Climate change appears to be a bigger concern for clothing consumers than recent reports have indicated, with a new survey finding that it ranked third on a list of 16 modern-day worries and that up to 90% are aware of “eco-friendly” clothing.
Around 41% of consumers identified climate change as the third priority concern out of 16 in a 25th anniversary global research study commissioned by certification body Oeko-Tex Association. To put this into context, ‘Terrorism’ ranked first, and ‘Illness and disease’ was second.
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‘The Key to Confidence: Consumers and Textile Sustainability – Attitudes, Changing Behaviors, and Outlooks’ study surveyed more than 11,000 clothing and home textile consumers globally.
It found four in ten consumers – and half of those in non-production areas – admit they “don’t know much about the way textiles or clothes are produced.”
The textile sustainability study claims to be the first to focus on the global consumer rather than on the textile trade. It explored a broad range of consumer attitudes about textile sustainability including harmful substances, the industry’s environmental impact, and the social welfare of textile workers.
“Climate change has become a significant issue for consumers,” says global brand and sustainability research expert, Ellen Karp of Anerca International. “Erratic weather patterns, mounting scientific data, escalating political debate, and first-hand experience with environmental degradation combine to make climate change more of an immediate threat than people considered it to be just a decade ago.”
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By GlobalDataThe study showed that between 80-90% of those surveyed are aware of “eco-friendly” clothing and home textiles, while 36% have purchased eco-friendly clothing. Around 54% have purchased clothing or home textiles for babies or young children made with organic or other sustainable fibres.
Through the study, Oeko-Tex found that most consumers say they want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem, with 66% feeling “the actions of an individual like myself can reverse climate change” and seven in ten indicating they are “committed to living a sustainable, environmentally friendly lifestyle.”
Additionally, 60% of global consumers want to know if their garments are certified to be safe from harmful substances and responsibly produced, while 31% indicate they have purchased certified clothing.
“The quantitative findings derived through The Key to Confidence study should serve as a call to action for the textile industry,” says Karp. “Consumers are fast learning that their textile buying decisions impact not only their families but also their communities and beyond.”
