<\/p>\n
From Fast Fashion to Fast Demise<\/strong><\/p>\n As H&M operates nearly 4000 stores worldwide [1], its very actions stand to destroy its success soon.<\/p>\n Contributing 10% of the total greenhouse emissions globally, the apparel industry is the \u201csecond largest industrial polluter, second only to oil.\u201d [2] In fact, a recent MIT study concluded that producing only one t-shirt has an equivalent adverse climate change impact to driving a car for 5 miles [3]. For a retailer that sells nearly 600 million garments [4], H&M is one of the leading apparel producers contributing to climate change globally. Its business model characterized as fast fashion- churning of new styles, at astonishingly low prices, almost weekly and intended to be worn and replaced quickly by new trends- has led H&M to soaring heights with 2015 annual sales reaching $24 billion USD [5]. Yet this very business model is threatening the company\u2019s own sustainability as climate change will adversely impact H&M\u2019s water supplies, cotton and other raw material sources.<\/p>\n Clothing rations? A likely future<\/strong><\/p>\n The global apparel industry, valued at 3 trillion dollars [2], and which consumes over 30 million tons of textiles each year [6] relies heavily on water consumption to derive its final products. It is estimated that \u201cseveral dozen gallons (or more than 400 pounds) of water were required to process one pound of textiles.\u201d [7] To put that into context, producing a t-shirt can consume upwards of 20,000 liters of water [8]. Most the water usage occurs during raw materials processing, which H&M mostly does in Asia- particularly in India and China [9]. Impacts of climate change, however, threaten this abundance of water as many experts are predicting that up to 30% of the earth\u2019s surface could be in extreme droughts (up from today\u2019s 1%) by 2090s [10]. Some of the most vulnerable regions identified are Pakistan and India, which would greatly impact H&M\u2019s supply chain [10].<\/p>\n Furthermore, the apparel industry, and H&M specifically, is extremely reliant on cotton as the primary raw material used in production. Currently, over 22 million tons of cotton are produced each year [11] and about 40% of all materials used in clothing are \u201cagriculturally derived\u201d [7]. While H&M does not publicly disclose how much cotton it uses, a quick peruse on the website shows that most products contain cotton. Although cotton is a resilient plant and will respond well to slightly higher temperatures (higher yields) and higher CO2 levels (increased photosynthesis), it will get severely negatively impacted from other by-products of climate change, including drought, humidity, increased pests and weeds, and lack of water (which is crucial for growth) [12]. Without its primary raw material, H&M\u2019s fast fashion, low margin business model becomes incredibly threatened.<\/p>\n How do we avoid a jean-less world? <\/strong><\/p>\n It would be amiss to say that H&M does not recognize that it is both a huge contributor to climate change and very much susceptible to its effects. Thus, the company has undertaken drastic efforts to reduce its negative environmental impact, but also prepare itself for the somewhat impending doom. First off, 31% of the cotton that H&M uses is organic, with the aim to achieve 100% organic cotton use by 2020 [1]. The use of organic cotton will help reduce environmental impacts during production, however, does not particularly hedge H&M against the risk of cotton shortages due to climate change [13]. \u00a0However, H&M\u2019s new clothing recycle program which aims at closing the loop on its value chain that does help H&M in light of future risk. Between 2013-2015, H&M stores collected 23,027 tonnes of clothing to be reused and recycled [13]. This decreases the need for raw materials, thus eliminating impacts on water and CO2 emissions and it also allows H&M to protect itself against raw material and water shortages in the future.<\/p>\n Furthermore, in 2015, H&M has used 78% renewable energy in their own<\/em> total use and has dedicated countless initiatives through its H&M Sustainability and Conscious projects to reducing its own impact and preparing for future climate change effects [14].<\/p>\n Can Fast Fashion and Sustainability coexist though? <\/strong><\/p>\n With all of this in mind, even with the number of projects that H&M is undertaking, I believe it is not enough. A recent Guardian article put it best: \u201cH&M: can fast fashion and sustainability ever really mix?\u201d [15]. If the very aim of the business model is to produce and sell more, more, and more (!)- it is simply impossible to 1) eliminate H&M\u2019s negative impact on our world and 2) sustain its use of resources as they get impacted by climate change. I believe that H&M would have to drastically alter its model and turn more towards slow fashion, relying on a closed-loop recycled model and renewable energy to operate in a world affected by climate change.<\/p>\n Word count: 796<\/p>\n [1] H&M, 2015 Annual Report, p. 11, http:\/\/about.hm.com\/content\/dam\/hmgroup\/groupsite\/documents\/masterlanguage\/Annual%20Report\/Annual%20Report%202015.pdf<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n [2] James Conca, \u201cMaking Climate Change Fashionable – The Garment Industry Takes On Global Warming,\u201d Forbes, December 3, 2015, http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/jamesconca\/2015\/12\/03\/making-climate-change-fashionable-the-garment-industry-takes-on-global-warming\/#6ba24d36778a<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n [3] Randolph Kirchain, Elsa Olivetti, T Reed Miller and Suzanne Greene, \u201cSustainable Apparel Materials,\u201d Materials Systems Laboratory Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015, http:\/\/msl.mit.edu\/publications\/SustainableApparelMaterials.pdf, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n [4] H&M, \u201cPress Releases,\u201d http:\/\/about.hm.com\/en\/media\/news\/244704.html, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n [5] H&M, 2015 Annual Report, p. 54, http:\/\/about.hm.com\/content\/dam\/hmgroup\/groupsite\/documents\/masterlanguage\/Annual%20Report\/Annual%20Report%202015.pdf<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n [6] \u00a0Hsiou-Lien Chen and Leslie Davis Burns, \u201cEnvironmental Analysis of Textile Products,\u201d<\/p>\n Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, July 2006, p. 248-261.<\/p>\n [7] Randolph Kirchain, Elsa Olivetti, T Reed Miller and Suzanne Greene, \u201cSustainable Apparel Materials,\u201d Materials Systems Laboratory Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015, http:\/\/msl.mit.edu\/publications\/SustainableApparelMaterials.pdf, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n [8] H&M, \u201cCotton,\u201d http:\/\/about.hm.com\/en\/sustainability\/sustainable-fashion\/materials\/cotton.html, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n [9] H&M, \u201cSustainability Impact,\u201d http:\/\/sustainability.hm.com\/#impact, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n [10] Rebecca M. Henderson, Sophus A. Reinert, Polina Dekhtyar, and Amram Migdal, \u201cClimate Change in 2016: Implications for Business,\u201d HBS No. N2-317-032 (Boston: 性视界 Business School Publishing, 2016), p. 4.<\/p>\n [11] The Economist Intelligence Unit, N.A. Inc., \u201cWorld: Commodities – EIU’s monthly cotton outlook,\u201d November 1, 2016, via The Economist, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n [12] Peter Ton, \u201cCotton & Climate change: Impacts and options to mitigate and adapt,\u201d 9, https:\/\/www.icac.org\/meetings\/wcrc\/wcrc5\/Proceeding_PDF\/WCRC-5_CottonClimate_change_Ton_111205.pdf, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n [13] Shen, B. Sustainable Fashion Supply Chain: Lessons from H&M.\u00a0Sustainability<\/em>\u00a02014<\/strong>,\u00a06<\/em>, 6236-6249.<\/p>\n [14] H&M, 2015 Conscious Actions Sustainability Report 2015, p. 76, http:\/\/sustainability.hm.com\/content\/dam\/hm\/about\/documents\/masterlanguage\/CSR\/2015%20Sustainability%20report\/HM_SustainabilityReport_2015_final_com_4.pdf<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n