Fashion Fights Poverty

Eco-Fashion, Sustainability, and Social Responsibility:

Survey Report

Dawn M. BrameMarch 20, 2013

I. Executive Summary

The aim of this report is to evaluate the results of a survey in which Fashion

Merchandising and Fashion Design students at Howard University were asked questions

pertaining to eco-fashion, sustainability, and social responsibility to gauge their knowledge. The

students were also questions about their recycling and shopping habit relating to the

aforementioned topics. The survey was administered in person to one class, Sustainability in

Fashion, and emailed to all students in the department to be completed online through Google

Docs. Of these two methods 14 of the 50 students in the department completed the survey.

Nineteen open-ended and multiple choice questions comprised the survey.

It was found that the students prefer to shop at chain stores and online rather than

boutiques, discount stores, thrift stores, and department store. They focus on the quality, price,

and fit of the clothing they purchase. All the students recycle items like glass and plastic bottles

and containers and clothes at least some of the time. The students have a basic knowledge of

eco-fashion and sustainability but most have not been exposed to eco-fashion designers and

companies and over half of the students had little to no knowledge on social responsibility.

I would recommend expanding the curriculum in at least one of the courses in the

Fashion Merchandising/Design department to include more discussions on social responsibility.

An interactive program or event that allows students to learn how to become more sustainable

and socially responsible is also an option.

Table of Contents

I. Executive Summary

II. Table of Contents

III. Introduction

IV. Methodology

V. Results

VI. Conclusion and Recommendations

VII. Bibliography

VIII. Appendix

III. Introduction

When thinking about sustainability and eco-friendly practices, recycling paper and

plastic products and buying organic products are usually the first things that come to mind.

Recycling and reusing are not usually used in the same sentence as fashion. But clothing and

other textiles can be reused and recycled just as easily as paper, plastics, glass and other

common recyclables. Diverting textiles from landfills help reduce emission of greenhouse gases,

the economy, and those in need of clothing at home and aboard.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, in 2010 “13.1 million

tons of textiles were generated in 2010.” Only 15% of that, about 2 million tons was recovered.

That means that 11 million tons of textiles, about 85% of all discarded textiles, are sent to the

landfill each year. The reuse or recycling of just 1 ton of these textiles can save 7 tons of

greenhouse gases (USAgain.com). Furthermore, the textile recycling industry, which includes

thrift and consignment stores, charity organization, and textile recyclers, provides

approximately 17,000 jobs and these companies produce annual gross sales of $700 million

(Charter Recycling Inc.).

Eco-fashion is clothing that is made with eco-friendly materials and processes. Turning

raw materials into fabrics into wearable clothing produces a lot of waste and uses a large

amount of energy and water. The manufacturing of several popular fabrics, including nylon and

polyester, produce volatile organic compounds, acid gases, and greenhouse gases like nitrous

oxide.

As information above infers, knowledge of eco-fashion and sustainability as it relates to

the world around us is quite beneficial. The objective of this survey was to gather information

on how much students in the Fashion Merchandising/Design Department at Howard University

knew about eco fashion and sustainability and what it means to be socially responsible. After

administrating the survey and analyzing the results, suggestions can be made on a program or

event to raise awareness about these important topics.

IV. Methodology

The surveyed population consisted of students at Howard University taking courses in

the Fashion Merchandising/Design department. The department has about 50 majors and

minors students. The survey was administered in one class, Sustainability in Fashion, and

emailed to all students in the department. The professor of the course and the chair of the

department approved the survey before it was administered. Of these two methods 14

students responded to the survey. This sample consisted of four sophomores, one junior, and

nine seniors. Most of the respondents were female, 93%, which is likely to represent the female

population in the department.

The survey, created on Google Docs, contained 19 open-ended and multiple choice

questions which covered topics such as shopping practices, recycling habits, and knowledge on

sustainability, eco-fashion, and social responsibility. A couple of things were taken into

consideration while developing this survey. Having knowledge on a certain topic, does not

mean that a person implements that information into their lives. Because of this, it was

important to ask questions about how they shop and recycle. Also different types of question

were included to allow the participants to use their own words and not to be limited by given

answers for certain questions.

To analysis the data collected, computer and hand tabulations was used. Since the

survey was created on Google Docs and some of the participants took it online, the results from

the surveys completed in the classroom setting were entered into the program. This program

provides a summary of the data entered, containing tables, charts, and percentages.

Subsequently some of the questions were open-ended; the qualitative data had to be analyzed

separately. Also several of the responses were broken down by classification to investigate if

that affected certain answers. This had to be done manually.

V. Results

This survey was conducted as a means to examine what knowledge students in the

Fashion Merchandising/Design department at Howard University had on eco-fashion and

sustainability and their lifestyle practices that related to these topics.

The first section of questions looked into the buying and disposable habit of clothing. It

was found that the most common places to shop were chain stores like H&M and Forever 21

(86%) and online (64%). Boutiques and Thrift Stores were the next most popular, both with 57%

of the total surveyed population frequenting these places to buy clothing. Only half the

students purchased clothes from discounts stores, such as WalMart and Target, and

Department stores.

