How Do You Sustainably Ship Clothes? Beyond the Last Mile
Sustainable shipping in clothing is closely associated with packaging - like poly mailers and paper mailers. And while those are certainly components of sustainable shipping in the apparel industry, they represent a small sliver of the entire clothing supply chain. So then, how do you sustainably ship clothes?
Shipping clothing in a sustainable manner is achieved by reducing the distance between each stage of the supply chain while using the low carbon emitting transportation. For long hauls, ocean freight has the lowest carbon emissions compared to freight trains, semi-trailers, and air freight.
It's easy to see why most people think of sustainable shipping as the packaging that ships to their address - it's the only part of the supply chain they interact with. But as you work with your suppliers and manufacturers to create sustainable activewear and clothing, you should be armed with more than just the last mile thinking. Here's what you need to know.
What is Last Mile Delivery?
Last mile delivery refers to the final stage of getting a product moved from a distribution center to a recipient. For e-commerce brands specifically, this is typically the most challenging and expensive stage of shipping products, and the primary reason brands offer pick-up options to consumers.
Think of Amazon Locker - while it could be more convenient and quicker for you to go there to grab a package, it's also extremely beneficial to Amazon.
When you grab a parcel from Amazon Locker, you cut one route out of an Amazon delivery truck, reducing cost and carbon waste.
The last mile gets a lot of attention from brands because it's so costly - but other areas of the supply chain require attention. But first things first, what does the clothing supply chain look like?
What Are the Stages of the Clothing Supply Chain?
The clothing supply chain is incredibly complex; nuanced at every level. Every variable can shift depending on the garment, vertical, raw materials, location, etc.
But in its simplest form, the clothing supply chain can be broken into 5 separate stages.
1. Planning - Designing and developing an item of clothing
2. Sourcing - Determining raw materials, textile mills, and manufacturers to produce the garment
3. Production - Manufacturing stage of creating the garment en masse
4. Logistics - Transportation of soft goods to distribution centers and fulfillment of those goods
5. Destination - Exchange of goods to retailers or direct to consumer
The planning phase primarily consists of turning an idea into a tangible sample. In this stage, the impact on the environment, especially shipping, is minimal relative to the other stages of the process.
In the 5th stage, destination, there's certainly an impact on the environment, but this "last mile" is covered in numerous resources, ranging from eco-friendly poly mailers to the aforementioned local pick-ups, like Amazon Lockers.
As such, this article focuses on the three stages in between - that is, sourcing, production, and logistics.
These three stages of the clothing supply chain are where the bulk of sustainability practices in shipping can be improved. And by no coincidence, these stages are also where fewer conversations around sustainable shipping practices are taking place.
Sustainability and Shipping Clothes Before The Last Mile
It's important to consider the entire journey a garment makes before it ever reaches a retail store or arrives at your doorstep.
Too often, the conversation around sustainability in fashion begins and ends with packaging - but there's so much more that can be done long before a product is packaged for delivery.
If raw materials are gathered from one country, turned into fabric in another, dyed in a third country, and ultimately sewn into a garment in a fourth country, this requires an incredible amount of energy to ship.
And this is unfortunately commonplace in the clothing supply chain.
So, let's break down the overlooked stages of the clothing supply chain, and work through specific tactics to create a more sustainable shipping condition for your brand's soft goods.
Sourcing to Production
Your brand has made it out of the planning stage. You've aligned on a design after a few rounds of review and samples. Style, materials, trim - it's all set in stone.
Now it's time to get everything over to the manufacturer to create your innovative soft goods at scale.
This starts with harvesting raw materials and moving them to textile companies.
Whether you're using synthetic or natural fibers or a blend of both, everything becomes real once raw materials are collected. The fibers become yarn, woven into fabrics, then dyed and readied for garment manufacturing.
Even the transformation of raw materials into textiles is nuanced - if you're keeping track of the stages above, there are at least three parties involved:
Raw Materials Suppliers
Fabric Manufacturers (fiber, yarn, fabric)
Dyeing Manufacturers
Being more sustainable in shipping across these three stages boils down to proximity - a concept that can be applied across the whole supply chain to be more sustainable with clothing manufacturing.
The ability to cluster your production facilities by distance is going to reduce the shipping distances and cost of moving unfinished goods within certain limitations.
At a more holistic level, basing your entire supply chain in the same region or country as its final destination (consumer-facing) will improve your supply chain shipping sustainability.
For instance, if you're based in the United States, and your primary consumer is located there as well, look into domestic options first - and if not, prioritize those within the region you need to source.
Cost is usually the biggest barrier to this, but many apparel brands are finding success in publicizing the origin of goods, seeing an increase in sales that offsets any rise in the cost of goods.
There are some cost benefits to same shore manufacturing. Namely, the removal of import tariffs, and to some extent a decrease in the cost of moving raw materials due to shorter distances.
Production to Logistics
After your brand's garments are sewn and ready for retailers and consumers, it's time for transportation.
For apparel brands with target markets in the United States, this is typically the longest haul in the entire supply chain. The popularity of off-shore manufacturing in East Asia, Central America, the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe, is largely responsible for this.
Moving goods from across continents and oceans is difficult to do sustainably. And with today's shipping methods, the options are limited to ocean or air.
Of those two, ocean freight is far more sustainable, but it's by no means the answer to sustainable transportation - simply the best option for trans-continental sustainable shipping.
Aside from air freight being far less efficient in moving goods than ocean freight, it also comes with a higher price tag.
Unfortunately, with the shipping lane issues at western ports in the US over the past couple of years, air freight has been relied on more heavily to meet deadlines - of consequence to the environment.
Per pound, ocean freight requires far less energy to move goods than air freight - for the curious-minded, MIT found that long-haul air freight produces 47 times the amount of greenhouse emissions than ocean freight per ton-mile.
Among the primary methods of moving goods, inclusive of domestic and international, cargo ships produce the least amount of greenhouse emissions. Followed by freight trains, semi-trucks, and finally air freighters.
If shipping internationally, or long distance, to reduce your brand's carbon footprint in moving goods you should opt for ocean freight.
While innovations in ocean freight emissions are developing daily, the speed of ocean shipping (especially with port delays) can be infuriating and disrupt business.
The best solution to reduce your cost of shipping, and hit deadlines, while still making your shipping of clothing as sustainable as possible is to have a product roadmap that adds extra cushion to timelines.
Easier said than done, but today's world of shipping just runs slower than it did pre-Covid, or at least amongst the most sustainable options.
Accounting for 6-8 week delays in shipping is the most effective way to counteract this.
Shipping Clothes Sustainably Applies to the Entire Supply Chain
Sustainably shipping clothes requires a bit of extra effort, but as an industry that's one of the worst offenders to the environment, this is an important step for apparel brands to take.
And one that consumers expect their clothing brands to take.
The keys to shipping sustainably across the entire supply chain come down to two concepts.
Shortening the distance that materials and goods need to travel, and using the most sustainable transportation methods available when you need to move them.
If you're able to source, produce, and distribute in the same region you're selling, then you're already making strides to be more sustainable in shipping your clothing.
If that's not a realistic option, finding partners that are within closer distances to one another, or can handle more than one stage of the process is the next best thing.
In terms of moving goods, planning for longer timelines is the best way to secure a more sustainable shipping method that will work for your brand - such as ocean freight.
And when having to pick the method of transportation, err on the side of lowest carbon emissions - from lowest to highest being cargo ship, freight train, semi-trailer, and air freight.
Sustainable shipping isn't perfect today, but using the best options available can help minimize the fashion industry's massive impact on the environment.