{"id":89032,"date":"2021-06-08T07:23:03","date_gmt":"2021-06-08T05:23:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.bio-based.eu\/?p=89032"},"modified":"2021-06-16T02:02:40","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T00:02:40","slug":"genomatica-survey-1-in-3-u-s-consumers-would-do-all-their-shopping-at-a-sustainable-clothing-store-if-only-one-existed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/genomatica-survey-1-in-3-u-s-consumers-would-do-all-their-shopping-at-a-sustainable-clothing-store-if-only-one-existed\/","title":{"rendered":"Genomatica Survey: 1 in 3 U.S. consumers would do all their shopping at a sustainable clothing store, if only one existed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Consumers in the United States want to make more environmentally-friendly choices when it comes to shopping for clothes, but a lack of availability and trustworthy information on what makes clothing more (or less) sustainable has made \u201csustainable fashion\u201d elusive for many. A new survey of 2,000 teenagers and adults in the U.S. from clean manufacturing leader Genomatica\u00a0set out to understand consumers\u2019 awareness, perspectives and behaviors around sustainability in fashion, finding that 86% of consumers believe sustainability is a good goal, yet nearly half (48%) don\u2019t know how or where to find sustainable clothes and 42% are confused about what makes clothing sustainable.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Consumers are aware of environmental issues in the fashion industry<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Nearly 3 in 4 (72%) consumers have heard of environmental sustainability issues in the fashion\u00a0industry \u2014 listing excess consumption, carbon emissions and water pollution from dye\u00a0processes as issues they\u2019re aware of.<\/li>\n<li>Half (51%) believe that Americans\u2019 clothing purchases each year result in substantial\u00a0greenhouse gas emissions.<\/li>\n<li>The pandemic may have helped grow consumer awareness: 38% who are aware of\u00a0sustainability issues in fashion have only become aware of them over the past year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Consumers want to make better choices, but they\u2019re confused about what makes clothing\u00a0sustainable and how or where to find it<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Half (52%) of consumers believe sustainability is important and they consciously make choices\u00a0to be more sustainable and 47% want to make more sustainable clothing choices, but they give\u00a0into what\u2019s more convenient.<\/li>\n<li>55% are interested in purchasing so-called \u201csustainable clothing,\u201d but 48% don\u2019t know how or\u00a0where to find sustainable clothes and 42% are confused about what actually makes clothing\u00a0sustainable.<\/li>\n<li>Over a third (34%) say, \u201cIf there was a store for sustainable clothes, I\u2019d do all my shopping\u00a0there,\u201d about the same number (33%) who say availability in chain clothing stores would make\u00a0them want to purchase sustainable clothing. 31% would even support a \u201cfast fashion tax\u201d on\u00a0clothing that\u2019s unsustainable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>One respondent said it plainly: \u201cIt\u2019s somewhat difficult to make sustainable choices because I\u2019m\u00a0never really sure what sustainable means, particularly with clothing.\u201d Another said: \u201cIt\u2019s kind of\u00a0hard to make sustainable choices because most companies where I live aren\u2019t making sustainable\u00a0clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>How clothing is made and what it\u2019s made from are important considerations for consumers<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>58% of consumers care about the materials that make their clothes and want them to not be\u00a0harmful to the planet.<\/li>\n<li>Nearly half (47%) rank clothing made with renewably-sourced or natural materials as a top\u00a0sustainability characteristic, with around the same percent (46%) that list production processes\u00a0with few to no toxic chemicals in their top three.<\/li>\n<li>53% of consumers believe the majority of clothes are made of primarily synthetic material,\u00a0slightly more than the number of consumers (47%) who realize fossil fuels (crude oil, coal, etc.)\u00a0are the main building blocks of synthetic clothing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Other findings from the Genomatica study include:<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>Consumers are on the lookout for \u201cgreenwashing\u201d in the fashion industry, but they still want\u00a0brands to do the legwork to make sustainable choices easier<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Nearly 9 in 10 (88%) consumers don\u2019t immediately trust brands that say they\u2019re sustainable\u00a0and half (51%) believe \u201cgreenwashing\u201d is common in the fashion industry.<\/li>\n<li>55% want clothing brands to help them understand how their products are more sustainable\u00a0than alternatives.<\/li>\n<li>Half (50%) say that a sustainability label would help them identify sustainable clothes while\u00a0shopping, and 38% say clearer information about sustainability features would make them want\u00a0to purchase sustainable clothing.<\/li>\n<li>44% believe brands are to blame for not prioritizing or providing enough convenient\u00a0sustainable alternatives.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>The COVID-19 pandemic has changed consumer purchasing behaviors around clothing<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>During the pandemic, 44% of consumers say they purchased less clothing compared to before\u00a0the pandemic, with more women saying so (50%) than men (39%).<\/li>\n<li>Nearly 1 in 3 (30%) who purchased more clothing since the start of the pandemic say they used\u00a0shopping to help them deal with anxiety, depression and loneliness.<\/li>\n<li>Half (49%) say the pandemic reduced the pressure they feel to wear a different outfit every day.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cConsumers are demanding more sustainable options and we\u2019re seeing time and time again that it\u2019s\u00a0information and availability that would help shoppers make the choices they\u2019re seeking. There\u2019s a\u00a0significant opportunity for fashion and apparel brands to show real leadership and make a\u00a0substantive impact by providing consumers with the clear information they desire on the sourcing\u00a0and environmental impact of their products,\u201d said Christophe Schilling, Genomatica\u2019s CEO. \u201cWith\u00a0consumers on the side of sustainability and renewably-sourced options for common apparel\u00a0materials like nylon becoming available, the choice for brands should become easy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>About Genomatica<\/h3>\n<p>Genomatica is harnessing synthetic biology to remake the world of everyday\u00a0products and materials through the power of clean manufacturing. The company is developing more\u00a0sustainable, higher-performance key ingredients for everyday products, using plants and waste\u00a0rather than fossil fuels or other non-sustainable sources like palm oil. Genomatica has already\u00a0commercialized products to make better plastics, spandex and cosmetics, and is working on nylon,\u00a0household cleaners and more.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>Survey Methodology<\/h3>\n<p>Genomatica conducted this research using an online survey prepared by\u00a0Method Research and distributed by Dynata among n=2,000 teenagers and adults in the United States.\u00a0The sample was composed of equally sized generational age groups, and an even gender split between\u00a0men and women, with a nationally representative geographic spread of respondents. Data was\u00a0collected from March 31 to April 8, 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Consumers in the United States want to make more environmentally-friendly choices when it comes to shopping for clothes, but a lack of availability and trustworthy information on what makes clothing more (or less) sustainable has made \u201csustainable fashion\u201d elusive for many. A new survey of 2,000 teenagers and adults in the U.S. from clean manufacturing [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[5838,13445,5528,12468],"supplier":[2414],"class_list":["post-89032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-bioeconomy","tag-clothing","tag-sustainability","tag-textiles","supplier-genomatica-inc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89032\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89032"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=89032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}