Will fashion shame be the needed tipping point for the fashion industry to become sustainable? There are already several alternatives to shopping new clothes.

Flight shame has recently been on everybody’s lips. Should we feel ashamed or not? Should we stop flying to force the industry into a transformation mode? Or should we climate compensate until the airline industry itself finds the right technology to reduce their emissions? Will the industry even bother without a push? Will shame lead to anything positive at all or will it just drive us into climate depression?

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 3 percent of the global emissions come from the aviation industry. But there is another industry that is an even worse emitter and should worry us even more than flying – the textile industry. It comprises 10 percent of the global emissions (UNEP) due to its long supply chains and energy intensive production. In addition, it consumes a lot of natural resources. But to stop using clothes is not an option like stop flying.

According to a report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (“A new textiles economy, 2017”) more than USD 500 billion of value is lost every year due to clothing underutilization and the lack of recycling. Less than 1 percent of material used to produce clothing is recycled into new clothing. A scary 73 percent of textiles end up in landfills or are burned.

This is the dark side of the fast fashion industry. UNEP estimates that more than half of fast fashion produced is disposed of in a year. The fashion industry is designed to make you feel “out of trend” after one week and the clothes will probably fall apart after one washing. The overall quality of clothing has decreased tremendously, causing producers to make a lot more in order to get the same amount of goods to sell. Research from BBC Earth shows that three out of every five t-shirts bought today, will end up in the bin within a year.

The industry works in a linear way

Needless to say, this has a huge negative impact on Mother Earth. So, what can be done to turn this around? Obviously the fashion industry must change the way it operates. The textiles industry works in an almost completely linear way today with take-make-dispose: large amounts of non-renewable resources are extracted to produce clothes that are often used for only a short time..

Waste and pollution are largely a result of the way we design things. By changing our mindset to view waste as new materials we can ensure that waste and pollution are not created in the first place. This is the beauty of the circular economy and it is a new way to design, make, and use things within planetary boundaries. It’s the model of reduce-reuse-repair-recycle and in this way, clothes, textiles and fibers are kept at their highest value during use and then they re-enter the economy afterwards, never ending up as waste.

There is progress in the industry today. There are initiatives trying to change to other types of material than the culprit polyester, a polluting plastic made from fossil fuels. Like Spinnova in Finland that turns cellulose and waste streams into textile fiber without harmful chemicals. They state that “wood looks good on you”.

You also have the joint initiative between Fashion For Good and C&A to develop C2C Gold Certified™ jeans. The jeans have been designed to last longer, they can easily be recycled and they are made in a way that is better for the environment and for the health of garment workers.

We need to change the way we think

But it’s far from enough and if the customers want the fast fashion, why should the industry be motivated to change? Just think about how easy shopping is today with the online options and the retailers fighting to give us the best price. They definitely need help – and a bit of fashion shame could be it.

Shame or not, we need to change the way we think about our clothes. We all have practical, emotional and social reasons for both wearing the clothes and buying them. It’s not necessarily easy to change. Let’s say you got emotional motives and use shopping as therapy. Or you are the practical type that need something to wear and want a bargain on Black Friday. Or you wear clothes to demonstrate values and try to fit in and do your shopping based on social pressure.

What if you taste for fashion and your reasons for wearing and purchasing could be satisfied with clothes rental. You could end up changing your wardrobe whenever you want. You could even rent out your own clothes that you are tired of and earn money that could be spent on renting more clothes. Or what if you have a black belt in shopping and could really find those incredible deals by shopping secondhand online or even join a secondhand fashion show for inspiration? You could change your black belt into a green one.

All these options are available today and more are in the pipeline. Fjong in Norway is renting out women’s wear and help you rent out your own clothes that you have grown tired of. Even brands like H&M and NA-KD are looking into rental options today. And there are marketplaces facilitating secondhand trade like finn.no, blocket.se and tori.fi and many others.

So, think again the next time you are in need or in mood for shopping. Could you do it in another way? Do you really need it? Could you repair or redesign what you already have? Could you buy it secondhand or rent it? Can you swap or share with someone? Could you reduce what you already have by giving it away or sell it to someone? And if you can’t – at least make sure you buy quality clothes with a long life and with the possibility to recycle into new clothes. And always ask the retailer for information on what the garment is made of, how long it lasts and if it can be recycled. They may not be able to answer or even provide you with a quality product, but at least you put a message through that they got to start sharing information with their customers and rethink the way they produce their clothes.

Hope or despair – what stories about climate change will drive change? Swedish papers Aftonbladet och Svenska Dagbladet tried different ways – when interest from the audience is stronger than ever.

Is it time for a new chronology? Ante and Post Greta.

Before the teenager had made youth all over the world go on strike, the interest in climate journalism was weak. Now, it’s the other way around. Readers and viewers can’t have enough.

By now Sweden is the world champion in climate journalism, at least if we include Greta Thunberg in our blue and yellow team. Her engagement has made people around the globe listen and willy-nilly start reflecting about their own lifestyle. Greta Thunberg’s speech at the UN Climate meeting in New York in September was, in the Guardian, being compared to Abraham Lincoln’s historic and rhetorically perfect speech in 1863 on the Gettysburg battlefield.

