Minimising the environmental impact of your logistics, from how you source materials, manage your inventory and ship your products, to how your customers dispose of them at the end of their usable life - is vital for any fashion business aiming to be as sustainable as possible. And, doing this while ensuring that you are maximising efficiency and ultimately profit is no mean feat. It is a mammoth area and one that can be complex.
In this Masterclass, we break down the different areas and examine how businesses can improve their sustainability in the design and production phase, pre-consumer phase and post-consumer phase.
In this Masterclass, you will learn:
- How to reduce carbon emissions in your business operations when selecting your materials and designing your products
- What cradle-to-cradle design is, and how to implement this in your design with case studies from Stella McCartney and Loop Swimwear
- About the environmental damage of returns and how to offer them in a more sustainable way
- Different methods to implement takeback schemes and the questions you need to ask when starting one
- Case studies of brands offering takeback and how they operate
- How to use technology in an innovative way to improve the sustainability of your product and business operations
- How to implement a repair scheme with brand case studies
- About offering refills to reduce waste
- How to manage inventory and stock to reduce your environmental footprint
- Some of the sustainable fulfilment options that are on offer
- How to reinvent last mile delivery to improve sustainability
-
Sustainable Logistics in the Design and Production Phase
with Charlie Bradley RossSummary
It goes without saying, how you source materials and make your products can have an enormous environmental impact. However, there are things that you can do in your design and production to ensure that your products have as positive an impact as possible.
In this lesson, we break down the ways that you reduce the impact, and highlight some brands who are leading the way in implementing sustainable logistics in their production.
-
Green Logistics: Delivering your Products to your Customer Environmentally Responsibly
with Charlie Bradley RossSummary
Delivering your products to your customers can rack up huge emissions, a massive problem for brands concerned about their sustainability. In this lesson, we examine what you can do to make your deliveries greener, and look at some brands rewriting the rules on fulfilment and delivery.
-
Responsible Post-Purchase Logistics
with Charlie Bradley RossSummary
What happens after your customers have bought your clothing is, in many ways, as important as what happens before, as far as environmental impact is concerned. How your garments are cared for, how long they last, and what happens at the end of their usable life can all affect the impact they cause. Of course, it is not always easy to control what your customers do with your products once they have bought them. However, there are some steps you, as a business, can take to encourage them to engage with them in the most sustainable way possible.
In this lesson, we talk you through the things you can do to help your customers use your products sustainably.
-
The Trade Cooperation Agreement: Exporting to Europe Post Brexit
with The SFC TeamSummary
In this lesson, we have synthesised the key takeaways of a webinar on UK and EU trade and the trade cooperation agreement signed in 2020, which came into force in 2021. The webinar, hosted by DHL, focused on the EU as a market and the differences in trading with the EU now, as opposed to before Brexit.
Interviews
Implementing a Takeback and Repair Scheme with Nick Reed, Founder of Neem London
Saturday Oct 1st, 2022
Recyclability: How can brands improve the lifecycle of their clothes? With Lina Londono of Debrand Services
Monday Oct 3rd, 2022Further reading
Inventory management
https://www.steelyproducts.co.uk/blog/how-to-make-inventory-management-more-sustainable/
https://squareup.com/gb/en/townsquare/how-to-do-effective-inventory-management-for-small-business
Low emission deliveries
https://eurocities.eu/latest/put-on-your-slippers-zero-emission-deliveries-are-here/
Takeback schemes
https://wrap.org.uk/sites/default/files/2021-02/Retailer-clothing-take-back-guide-Feb21.pdf
Sustainable returns
Additional Reading
Top Sustainability Textile Trade Shows All Designers Should Visit
Monday Feb 14th, 2022
How can you build a successful ethical fashion line while making profit?
Monday Feb 7th, 2022
Why we should use reusable packaging - and inspiration to make your own
Friday Dec 10th, 2021
What The Fashion Industry Should Take Away from COP26
Monday Nov 15th, 2021
Future Fabrics Expo 2021: Biodiversity, Natural Fibres and Regenerative Textiles
Sunday Jul 11th, 2021
7 Sustainable And Zero Waste Packaging Ideas for Clothes
Monday Apr 5th, 2021
Spring Summer 2022 Colour And Material Trends: Premiére Vision
Monday Feb 22nd, 2021
What Wellbeing Strategies Can You Implement To Be An Agile Business?
Thursday Dec 17th, 2020
Can The High Street Recover From The Covid-19 Pandemic?
Thursday Dec 10th, 2020
How Fashion Retail Has Survived The Covid-19 Pandemic
Thursday Dec 3rd, 2020