Fast fashion refers to cheap, trendy clothing that samples ideas from the catwalk or celebrity culture and turns them into garments in high street stores at lightning speed to meet consumer demand. 

The idea is to get the newest styles on the market, so shoppers can purchase them when in style & discard them after a few wears. 

Imagine this winter you buy a lovely jumper and bobble hat.... Let's take a little look at these garments' journey.

What are fast fashion items made of?  

• Cheap fabrics like polyester, polyurethane, rayon, spandex, nylon, made from non-renewable fossil fuels - petrochemical textiles. They require an immense amount of energy and resources to be produced.
• Cheap, toxic textile dyes - Today, 90% of our clothes are dyed synthetically and require incredible amounts of water and often toxic chemicals in production. The majority of this water returns to nature as a “toxic chemical soup”, laden with residual dyes, hazardous chemicals, heavy metals, microfibres...

At Fifty Shades Greener we recently launched our brand new ESG business certification initiative.

This ESG business certificate programme is specifically aimed at companies who have already taken significant steps towards improving their overall sustainability and ESG activities.

Our certificate is awarded to companies who meet or exceed their ESG targets, following an appraisal by our team of sustainability experts.

Having an ESG certificate is a clear signal to investors, consumers and employees that your business is committed to protecting the environment, protecting society and conducts its operations in an exemplary manner.

ESG Principles

ESG stands for environmental social and governance.

Being awarded an ESG certificate from Fifty Shades Greener is a way for your business to demonstrate its clear commitment to these three pillars of corporate sustainability:

Environmental: the areas of your business which affect the environment and our planet, such as water and waste mana...

In 2015, leaders from 193 different countries agreed on 17 global goals they felt the world needed to achieve by 2030.  

This week, we look at SDG17, Partnerships for the Goals, which has as a main objective to strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development. 

As the UN states: “The Global Goals can only be met if we work together. International investments and support are needed to ensure innovative technological development, fair trade and market access, especially for developing countries. To build a better world, we need to be supportive, empathetic, inventive, passionate, and above all, cooperative. 

Supportive, empathetic, inventive, passionate…I can add “Kind” to this list, the list of adjectives that we should all strive to be within ourselves and in relation to other people and nature.  

How far are we from achieving SDG 17?

Unfortunately, indicators tell us we are not on target to achieve this goal. 

By the en...

In 2015, leaders from 193 different countries agreed on 17 global goals they felt the world needed to achieve by 2030.

The main goals of SDG 16 are to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels.

It is of course that today we write this blog with a heavy heart. Just 6 years away from our target date of the 2030, this goal seems more unachievable than ever.

In 2022, over 108 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide, the war in Ukraine played a role on enhancing this number to 2.5 time higher than a decade ago. With no signs of an end to the Russian invasion, and the added conflict in Palestine and Israel, we are not only failing to improve to achieve this goal, we are actually regressing.  

Wars amongst countries happen for many reasons including economic, territorial, religious, political, civil, revenge, and ideological reasons, but in...

In 2015, leaders from 193 different countries agreed on 17 global goals they felt the world needed to achieve by 2030. Goal 15 Life on Land, aims to protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems by sustainably managing forests, combating desertification and halting and reversing land degradation and biodiversity loss.

What is the importance of SDG 15?

Forests encompass approximately 30.7% of the surface of our planet. Beyond being vital for ensuring food security, offering shelter, and preserving the unique habitats of indigenous communities, they play a pivotal role in the battle against climate change and the safeguarding of biodiversity. Embracing Sustainable Development Goal 15, which centres on preserving life on land, not only allows us to protect these invaluable forested landscapes but also fortifies our ability to manage natural resources efficiently and enhance land productivity.  

This SDG is highly important as it covers 10 targets, often, when...

In 2015, leaders from 193 different countries agreed on 17 global goals they felt the world needed to achieve by 2030. Goal 14 Life Below water focuses on the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. 

Healthy oceans and seas are essential for our well-being. They make up 70% of our planet and they play a crucial role in providing us with food, energy, and water. However, we've done a lot of harm to these valuable resources.

It’s more urgent than ever to act and protect marine life.

In today’s blog, we’ll understand how important these incredible and complex ecosystems are, and how SDG 14  wants to protect life below water.

Who lives below water?

Millions of species are living in marine ecosystems. Down there, we can find a huge collection of life, from the tiniest invisible bacteria to the giant blue whale, the biggest animal to ever live on Earth…

Let's picture just a small part of a marine ecosystem:

There is plen...

In 2015, leaders from 193 different countries agreed on 17 global goals they felt the world needed to achieve by 2030. The thirteenth of these sustainable development goals is Climate Action which focuses on the need to adopt urgent measures to stop climate change.

SDG 13 calls for urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. It is intrinsically linked to all 16 of the other Goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

The focus of this goal is on action - we're living in a time where action is needed. This action is on two fronts, both mitigation and adaptation. We need to reduce our impact and realise that there's some climate change built into the system now and so we need to be able to adapt to this.

Why is goal 13 important?

Today, climate change is affecting every country in the world. In an assortment of ways we are being impacted by climate change, and unless action is taken, this can only get worse tomorrow.

Some of the impacts we are experiencing ...

 Responsible Consumption and Production! 

In 2015, leaders from 193 different countries agreed on 17 global goals they felt the world needed to achieve by 2030. The twelfth of these goals is Responsible Consumption and Production which considers the way the Earth’s resources are used.

The main goals of SDG 12 are to steer consumers toward responsible consumption, to shift producers away from current and unsustainable production practices, and to foster a culture of awareness when it comes to our use of resources.

Our world today increasingly revolves around our consumption. From the products we buy (and the ease with which we throw them away), to the natural resources that we exploit without a second thought, it is clear that much of our planet has come to revolve around consumption and consumerism. Globally, we consume much more resources than our planet can produce. In fact, every 7 months we are consuming what it takes the Earth 1 year to produce.

The Earth Overshoot Day is the ...

UN SDG 11 main goal is to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.

The global population is continuously increasing, and it's expected that by 2050 70% of the global population will live in cities. Therefore, it's urgent that we rethink our current urban planning so we can all live in a sustainable and inclusive way. In today's blog, we will analyse how far we are from this target, and we will explore how it is living in a sustainable city.

The way we live now.

To put in context the lifestyle situation, let's look at some impactful data:

• Nowadays cities account for more than 70% of global house emissions.
• In 2022, 99% of the world’s urban population lived in areas that exceeded the air quality guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
• Between 2015 and 2030, annual passenger traffic globally is projected to increase by 50%, and the number of cars on the road will likely double.

This picture from the Swedish artist Karl Jilg c...

In 2015, leaders from 193 different countries agreed on 17 global goals they felt the world needed to achieve by 2030. Sustainable Development Goal 10 aims to reduce inequality within and among countries.

Why is Equality Important to Sustainability?

Equality is fundamental to a stable, just, prosperous, and peaceful society.

At the heart of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals is the hope and ambition to make certain that no one is left behind, a vision which can only be achieved by addressing the quality of life of the most vulnerable of today’s society.

Sustainability is wholly incompatible with inequality.

How can we be affected by Inequality?

Inequalities based on age, income, sex, disability, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, access to services and opportunity continue to exist across the globe. This threatens long-term social and economic development and reduces people’s sense of fulfilment and self-worth.

1. Intergenerational Poverty/ Inequality

‘Inequa...