CBC Marketplace came out with a new investigation on poor quality construction and potentially dangerous chemicals found in clothing from several large fast fashion brands. Chemists at the University of Toronto analysed samples from a number of items which were found to contain hazardous levels of lead, phthalates (plasticizers), and PFAS (used in fluorine-based water-repellent treatments). The presence of these chemicals at dangerous levels present hazards all across the supply chain, from the people making the materials, sewing the final products, and both retail and second-hand consumers. One part of CBC’s video shows great examples of poor quality garment construction which you should watch out for when purchasing clothing items (both new and second-hand). But if you don’t have a chemistry lab at home, how can you tell if you’re at risk of exposing yourself to hazardous chemicals?
There are a number of organizations in the textile world who are trying to standardize and streamline this very concern. Examples include Oeko-Tex, The ZDHC Foundation, and Bluesign. These organizations have created what’s called a Restricted Substances List (RSL), which brands and manufactures use as a guideline for which chemicals, and at what levels, are considered safe in textile items. Many brands already advertise compliance to Oeko-Tex and/or Bluesign on their websites and hangtags, which is a quick way to assess the safety of the items you’re purchasing. You can also access a list of Bluesign system partners, companies and manufacturers who create products compliant to that RSL at all stages of production. Canadian companies on that list include Arc’teryx, Canada Goose, lululemon, Mountain Equipment Co-op, and Thomson Research Associates (makers of anti-microbial/anti-odour treatments).
At the end of the day, you get what you pay for! If something seems too good to be true, most of the time it is. We all need clothes, but we hope to arm you with more tools to better assess what you’re consuming. Let’s all buy less, but concentrate our efforts on purchasing good quality items which will last as long as possible and minimize harm to people and the environment.
When it comes to making sustainable claims on clothing and other textile items, things start to get confusing pretty quickly. Governments and standards organizations do have documents which outline proper fibre content labelling [1] and “self-declared” environmental claim [2] definitions and requirements, but these documents are often highly technical (boring) and inaccessible ($180 just to read it??). So where do consumers turn to get reliable information on the products they purchase?
One helpful resource is the Textile Exchange, a nonprofit which has created numerous standards for the certification of claims such as the Global Recycled Standard (GRS), has excellent educational resources on “preferred” fibre advancements, and has created the Material Change Index (MCI) to show how over 100 brands are performing in key areas. Of course, organizations like this and the similar Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) cost money to be a part of, which excludes many smaller businesses and startups from having the same visibility. When looking at smaller more independent companies, keep an eye out for any claims they’re making, and whether those claims can be substantiated. Are they claiming their product is “sustainable” without any explanation as to why? Do they discuss why they’ve chosen specific materials? Do they talk about who makes their products and if those craftspeople are being paid a living wage? A great example of this is from the Canada/US/Ghana-based company Osei-Duro.
Government of Canada. (2000). Guide to the Textile Labelling and Advertising Regulations.
ISO 14021. (2016). Environmental labels and declarations — Self-declared environmental claims (Type II environmental labelling)
2020 has been a ridiculous year, one where keeping up with the sheer pace of the news cycle was an achievement in itself. It will be defined forever by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on, well, everything. It’s only in hindsight that we will be able to reflect on its impacts in other areas, particularly waste. There have been glimmers of hope for a waste free future though, and the growing consensus against waste at multiple levels of society and government have been promising to watch.
Here are some of our hopes and resolutions for a 2021 that has to be better.
No more delays on SUP legislation.
2020, for as bad as it was, had mixed messages on the topic of banning single-use plastics. While Edmonton’s progress on the SUP bylaw has been paused, the federal government’s announcement of a 2021 ban was both promising and a reminder that reducing plastic waste should be on the radar of every government. However, banning single-use plastics ‘by the end of 2021’ is vague enough that we expect to be holding governments accountable for their promises. We hope that won’t be the case.
International waste legislation
Our SUP framework will help government officials with their planning and decision making for similar SUP bylaws in their jurisdictions. The best way to achieve waste reduction is through a network of overlapping laws that provide knowledge and experience for other cities and countries looking to reduce waste. The European Union has us beat with a tax on unrecyclable plastic that went live on January 1st! Bans, taxes, and other prohibitions will help stamp out plastic waste slowly, but surely. It’s up to us to use these advances to help waste reduction efforts in Edmonton.
Waste Free Edmonton’s 2018 appearance in Devon.
More opportunities for collaboration, dialogue
We’ve been able to work on communicating the need for waste reduction through our social media and digital meetups, but just being in the same room as someone, talking about waste, hearing and listening how it affects someone and their community provides that energy to push for greater change. We want more community events, repair cafes, field trips, anything to help further integrate waste reduction into our everyday lives.