Department Stores [50%]

Chain Stores (H&M, Forever21) [86%]

Thrift/Secondhand Stores [57%]

Online [64%]

Discount Stores (Walmart, Target) [50%]

Boutiques [57%]

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Table 1. Where do you usually buy your clothes?

Sophomores Juniors Senior

When buying clothing, almost all the students paid attention and looked for quality (93%),

reasonable pricing (93%), and the proper fit (79%). Accessibility of the clothing was only a factor

for 4 students (29%). The social responsibility of the company was a factor for only one of the

students.

Quality

Price

Accessibility

How socially responsible the

company is

Fit

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Table 2. When buying clothes, what do you look for?

Sophomore Junior Senior

When disposing of clothing the students no longer wore, the majority either donated them (93%) or

gave them away to friends and family (57%). Several students sold (21%) or altered their old clothes into

something new (20%). Only two students admitted to simply throwing them away.

Throw away

Donate

Give away to friends & family

Sell

Upcycle (alter into something new)

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Table 3. When getting rid of old clothes, what do you usually do?

Sophomore Junior Senior

The next section of question asked the student about their recycling habits pertaining to

all recyclables, not just clothing. The majority of the student responded to usually (43%) or

sometimes (50%) recycling. The last 7 % said they recycle all the time.

Table 4. Do you recycle?

Sometimes

Usually

All the time

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Table 5. Do you recycle? & Where do you live?

DormitoryHomeOff campus - more than 3 miles from campusOff campus - near campus

Among what the student actually recycled, plastic bottles and containers (93%), clothes (86%),

glass bottles and containers (79%) were the most recycled. Newspapers (50%) and Magazines

(36%) were the least recycled.

Table 5. What do you recycle?

The last group of questions dealt specifically with the main purpose of the survey; the

students’ knowledge of sustainability, eco-fashion, and social responsibility. Free response

questions allowed the students to use their own words to describe what these terms means

and the relationship to fashion. One student said that sustainability is “leaving something for

future generations. Doing [her] part to prolong the existence of planet earth and its people.” That same

student described eco-fashion as “fashion that is environmentally friendly, e.g. organically grown natural

fibers, innovation in sustainable textiles.” Another wrote that, “sustainability means that you don't

waste used materials and you recycle clothing,” and that eco-fashion deals with “Recycled clothing;

making them into something instead of throwing them away.” Many of the other answers were very

similar using phrases such as maintaining a healthy environment, recycling, not wasting materials, and

reducing our carbon footprint.

There was no surprise that all the students believe that fashion and sustainability are related

since 93% of them learned about eco-fashion, sustainability, and social responsibility in a class or at

school (see appendices for graphs). On the other hand only a few of the student knew of any eco-

friendly designers or business. Vivienne Westwood, Stella McCartney, Edun, and TOMS were among

those mentioned. One students talked about companies such as MAC that has a program to recycle the

containers that their products come in.

Lastly, all the students that responded agreed that everyone can be socially responsible, but

there was not a clear majority when asked to define social responsibility. Only half of the student

answered that question. Contributing to the welfare of society was the most common (21%) and most

accurate definitition of social responsibility, followed by recycling (14%), volunteering in your

community (7%), and none of the above (7%). None of the students chose wearing only secondhand

clothing or buying only fair trade and organic products.

Table 6. What is social responsibility?

VI. Conclusion & Recommendations

All things considered, the students prefer to shop at chain stores and online rather than

boutiques, discount stores, thrift stores, and department store. They focus on the quality, price,

and fit of the clothing they purchase. Donation is the usual disposal route of old clothes. All the

students recycle items like glass and plastic bottles and containers and clothes at least some of

the time.

Furthermore, the survey demonstrates that the students have a basic knowledge of eco-

fashion and sustainability but most have not been exposed to eco-fashion designers and

companies. Also over half of the students had little to no knowledge on social responsibility.

This could mean that courses in the Fashion Merchandising and Design Department do no cover

social responsibility.

In light of the above conclusions, I would recommend expanding the curriculum in at

least one of the courses in the Fashion Merchandising/Design department to include more

discussions on social responsibility. A program or event that allows students to learn how to

become more sustainable and socially responsible would also be beneficial. It would have a

fashion focus and would be open to all students on campus. For more details on an event like

this see my proposal that follows this report.

VII. Bibliography

BIBLIOGRAPHY Charter Recycling Inc. Recycling Facts. 2009-2010. 3 January 2013 <http://www.charterrecycling.com/recycling-facts>.

Charter Recyling Inc. Recycling By The Numbers. 2009-2010. 3 January 2013 <http://www.charterrecycling.com/recycling-by-the-numbers>.

Earth911.com. Facts About Clothes. 2013. 3 January 2013 <http://earth911.com/recycling/household/clothing-and-textile/facts-about-clothes/>.

United States Environment Protection Agency. Textiles Common Wastes & Materials. 19 November 2012. 3 January 2013 <http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/textiles.htm>.

USAgain. "Schools Go Green." 2010. USAgain. 3 January 2013 <http://www.usagain.com/upload/USAgain_SchoolBroSmall.pdf>.

VIII. Appendix

Additional charts from survey questions.