“How dare you?” will forever be associated with the Swedish teenager who dared tell off the power, the elite and the politicians in front of the whole world. After that, many people felt an urge to make their voices heard.

On Twitter, almost a million messages were posted in the 24 hours following the speech and her 17 postings on Instagram during her journey to the US had 12 million interactions, more than double the number president Donald Trump received in the same period, according to Retriever, a monitoring firm.

Things are going well now. At least for the journalistic climate coverage which after years of going down now is as self-evident to Swedish media people as covering sports, politics or the stock exchange. In 2018 there were 85.000 articles written with the climate in focus, twice as many as in 2014 and the forecasts continue to point upwards. In the first half of 2019 there were nearly 60.000 pieces, which is more than the full year 2016.

A kitchen table dilemma

Of course, everything sticks together. Where the debate is, there are the readers. When Donald Trump is belittling Greta Thunberg, the enthusiasm is sky high. Her call to strike becomes a kitchen table dilemma for parents both in Sweden and the USA. Scientists are underlining the need for change of lifestyle in the Western world to diminish our ecological footprints and possibly reach the target from the Paris Conference xof 1.5 degrees increase in global warming

Alarms are sounded. Debating is intense. Garbage is being sorted. Guilt and shame. Engagement and numbness. Facts galore.

What is it then that we in the media should tell the public? Is it the dystopian stories in the wake of climate change or should we focus on the innovations that can stop the global warming ? Is it hope or despair that drives change? And should it affect what is being written and presented by the media?

All of Schibsted’s newspapers have an extensive climate coverage. In Sweden both Aftonbladet and and Svenska Dagbladet have put big efforts into storytelling journalism also outside the feverish news stream. Both feature series “Their Planet-the Climate and our Guilt” and “Climate change-the innovations that lead the way” have attracted much attention without surfing on the Greta Wave or, favoring anybody or to practice planless noise-making.

The Aftonbladet reporter Erik Wiman and photographer Magnus Wennman went west to tell what happens to people in the wake of climate change and how the next generation is affected by our lifestyle. The project starts in what was once the ashes of the bone dry little town of Paradise in California.

“We arrived in Paradise just as men and women dressed in white protective clothing went about in search of human remains. Those were almost surrealistic days. A town that, within a few hours, ceased to exist.
We built our story on a woman who had a child in the night before the fire came. With the baby in her arms she drove her car through the flames, out of the town. It is one of the most shattering witness story I have ever heard”, Erik Wiman says.

The result is a brilliant piece of journalism bearing witness of how global warming is a burning issue which should be reported from different perspectives to grab a hold of people and to be made visible. The picture language is unique; combining feature photography and art. On the body of the baby a silhouette of a forest is projected. A blood circulation that was nearly extinguished before life had begun. The pictures remind us of who must take the blow of our choices: the children.

What was it that you primarily wanted to describe in “Their Planet”?

“I regard climate journalism as any other kind of journalism. I always look for people who can give a voice and a face to a figure, an event or a phenomenon that I want to highlight”, Erik Wiman says.

Svenska Dagbladet has partly chosen another path. Instead of following the tracks of climate change the photographer Magnus Hjalmarson Neideman and I have been looking for possible solutions that could stop the global warming; the innovations that might be able to save our planet as we know it. That took us among other places to the worlds largest thermic sunpower station in Sahara and to Iceland where carbon dioxide is being sucked out of the atmosphere and then pumped back into the bedrock where it is mineralized in a matter of just a few months. In the assignment the moving pictures have been in focus. Therefore, each journey has, in addition to an extensive feature story, also resulted in a short documentary.

“It is so much more complicated and time-consuming to be taking pictures, filming and flying a drone simultaneously But it has gone fantastically well and we have really reached out with our films, not least to younger viewers”, says Magnus Hjalmarson Neideman. And he adds: “Then it is a nuisance to always have to have the camera on a tripod. But these are new times and if you want to be sustainable you just have to
hang in there.”

Fantastic photos, creative reporting, films and graphics that are tastefully presented on the net seems to be a way of describing this global development besides the ordinary reporting of news. Because now, as the percentage of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has reached its highest level in 800.000 years and the average temperature of the earth is continuing to increase, more and more people are beginning too understand that it is important, urgent and necessary to understand the complexity in order to be able to act and not just succumb to flying shame or the burden of sorting the garbage.

My understanding of the force in telling good stories, the importance of also nurturing hope came to me as I was trying to console a little girl who had watched a nature film where all the animals were under threat. They were emaciated, vomiting plastic and succumbing to draught. What was her future going to be like? Was there any point at all in carrying on if a planetary garbage dump was all that was left? Her tears were flowing and I had no good answer.

Do I have that now?

After having travelled the world, studied everything from the problem with batteries and renewable sources of energy to the challenges for the transport sector, climate-smart food and, on top of that have talked with many foremost researchers, an answer has gradually appeared.

Resilience ought to be the 11th Commandment when the planet has a fever and when our eco systems are on the verge of collapse.