Continued moves towards local economies
For years, we spoke against online shopping from an emissions standpoint — how much CO₂ was released into the atmosphere to ship that parcel to your door? But Amazon worker strikes helped shed more light on the negative results of mass consumerism and pushed more individuals to think, shop, and act locally. Acknowledging the benefits of circular economies, freecycling, bartering, and local connectivity helps reduce waste and foster community.
A healthy Edmonton
COVID-19’s effects on Edmonton have been painful, and we’re all looking forward to a regression and elimination of the pandemic. As exciting as the recent news on vaccines has been, we don’t know the logistics of vaccination, how it’s going to be implemented in Edmonton, and how long the process will take. What we do know is that there’s no waste reduction without Edmontonians to achieve it. We need to keep our community as healthy as possible in 2021.
I’m sure many of you have noticed the symbols and numbers on the bottom of your plastic bottles and jars. But did you ever think about why those symbols exist, who they benefit, and what they mean?
WHAT ARE THE SYMBOLS FOR?
The numbers indicate what type of resin is used to make that particular plastic, which then corresponds to how the item should be sorted and recycled. This system was created by the Plastics Industry Association in 1988 in part to help plastic recycling companies sort the incoming plastic for resale.
At first glance, it appeared as though the plastic producers were just trying to be helpful, categorizing the type of plastic for future users and making it easier to recycle these items. This is the “great plastic lie”.
These symbols trick consumers into thinking that not only are these goods possible to recycle, that they are actually being recycled. The “chasing arrows” around the numbers traditionally signal “recycle”. These arrows have since been changed to a solid triangle, but the “plastics industry has a vested interest in maintaining this myth.”
And there is a distinct lack of accessible education for individual consumers to make good decisions when shopping. Or when sorting their numbered plastic items for recycling. And unfortunately that often leads to “wishcycling”. Wishcycling is defined as “aspirational recycling”, and happens when a consumer puts a non-recyclable item in their recycle bin not because they know it is recyclable, but because they wish it was. One errant item can contaminate an entire bag or bin.
The misdirection of the symbols combined with the lack of comprehensive education around plastic recycling leads many people to believe they can keep buying plastic because it is being recycled, when in fact it isn’t. They put the burden on downstream individuals and organizations to properly sort and recycle all the plastic being produced. And there is little to no obligation placed on the producers to curb their plastic production or provide funds and infrastructure for recycling initiatives.
CONSEQUENCES
Recycling is labour and resource intensive. It costs money and it’s a lot of work. The Edmonton curbside pickup is a single stream system, where everything goes in the same bag and it’s left to the sorters at the facility to figure it out. And in Edmonton that means sorting it by hand.
Not only is the cost to deal with these products downloaded to residents (through taxes for example) to pay for increased sorting, we also have to deal with the waste in our communities. And environmental racism means this burden does not fall equally among individuals and neighbourhoods. We see these effects across Canada, with landfills often placed in or near Indigenous or predominantly Black communities.
This is the Edmonton Waste Management Centre, where workers try their best to make sense of these recyclables.
TAKE ACTION
But there are ways that individuals and communities can take back control from the plastic producers, and make a difference in the lives of their neighbours.
LOW EFFORT
If you have the resources to do so, buy alternatives to your favourite products that come in glass, metal, or cardboard packaging instead of plastic.
Watch Plastic Wars by the Passionate Eye to learn more about the great plastic lie.
MID EFFORT
Find a list of the types of plastic that your municipality actually accepts for recycling. Edmonton’s list is accessible here, or through the WasteWise app. Bring that with you to the grocery store, and try to avoid items made with plastics that aren’t on your list.
Sort your recyclables at home and take them to a recycling depot in Edmonton instead. The earlier recyclables can be sorted, the cleaner and less opportunity for contamination there will be. Find your nearest recycling depot here.
Reuse the plastic items that aren’t accepted by your municipality for recycling. While avoiding single-use plastics entirely is better, it’s not always feasible. Extend the life of these “single-use” items in creative ways or donate them to those that will.
MOST EFFORT
Learn about extended producer responsibility and write your elected officials to push for it in policy. In short, it holds the manufacturers of products to accountability throughout its entire lifecycle, not leaving customers responsible for the environmental cleanup.
Reach out to your local businesses to ask for more plastic-free options in their packaging.
Start a plastic-free initiative in your workplace or school. Waste Free Edmonton has resources to help you get started!
