85% of all textiles are disposed of each year. Additionally, some businesses are trying to convince consumers that their products are more sustainable than they are by using “greenwashing” buzzwords like “zero waste” and “organic.” 

Ethical Clothing, a search engine for sustainable clothing brands and products, was founded with the goal to enable consumers to make informed purchasing decisions as they navigate the world of sustainable clothing brands. We invited Ben Heinkel, Ethical Clothing’s Co-Founder, to discuss the fashion industry crisis and their solution of directly connecting well-intentioned consumers with truly ethical fashion companies. 

Listen for Ben’s insights on: 

• How Ethical Clothing provides consumers with the tools and knowledge to make ethical purchasing decisions. 
• The characteristics of ethical and sustainable brands and products. 
• Why it’s important to align your personal values with those of your business or project values for it to be long-lasting. 

Links & Notes

• Ben Heinkel on LinkedIn
• About Ethical Clothing
• Ethical Clothing for European Shoppers
• Ethical Clothing for North American Shoppers
• Ethical Clothing Footprint Calculator
• Ethical Clothing Blog

• (00:00) - Welcome to Purpose 360
• (00:13) - Ethical Clothing
• (02:07) - What Is It?
• (03:35) - Getting Started
• (09:20) - Guidelines
• (10:20) - The Site
• (12:15) - Ethical Brands
• (15:35) - Creating Awareness
• (16:33) - Expanding
• (18:02) - Launching During Pandemic
• (19:49) - Goals
• (20:21) - Company Name
• (21:29) - Fighting the Fast Fashion Machine
• (24:30) - Message
• (26:30) - Being Sustainable
• (27:30) - Range
• (29:27) - Lessons Learned
• (30:54) - Breaking Ties
• (31:49) - Last Thoughts
• (32:56) - Socials
• (33:17) - Wrap Up