Today, Rep. Cherie Pingree (D-ME), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior and Environment, along with Rep. Marie Grusenkamp Perez (D-WA) and Rep. Sidney Kamlager Dove (D-CA), announced the first-ever Slow Fashion Caucus to curb fast fashion pollution through climate-conscious policy. Sustainable fashion industry leaders and stakeholders joined the Caucus for an announcement event and press conference on Capitol Hill, including Patagonia, Thred Up and the Garment Workers Center.
“For too long, the so-called ‘fast fashion’ industry has polluted the planet, exploited workers, and cheated consumers. In fact, textile waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the United States, responsible for more carbon emissions than all international air and ocean shipping combined. The launch of the Slow Fashion Caucus marks the beginning of a new era in the fight against climate change and sends a clear message that Congress is not going to sit idly by while the harmful fast fashion industry flies under the radar and destroys the planet,” said Pingree, founder and chair of the Slow Fashion Caucus. “It doesn’t have to be that way. As lawmakers, we can create incentives for the apparel industry and consumers to reduce their consumption of natural resources and to reuse, repair, rewear, and recycle textiles. I’m eager to get to work and I’m grateful for the broad support of sustainable style advocates, industry leaders, and of course, my fellow lawmakers who are joining me in this new effort to curb fast fashion pollution. This is just the beginning!”
“High-quality American-made clothing is not just fashionable, it’s a core component of middle-class wealth. Families lose out when they have to replace their work boots every few months, but don’t buy quality shoes that will last for years. The purest form of environmental protection is to take care of what you own by using as little as possible, instead of buying new, disposable clothing,” said Rep. Groossenkamp-Perez. “These products can contain toxic chemicals and PFAS, and unlike natural fibers, are often made from synthetic fibers that release microplastics. Instead of dressing our kids in pajamas with chemical flame retardants, we should be looking to naturally resistant alternatives like wool. I look forward to working with the Slow Fashion Caucus to bring manufacturing jobs back home and support a cultural shift toward durable, safe clothing for working families.”
“Los Angeles is home to fashion’s dreamers, innovators, and risk-takers, which is why we have long been leaders in promoting fair labor practices and setting sustainable fashion trends to reduce fashion’s climate footprint,” said Rep. Kamlagar Dove. “California has been a pioneer in addressing this issue at the state level, and I am pleased to see efforts to promote sustainable fashion brought to Congress. I am proud to be a founding member of the Slow Fashion Caucus and look forward to working with my colleagues to advance policies that support an ethical, sustainable, and climate-conscious future.”
“For too long, greedy fashion companies have put profits above worker and environmental protections. I joined the Slow Fashion Caucus because I believe Congress has a special responsibility to protect the environment and workers’ rights,” said Rep. Schakowsky. “As a passionate environmentalist, I am committed to promoting sustainability in all industries, including the fashion industry. The fashion industry produces more clothes than we can wear, which results in millions of unused garments ending up in landfills each year. Additionally, we must ensure that companies comply with international labor laws and treat workers with dignity and respect. Workers around the world deserve to feel empowered and valued. I look forward to working with my colleagues and stakeholders in the Slow Fashion Caucus to address the harms of fast fashion.”
The press conference was streamed live via Pingree’s social media accounts. Click here to watch.
Founding members of the Congressional Slow Fashion Caucus include Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME, Chairperson), Rep. Marie Grusenkamp Perez (D-WA), Rep. Grace Meng (D-DA), Rep. Julia Brownlee (D-CA), Rep. Sidney Kamlager Dove (D-CA), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-DA), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Rep. Kathy Kastl (D-FL), Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), and Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-HI).
The Slow Fashion Caucus has already garnered widespread support, including American Circular Textiles, the Garment Worker Center, Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project, Patagonia, Thred Up, and fashion designer and slow fashion influencer Kelly Dempsey.
“Consumers want more durable, functional and, above all, socially and environmentally responsible products, and companies should deliver,” says Rebecca Goodstein, senior retail environmental activities manager at Patagonia. “Governments also have a role to play. We need a national revolution on quality, supported by policies and laws that prioritize the most sustainable raw materials and best manufacturing practices. That’s why my colleagues and I are excited about the launch of this conference and its goal to raise public awareness and promote textile sustainability.”