From a consumer standpoint, going plastic free often starts at the shopping cart. Earth’s General Store is a notable leader in waste free shopping. Photo: MacKenzie Photography
Recycling symbols on the bottom of plastic containers are misleading to consumers, and ultimately puts the burden on individuals to address the plastic waste entering our world, with no responsibility placed back on the plastic producers – the oil and gas industry – and no incentive for them to stop overproducing new plastic. Recycling is not going to save us, and unfortunately it was never designed to. There are ways that consumers and citizens can help, both in their everyday lives and to move toward more systemic change. “The future of a just and green planet relies on every single person, particularly those with access to resources, to take action that calls for larger societal changes.” (Chante Harris)
COVID-19 has changed almost everything in our lives this past year. We have experienced change in jobs, friendships, social lives, family, and our financial situations. A lot of us who work hard to be environmentally conscious have felt the need to make compromises during this pandemic in our attempt to put safety over sustainability. These changes were made with good heart, but now is the time to continue our progress, and keep advocating and practicing sustainable methods when we can.
This pandemic has brought to light that conflicts can arise between social sustainability and environmental sustainability. Environmental sustainability is almost always the first thing you imagine when you hear ‘sustainability’. It includes hot topics like plastics, oil spills, or other things that physically affect our Earth. Social sustainability is a less discussed aspect of sustainability that includes protecting culture, education, or other big picture issues. It often includes a global perspective that includes people, not just the planet.
Social sustainability has taken precedence in light of the pandemic. We have shut down our economy, our social lives, and sometimes even our work in order to preserve our people and our culture. We emphasize the importance of our elders and those who are most at risk. It has been admirable how much compassion society has shown. However, as we begin to reopen, environmental sustainability starts to creep back into the spotlight. We are starting to see masks on the ground and gloves in our waterways. Our garbage at home is full of delivery meal packaging and single-use items. We go to fill our coffee mugs and discover there are now disposable cups only. Our lifestyles have changed, almost without us noticing, and we are ready to take that responsibility back and put it at the forefront.
What can the average citizen do about this? After all, it cannot be expected that sustainable practice should be held over public health. And yet in discussion, public health circles back to sustainable practice. It is confusing, both in terms of information and morals. However, we must remind ourselves that we are just one person. We do what we can. We change what we are able to. We can change our COVID habits, within reason and while being compassionate to ourselves.
The change we need stems simply from introspection. How has your life, personally, changed? What sustainable initiatives had you worked hard on, and now lost progress on? On the other side of things, what accomplishments have you made during this time at home? What have you been managing to do more sustainably than before?
My list looks a bit like this:
You can make your own pro/con list too!
I start from the accomplishments, things I would not have had time for or thought of before. For me, this includes things like upsizing my worm composting system, or growing celery from the celery stump. It reminds me of the fun things I have been able to do, and reinforces the motivation for doing them. Then, I move to the things I have been unhappy about. For me, this includes using a freely available disposable mask instead of digging up my reusable one. This one is entirely on me. It also includes some things I have no control over, like Tim Hortons not accepting mugs for refills. This sits a little better with me, as I did try, but is still something I am wishing will improve.
Take the things that are in your control and brainstorm. Why am I choosing a disposable mask over a reusable one? Do I need to invest in a better mask, rather than the one I haphazardly made at home? The answer is probably yes, and would reduce both my discomfort and consumption. For you, this may be ordering more takeout than you would like, throwing out leftovers that you’re not in the mood for, or any other bad habits you’ve gotten into. It’s totally understandable that you’ve gotten out of your sustainable groove, but it only takes some reflection to get back into it.
The things you can’t control are a little trickier. For example, using plastic bags at the grocery store is something that is easily remedied by bringing reusable bags. However, many stores stopped accepting reusable bags, and some still have not allowed them back. Accumulating plastic bags is not something that sits well with me, but it has still happened. So what can we do about it? Let’s connect back to social sustainability. How can we reuse these bags to make our society a little better? Plastic bags can be donated to food banks or zero-waste groupsfor others to make use of. You can find many crafts on the internet to use these bags for, such as placemats. If reuse is not feasible, bags can be used to clean out your cat’s litter box, take your garbage out in one instead of buying bags, or numerous other replacements. Finally, plastic bags can be put in for recycling at many stores or eco-stations. There are many ways to make use out of the things we never wanted. When life gives you lemons, right?
Finally, advocate where you can for the reopening of sustainable practices. Ask your local store if you can bring your reusable bag if you pack it yourself. Ask your cafe if they will refill your mug if you take off the lid. Keep pushing for straw bans, or whatever eco-initiative is important to you. COVID-19 has not killed sustainability, it has just shuffled our priorities about.
Take some time to think about which of your habits have changed. If you have kids, ask them which of their sustainable ideas they would like to bring back. Ask your spouse if they wouldn’t mind supporting you breaking one of your COVID habits. We are all in this together, and we can gradually return to our pre-COVID sustainable push.
