(The following information was collected from various sources, including New Standard Institute, Future Dust, Highsnobiety and more. 

 

Biodegradable

Biodegradable means that a product can break down naturally (by bacteria or other living organisms) without any negative effects on the environment. In regards to clothing, biodegradable often refers to non-synthetic fabrics such as organic cotton (description below), silk, and hemp (those that have not been treated with dyes and finishing chemicals).

APE says: An organic T-shirt might not actually be biodegradable if certain elements like tags and threads are made from something else.

 

Blended Materials

Blended materials are when two or more materials are blended or bonded together.

APE says: Sometimes brands will say a product is "natural" because it bonds or blends one organic element with a synthetic one. For example, apple leather bonds apple fiber with Polyurethane, which is plastic — meaning you're left with a product that's neither biodegradable nor recyclable.

 

Carbon-Neutral

Carbon is shorthand for all the various greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide — which absorb and emit radiant energy that increases the temperature of the earth's surface. A company striving for carbon neutrality means they are aiming to eliminate all carbon emissions from their supply chain.

APE says:Lots of companies are striving for carbon neutrality but, spoiler alert, there's not really any such thing as a carbon-neutral company. Most tackle the topic of reducing carbon emissions via offsetting (like planting trees) but for the most part, this is just something companies can say to make them sound like they're doing work to reduce their emissions. To really see whether a company is playing its part, it must first account for its entiresupply chain (from soil to customer, which most brands cannot), measure the emissions from stage to stage, and then prove it via independent, verified reports.

 

Circular

If a product is Circular, it means that it can be recycled to the same value as its original materials. In other words: The product is designed to be recycled, there is a system in place to make sure of that, and the result is one of equal value. Circularity should take into account the entire lifecycle of a product and center on a system of create, use, and recycle, rather than create, use, and dispose. It should also consider growth (of fibers, to create material objects), production, design, sourcing, transportation, storage, marketing, sale, disposal of the product, and care for those working within the cycle at all stages.

APE says: Resale, Rental, and Secondhand are not circular (definitions below).

 

Cruelty-Free

Cruelty-free refers to animal welfare and whether any animals were hurt or harmed during the production (such as ingredient testing). Items that meet this standard normally carry a heart symbol.

APE says: Cruelty-free does not mean that animal ingredients are avoided. The verdict is still out on whether using animals for human-intended products and purposes can be considered entirely cruelty-free. For products that don't use animals at all, you want to be shopping vegan (definition below).

 

Eco-Friendly Fashion

Eco-friendly, like "sustainability," is an all-encompassing term that takes many factors into account and needs to be taken with a giant pinch of salt. Basically, "eco" is short for ecology, the study of the interaction between organisms and the environment, and thus, eco-friendly is about minimizing anything that would negatively affect that balance. Things to consider include what material a product is made from (such as organic cotton or hemp), whether it is dyed with organic dye (vegetables, for example) or chemicals, and how much water is used to grow the fabric.

 

Ethical Fashion

Ethical fashion is an umbrella term which includes fashion design, production, retail, and purchasing. It is intended to indicate that the creation of a product followed ethical guidelines and positively impacts the environment and the lives of those involved in the production process (via non-exploitative contracts, equal and fair pay, and positive working conditions).

APE says: This is very hard to vet in practice. Again, it requires brands to offer insight into their entire supply chains that are checked and controlled by an independent auditor.

 

Fast Fashion

Fast fashion is the term used to describe clothing that is produced quickly and cheaply. Brands and retailers who engage in fast fashion often create products based on seasonal trends. Fast fashion brands are generally associated with overproduction, low retail prices, mass waste, poor working conditions, and terrible environmental impact. Avoid if possible.

 

Fair Trade Fashion

Chances are high that you've come across The Fairtrade Mark, used as a signifier for products which meet internationally agreed social, environmental, and economic Fairtrade Standards. Profits made from products that qualify for the Fairtrade Mark go towards supporting farmers and workers, and improving lives and communities. Fairtrade Cotton has its own mark, as does Fairtrade Textile Production, and these symbols are indications of how ethically sound a garment is.

 

Organic Cotton

Standards differ as to what "organic" means from country to country, but generally speaking, organic fashion refers to the materials used and how they're grown. Namely, this means that the materials are grown without the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), sewage sludge, ionizing radiation, or other chemicals.

APE says: Organic doesn't necessarily mean "more sustainable." As New Standard Insitute explains: “There are some important benefits to organic production over conventional cotton production, specifically with regards to soil health and reduced water pollution. However, this is far from meaning that the organic standard is without impact. Organic cotton still has negative impacts in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and water pollution. The standard itself also has no bearing on the chemical, climate, or labor impact in other stages of textile and clothing production.” Your best bet when shopping for organic cotton is to look for the GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certification. For a piece of clothing to receive the GOTS tag, it requires a far more stringent set of criteria, including fiber composition, prohibition of environmentally hazardous substances, as well as confirmation that these practices were met at every level of the (rather long and complicated) fabric supply chain.

 

Recycled and Upcycled Fashion

There's often a lot of confusion about the difference between recycling and upcycling. Simply put, recycling refers to the industrial process in which a product is broken down into its base materials and then used for the production of something new. Upcycling, on the other hand, is about creatively re-imagining the purpose of an object, transforming, and reinventing its function.

APE says: Brands turning recycled plastic bottles into clothing isn't necessarily a good thing — it does not solve plastic pollution. The process takes resources away from the bottling industry, where bottles could be recycled again and again into more plastic bottles (see circular and closed-loop systems). Also, recycling polyester fabric is extremely expensive, so most brands can't implement it, and thus your new plastic bottle T-shirt/sneakers/whatever is basically one-use. Plastic pollution will only be solved by improved infrastructure and regulation.

 

Rental

Rental does what it says on the tin — renting garments from a company/platform rather than purchasing. For the most part, this is a good thing, as it allows pieces to be worn loads more than they otherwise might be (say you just want a special piece for a particular event), depending on how often the garment is rented out.

APE says: This doesn't mean rental platforms consider what happens to a product at the end of its cycle — there's no guarantee the pieces will be recycled.

 

Slow Fashion

As you would expect, slow fashion is the opposite of fast fashion. It's about rejecting consumeristic impulses and embracing a slower, more mindful model of consumerism. While this doesn't eradicate shopping entirely, it refers to only buying things you actually need and items of quality that will last. It's about being conscious of what you buy, and how that purchase will impact others (asking who makes the clothes and how, for example) and the environment.

Transparency and Traceability

Transparency and traceability go hand-in-hand. In order to be transparent, a brand shares the names and information about every factory (and ideally every worker) involved in the manufacturing process. In turn, this gives product traceability, meaning consumers can trace a product and its components back through each step of the supply chain, right down to its raw material.

APE says: Being transparent and traceable does not a good brand make. Take H&M, for example — much of its business is transparent, but it's still a low-quality, fast-fashion machine.

 

Vegan Fashion

If you want to avoid animal products entirely, you need to be shopping vegan. Vegan fashion means that no animal testing nor animal-derived fabrics — such as leather, fur, or exotic skins — are included in products and collections. For more information on vegan brands and fabrics, head to PETA.