Corporate Responsibility on Earth Day
The following was written by our intern Humza Qureshi for Earth Day. Humza is currently a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology, studying Menswear Design. He holds a BA in Sociology.
“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” —Jane Goodall
Earth Day feels a little bit different every year. As the idea of sustainability changes, so does the way we celebrate our efforts in environmental practice. A few years ago, while taking an Intro to Sociology course, my Professor brought up the idea of corporate responsibility versus individual responsibility.
The phrase “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” was ingrained in my generation’s psyche since our elementary school days. An expression that makes you reconsider your relationship with the things you use. It’s followed us into fashion schools, where using deadstock fabric, being mindful of our supplies, & reworking old garments are all common practices. These are all responsibilities of the individual, practices that anyone can take up.
But that Professor made an argument that has stayed with me. Coca-Cola produces 2.9 million tons of plastic bottles each year (National Law Review, 2021). It’s the world’s leading plastic polluter producing 200,000 bottles a minute. When tasked with reducing plastic waste, one option was to restructure its manufacturing process to use non-plastic materials. The other option was to fund marketing campaigns that shifted waste responsibility to consumers.
By promoting phrases like “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,”corporations were able to shift corporate responsibility to individuals by using marketing tactics. Instead of companies taking responsibility for what they were producing, waste became a personal responsibility. It’s cheaper for a company to fund that in an advertising campaign than to change its own policies.
While attending fashion schools today, I hope that my fellow students are prepared to enter an industry that needs to change from the inside out. A good chunk of my Professors haven’t even mentioned sustainability once in class. How can students know how to change the industry and be prepared to enter a workforce that doesn’t want to change, or is so good at greenwashing? The same practice of saving our muslin scraps in school needs to be applied when working with thousands of yards of fabric for a company.
The work we do at Creatives Want Change (CWC) provides young Black creatives an opportunity to develop themselves into the tastemakers and changemakers of this industry. By providing an educational pipeline we hope to create a future where access to the fashion industry is open and inclusive. Our 26 Year 2 students are preparing to attend their Pre-College Summer Programs in a few months. We look forward to fostering their growth this summer as well as providing all of our students with additional support in the form of mentorships, internships, and hopefully full-ride scholarships in the future.
