Images magazine Digital Edition April 2018

www.images-magazine.com APRIL 2018 images 45 INDUSTRY ISSUE for example, the irrigation of cotton in Uzbekistan caused the Aral Sea to dry up. Social costs ∞ Unfair and unsafe working practices, such as those infamously highlighted by the collapse of Rana Plaza in April 2013, killing 1,134 people outside Dhaka in Bangladesh. ∞ Chemical pesticides and fertilisers are harmful to human health and, along with genetically-modified (GM) seed, lead to high levels of debt in farmers. How do we do better? A Lifecycle Analysis by the Textile Exchange found that choosing organic instead of conventional cotton can reduce global warming by 46%, acidification of water and land by 70%, and water consumption by 91%. Plus, there are no GM seeds or toxic pesticides and fertilisers used. For a standard T-shirt, choosing organic cotton would save approximately the equivalent of 659 litres of water, enough energy for 15 hours of a 60W light bulb or driving 2km in an average car, 610mg of hazardous pesticides and 70g of chemical fertilisers. [Above] A comparison of the Aral Sea between 1989 [left] and 2008. The Aral Sea used to be the fourth largest lake in the world: the irrigation of cotton in Uzbekistan has contributed to it drying up – it is now 10% of its former size and heavily polluted with pesticides and insecticides Multiply those numbers by the number of T-shirts the garment decoration industry goes through in a year, and the impact is staggering. What’s more, organic agriculture has been shown to actually reverse climate change as it takes carbon from the atmosphere and locks it into the soil. You might want to re-read that last sentence. It’s a gamechanger for us. The business case It doesn’t just make sense from an environmental and social justice point of view; going further along the journey to sustainability makes good business sense too. A study by Deloitte showed that 9 in 10 millennials think that the performance of a company should be measured by more than just its financial performance, and 81% of CEOs believe that in five years time the most successful companies will be doing this. So to be sustainable as a business – as in to survive and thrive in years to come - companies must start thinking and measuring invisible social and environmental costs too. Big retail players such as ASOS, H&M and Nike have already signed up to the Sustainable Cotton Communiqué. Mantis World may be the first signatory from the garment decoration industry, but I’m hopeful we’ll soon be joined by many of our industry colleagues. The influence of garment decorators in persuading garment manufacturers to pledge to use only sustainable cotton should not be underestimated. You are, after all, our customers. Talk to your suppliers today about their policy and performance on sustainability, and show them that the demand for sustainably-made clothing is real – and rising. www.mantisworld.com