Bethesda Green's Innovation Lab on the Circular Economy for Fashion

By Alex Assoune Mar 09, 2023

Bethesda Green's Innovation Lab is organizing a 2020 Summer Speaker Series on sustainability and the circular economy. Together with founders, industry experts, and policymakers, it sparks conversations to educate and inspire.

Bethesda Green's Innovation Lab is a leading entrepreneurship program in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It designs business models around innovative and sustainable solutions to tackle environmental and social challenges.

The successful Bethesda Green’s accelerator program is a highly sustainability-focused entrepreneurial ecosystem. It provides entrepreneurs and leaders with the set of skills and resources they need to succeed and share in their vision for a sustainable economy.

Bethesda Green's Innovation Lab discussed on August 6th how fashion can embrace sustainability and the circular economy with amazing speakers, leaders, founders, and changemakers such as Julie Daviy, Amy Hall, Vanessa Barboni Hallik, Kaveri Marathe, and Danielle Nkojo.

"The fashion and textile industry contributes to 10% of annual global carbon emissions, and after oil, is the second-largest polluter in the world. Join us as we explore the innovations that are being adopted to curb the fashion industry’s environmental impact from small fashion startups to multi-billion dollar fashion brands. We will discuss the role of corporate social responsibility in helping to direct the fashion industry toward sustainable practices, and the technologies and programs that can help make it possible."

- Bethesda Green

The global fashion industry needs urgent change toward more sustainability. Many organizations and businesses are working hard to make change happen faster in the textile and apparel industry.

It's also very encouraging to see a regained interest in sustainability among conscious consumers, brands, and retailers. Sustainable fashion is rising, and with it, the demand for more eco-friendly products, transparency, and accountability.

It's time to take massive action to reduce deforestation, pollution, waste, carbon emissions, water, and energy consumption caused by the fashion industry. Apparel companies need to add more sustainable practices into their daily operations.

Today, a world without any textiles is very difficult to imagine. The apparel and textile industry plays a huge role in the global economy. It employs 300 million people around the world, many of them in developing countries.

Worldwide clothing demand has approximately doubled over the last 15 years and will continue to rise, especially in emerging markets such as Asia and Africa. Clothing sales are expected to reach 160 million tonnes in 2050 which is more than three times what it is today.

To meet clothing demand in a sustainable way, fashion companies need to invent, design, and test new ways to produce and sell clothes. The radical transformation of the apparel industry is only beginning and needs to happen faster, considering its massive impact.

New technologies and innovations in business models, manufacturing, supply chain, and waste management are necessary to create a new textile economy capable of delivering greater economic, societal, and environmental value.

Bethesda Green's Innovation Lab next session of its 2020 Summer Speaker Series about the circular economy will be held on Thursday, August 13th, 1-2:15 PM ET, titled The Business Models, Innovations, and Policies Needed to Build a Circular Economy.

Visit BethesdaGrenn.org for more information about this speaker series and to register.

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About the Author: Alex Assoune

Alex Assoune (MS) is a global health and environmental advocate. He founded Panaprium to inspire others with conscious living, ethical, and sustainable fashion. Alex has worked in many countries to address social and environmental issues. He speaks three languages and holds two Master of Science degrees in Engineering from SIGMA and IFPEN schools.

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Multinational corporations overproducing cheap products in the poorest countries.
Huge factories with sweatshop-like conditions underpaying workers.
Media conglomerates promoting unethical, unsustainable products.
Bad actors encouraging overconsumption through oblivious behavior.
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