KUALA LUMPUR – With fabric waste making up for a staggering half a million metric tonnes of the nation’s total waste, Malaysia is on the cusp of battling a severe environmental crisis.
However, some entrepreneurs are looking to reverse this tide by championing sustainable fashion practices and innovative solutions that address both environmental and social impacts.
Tasha Sabapathy, senior programme and communications officer at Zero Waste Malaysia, has called on for immediate action to shift perspective and educate consumers on the importance of sustainable fashion.
Mindset is one of the biggest barriers in the industry of sustainable fashion, especially living in a hyper-consumerist society.
“We live in a hyper-consumerism world where people are attracted to trends and new fashion,
“Changing that mindset so people know that they can feel empowered with slow fashion is one of the hardest parts,” she said.
Tasha also said that slow fashion offers various benefits beyond environmental and social impacts, including more affordable prices.
She also provides practical examples to illustrate the cost-effectiveness of slow fashion.
“If you need baby clothes and soft toys, thrifting or getting them from a friend could cost you less than RM20 altogether.
“One of the challenges in promoting slow fashion is the lack of mainstream visibility,” she said.
“Sometimes people don’t know where to get these solutions, as they’re not as mainstream as fast fashion shops,” she said.
To address this, Zero Waste Malaysia has developed a map to help people locate nearby thrift, swap, or repair stores.
Tasha stressed that consumers need to be aware of greenwashing claims, where companies give a false impression of their environmental efforts and demand more ethical practices that align with zero-waste principles.
“Sustainable fashion is more than just ‘recycling’ clothing and decluttering,” she added.
Echoing a similar opinion, Kloth Malaysia co-founder Nik Suzila Binti Nik Hassan emphasised the need for greater awareness and education about sustainable fashion.
“Fast fashion generates a massive amount of waste. Many synthetic fabrics used in fast fashion are non-biodegradable and can take decades to decompose, leading to long-term pollution,” she added.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change estimates that emissions from textile production are expected to surge by 60% by 2030.
With the rise of sustainable fashion, it offers a solution that emphasises the use of biodegradable and natural fibres that decompose more quickly than synthetic fabrics.
Utilising durable materials and timeless designs in clothing is a sustainable approach that extends the lifespan of garments, thereby reducing waste in incinerators and landfills.
Despite the environmental harm caused by fast fashion, about 95% of unwanted clothing can be recycled, although current recycling rates remain low due to a lack of infrastructure and awareness.
“By encouraging consumers to participate in recycling programmes and focusing on sustainable production practices, the fashion industry can mitigate its environmental impact,” she added.
In terms of consumer education, Nik Suzila believes that consistent and ongoing campaigns are crucial.
“In Malaysia, while recycling awareness is high, knowledge about sustainable fashion is still quite low. Many Malaysians aren’t aware of the environmental impacts of conventional fashion and the benefits of sustainable alternatives,” she added.
She underscored the necessity for ongoing efforts to maintain sustainable fashion in the public eye and integrate it into daily thought in order to better educate and raise awareness.
Since 2018, Kloth Circularity has gathered almost 9 million kgs of old textiles and clothes through their fabric recycling initiative.
With that amount, they have prevented the need for 360,000 medium-sized bags full of textiles, 54,000,000 T-shirts from ending up in landfills and incinerators, and RM1,390,680 in disposal fees.
“That’s the impact we can make to our environment if we start choosing sustainable and slow fashion choices,” she added. – August 4, 2024