There’s a massive problem in the fashion world. We love looking great, but honestly---as an industry, we don’t have a handle on the environmental cost of production. But at Ross & Snow, we’ve decided enough is enough.
Sustainability is our middle name.
Ok, technically, our middle name is “&.” But sustainability is such a priority for us at Ross & Snow, it might as well be our middle name.
From reducing our carbon footprint through efficient shipping to choosing the most sustainable shearling for our boots, our roots are planted in a solid foundation of caring for our sweet mama Earth.
The Dangers of Fast Fashion
Don’t get depressed, but we have some bad news for you. The fast fashion industry accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions, and is the 2nd largest consumer of water in the world.
That’s absolutely terrible.Fast fashion contributes more greenhouse gases than maritime shipping and air travel combined. And if that wasn’t bad enough, 85% of the clothes produced every year goes to the dump. Yes, you heard right. People don’t even wear the stuff for longer than a year.
Clothing production has been skyrocketing since 2000, and there are no signs of it slowing down, and while people are buying more clothes than ever, they’re also throwing them out faster than ever.
And we don’t mean to batter you with this, but...
How Fast Fashion Destroys the Ocean
Most fast fashion uses polyester, which is a type of plastic. As clothes are washed and thrown out, those polyester microfibers make their way into the ocean.
You may have heard about microplastics in the Earth’s waters. Well, the fast fashion industry is mostly to blame for dirtying the waters. 31% of ocean plastic pollution comes from microplastics, which are endangering coral reefs and destroying entire underwater ecosystems.Plus, the dyeing process of most fabrics is extremely polluting as the waste-water is often dumped into rivers, streams, and ditches, where it filters back to the open ocean.
We Hate That. So This is What We’re Doing About It…
We can’t change the entire system ourselves, but we’ll be damned if we join in because it’s the cheap and easy thing to do.
At Ross & Snow, we never take shortcuts and do the easy thing when we’re being called to do the right thing.
Since shearling is kinda our thaaang, we’ll start there. We work with shearling producers that operate on the strictest environmental safeguards in Europe (in case you didn’t know, those Euros are wayyy ahead of the US in terms of environmental safety standards -- and we’re happy to abide by their rules because we believe in reducing our impact by any means necessary).
The livestock raised for our shearling production requires very little water and grazes on naturally growing pastures.
We’ve also committed to reducing our carbon footprint through more efficient shipping procedures. They say that the most carbon-intensive mile in shipping is the one closest to your door. Our network of distributors uses shipping algorithms designed to minimize carbon emissions -- from the warehouse to your door.
But You Don’t Need to Sacrifice Your Style
As much as we love our eco-minded hippie friends, we’re not about to romp around in a multi-color crochet beanie and harem pants.
Didn’t they get the memo that sustainability can look as good as it feels?We’re proud that our footwear is just as stylish as it is sustainable. Our team has such a wealth of experiences -- from the design team to the production team -- we truly don’t need to make any sacrifices when it comes to style, quality, and environmentally friendly production.