“As with energy and automobiles, we desperately need public policies that accelerate the transition to a more sustainable future, and the launch of the Slow Fashion Caucus gives us a powerful new platform from which to move forward,” said Alon Rotem, Chief Legal Officer at ThreadUp. “We look forward to working with like-minded organizations and policymakers to advance the fashion policy agenda, shift incentive structures to benefit the planet and resources we share, and ultimately create a more sustainable fashion future for generations to come.”
“The Garment Worker Center (GWC) applauds Congressman Pingree’s efforts to establish the Slow Fashion Caucus and advance policies for a responsible and ethical fashion industry. GWC is organizing with America’s garment workers, especially in California, the largest garment production center in the United States, to transform the garment industry, end exploitative labor, and hold brands accountable for the social and environmental problems they cause. We will work with multi-stakeholder industry leaders to address serious issues within the fashion industry through community organizing and state and federal legislation,” said Daisy Gonzalez, Campaigns Director for the Garment Worker Center. “The Slow Fashion movement must include sustainable and ethical brands and the needs of America’s current 100,000 garment workers. It’s time for U.S. policies that invest in workers, responsible businesses, and combat fast fashion, which relies on cheap manufacturing to produce trendy, cheap, short-lived clothing that ends up in landfills. Cheap manufacturing often goes hand in hand with labor rights violations and wage theft. We look forward to partnering with the Slow Fashion Caucus on important efforts including ethical labor, domestic manufacturing, sustainability, and environmental responsibility.”
Click here to read further statements of support.
background:
The rise of so-called “fast fashion” is a pressing environmental issue. Nearly two-thirds of the textiles we wear and use today are made from fossil fuel products. The fashion industry currently produces more carbon dioxide emissions than all international air and maritime shipping combined.
Fast fashion relies on cheap manufacturing, frequent consumption, and the short-lived use of clothing. This constant cycle of production and disposal places a huge strain on our environment. Over the past two decades, with the rise of fast fashion, the rate of textile waste has increased significantly. In 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that 17 million tons of textiles were generated in the United States. Textile waste is now one of the fastest growing waste streams in the United States, yet only 15% of clothing in the United States is recycled or reused, with the rest being incinerated or sent to landfills.
Additionally, over the past few decades, hundreds of thousands of textile and textile jobs that once supported communities across America have been moved overseas, harming American farmers and communities in the process.
Pingree founded the Congressional Slow Fashion Caucus to develop climate-conscious policies for reducing, repairing, reusing and recycling textile products.
The Slow Fashion Caucus principles to support a circular textile economy:
Encourage the apparel industry to promote reuse, repair, and recycling of textiles. While the apparel industry is responsible for a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions, it also has the power to be part of the solution, and some industries are beginning to take action. Public policies, such as incentives for buying second-hand and participating in rental models, make it easier for businesses and consumers to do the right thing for the environment. Develop “circular economy” policies to encourage the apparel industry to reduce consumption of natural resources. A circular economy keeps materials in circulation by preventing products such as textiles from becoming waste and designing products that can be reused, repaired, and recycled. Promote infrastructure for textile reuse and recycling. Existing systems and infrastructure for collecting, reusing, and recycling used textiles are not well established and do not support consistent, convenient, and widespread collection of textiles in the quantities and quality needed to retain value and support economic reuse and recycling. Increase public awareness of the environmental impacts of fast fashion. More education is needed about the negative impacts of fast fashion and the opportunities to support a circular economy for textiles. Bring textile production back to the United States. As global trends impact the economics of textile and apparel production outside the United States and consumer demand for more sustainably produced products grows, more textile and apparel production stages should be brought back to the United States. Support the use of more sustainable fibers. Reducing the use of virgin materials and using more plant- and animal-based fibers such as cotton, flax, hemp, wool, and alpaca can reduce environmental impacts. Expand initiatives across federal agencies to promote textile sustainability. President Biden is building a whole-of-government approach to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52% from 2005 levels by 2030 and meet the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. Existing government efforts can be further leveraged to curb fast fashion and promote sustainability.
In June 2023, Rep. Pingree and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, asked Government Accountability Office (GAO) Comptroller Jeanne Dodaro to outline ways the fashion industry and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can better manage discarded clothing and textile waste. The Democratic women focused on the rise of the so-called “fast fashion” industry as a major source of textile waste pollution.
Pingree also spoke out on the House floor last year about the growing threat from the fast fashion industry.
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