Buying Sustainable Fashion at the UN - Joan Moderates Climate Week

Dec 10, 2024

“Women make up 80% or more of the garment industry workers. Women garment workers make meager wages and work excessive working hours, 14 to 16 hours a day…Fashion is ranked as the second most polluting business in the world by the UN, 7% of the landfill is garments. The garment industry emits 8 to 10% of global CO2 and 500,000 tons of micro plastics are dumped into oceans each year.” Joan Michelson at UN Climate Week SDG Media Zone

The fashion industry faces the twin problems of being an environmental disaster, and treating their majority female workforce very, very badly, even dangerously badly in many places. The good news is that some creative, determined, resourceful women are working on both challenges at once.

You’ll meet a few of them in this episode of Electric Ladies Podcast. It’s a live recording of Joan’s recent conversations with a few of these creative women who are creating and teaching sustainable fashion, while helping the women in their communities. It’s an event at the United Nations for Climate Week at the SDG Media Zone  sponsored by the PVBLIC Foundation and the Fashion Impact Fund.

You’ll hear about:

• How women in New York, Africa and India are finding ways to help other women learn, manufacture and sell sustainable fashion;
• Where they are securing the funding for their small businesses and nonprofits.
• How you can buy sustainable fashion and support the women working there.
• Plus, insightful career advice:

“I think one thing that we can talk about is buying less, right? Part of the problem is there's this like rampant over production. And so, if we buy fewer things, but nicer things and take care of them for longer, that would definitely I think help women. I think buying in general, from women owned businesses, buying locally, like community based. Those are ways that people can be more sustainable. And again, thinking about how to extend the life of your garments.” Ngozi Okaro on Joan’s UN Climate Week panel

Read Joan’s Forbes articles here.

You'll also like (some of these were recorded under our previous name, Green Connections Radio):

• Kerry Bannigan, Managing Director, PVBLIC Foundation, Co-Founder of UN Fashion and Lifestyle Network, Founder Conscious Fashion Campaign
• “Performing Our Femininity” – Joan’s talk at Parlay House DC on Sustainable Fashion
• How Fashion’s Marketing Machine can promote sustainability, Joan’s Forbes article
• Laura Jones, Celebrity stylist and Founder of Frontlash magazine, on sustainable fashion trends.
• Amina Razvi, CEO, Sustainable Apparel Coalition (was VP of Membership when this was recorded)
• 7 Career Tips For Women In Sustainable Fashion, Joan’s Forbes article

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