Actually, the voices have become more and more coherent after decades of sounding the climate alarm. Resilience ought to be the 11th Commandment when the planet has a fever and when our eco systems are on the verge of collapse. We still don’t know where the tipping point is, when the systems are bolting and there is no way to stop the warming regardless how we try. But no one can claim that they did not know where we were heading. On the day it happens, if it happens.

But I am not the one you should listen to, but, just as Greta Thunberg says, you should listen to the researchers. And they increasingly agreeing on what is happening and why. At the same time the technology is there. Millions have recently demonstrated the will of the people globally. The economic incentives are getting more and more clear. The media are reacting and upgrading – while politics is still lagging behind in some places.

Abraham Lincoln’s famous speech, The Gettysburg Address, established that all men are created equal, that the country shall have a new birth of freedom with a government of the people, by the people, for the people and that the people shall not perish from the earth.” Greta Thunberg declared that the world is about to wake up and the change is on the way.

The task for journalists is always to describe the world around us, to put questions, tell stories and hold the forces of power responsible. But to compare Greta Thunberg to Abraham Lincoln! Yes, how dare I?

Media businesses keep looking into new solutions, models and experiences to create better offerings. These are three interesting trends, summarized by Schibsted Daily Editor Mikaela Åkerman.

Hyper-personalization

No two readers are the same. That is the approach of the idea to hyper-personalize users’ media experience. With the help of modern technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, publishers can experiment with all sorts of parameters to increase engagement and satisfaction with their products. It can be things like finding the best time of the day to deliver content to an individual reader and learning which articles work best to draw readers in. It can also be about testing different layouts and designs, identifying the best channel of communication, and discovering the most effective frequency to deliver content to them. It all comes down to getting to know habits, interests, and preferences of readers as a way to increase loyalty and thereby, hopefully, accelerating subscription growth and reducing churn.

Multi-channel experience

The trend of creating a multi-channel experience, or omnichannel experience, is neither new nor limited to the media industry. All kinds of brands, from retail to banking, are looking to create a seamless user experience across different services and platforms. Most businesses today have marketing campaigns, a website, a blog, and other social network channels alongside their core product. The key, some experts argue, is to make sure they work together and form an integrated, consistent experience. Companies looking to use this technique are encouraged to align their messaging, goals, objectives, and design across each channel and device to enhance their marketing and service efforts.

Editionbased publishing

Forget endless streams of constant news updates. Editions are back in. As a contrast to the fast-paced news flow, which can feel overwhelming at times, readers are looking for boiled-down, summarized, to-the-core news products. News apps with a limited number of stories and newsletters alike are rising in popularity. The behavior goes hand in hand with the observation that readers are increasingly involved in micro-moments of news consumption. Our time is limited, and so is our attention spans. Readers want to feel updated and accomplished in a short amount of time, whether it is while waiting for the bus, standing in line, or having a few moments over during lunch. Studies also suggest that frequency is one of the highest predictors for retention. In other words, making sure people use your service often can be more important than how long they use it for or how deep into it they go.

In Schisbsted we have thousands of employees all over the world, doing so many different things. Find out what some of them are working with right now.

“I like it when things are a bit hard”

In March 2018, a new personal finance service was launched from Schibsted growth; Hypoteket. Hypoteket offers digital housing loans – without involving any bank, and using Bank-ID for signing. “Many customers in Sweden are a bit unhappy with their banks, who have been making a lot money from them for a long time. We are a transparent and competitive alternative”, explains co-founder and CEO Carl Johan Nordquist. The transparency includes the same interest rate to everyone, and clarity in terms on who can get a loan. Pension funds and insurance companies are financing the loans.

And for them Schibsted has been an important partner behind the startup. “We need access to large amounts of capital so having a stable and trustworthy partner has been crucial.” The team worked on the project for two years before launch and Schibsted was involved from the start. The founders had already worked with another personal finance idea – Bolånegruppen – that didn’t take off. “I’m an engineer, but also a typical entrepreneur. I like it when things are a bit hard. And I guess it takes a bit of naivety to do things like this, otherwise you wouldn’t dare taking the risk”, he says. The challenge now is that the personal finance market is exploding, and others are starting to offer the same kind of services. “But we have a good head start, and it has gone really well so far.”

Name: Carl Johan Nordquist. Position: CEO at Hypoteket.
Years in Schibsted: 2. I look forward to: That The Killers haven’t given up, and are recording another album.

“We call our people advocates”

Roberto La Rosa has turned customer relations and customer insights around at Subito. Now decisions and development are based on their input. When Roberto joined Subito, customer care was outsourced. He brought it back in-house. “We call our people advocates – because they’re representing the customers’ voices”. The team talking to customers are challenged to read between the lines and really understand what lies behind a question. Then the journey to improve processes or the product begins. Every two weeks the customer team meets with the product team to give input. “When I started to speak to customers in 1999 I had the feeling that I knew things the management didn’t. So part of my mission is to close this gap, and to speak about how the customer center creates value.”

Name: Roberto La Rosa. Position: Head of Customer Care, Subito.
Years in Schibsted: 3. I look forward to: Automating and innovating the customer experience even more.

Simple rules to giving feedback

Dana Lin is an Employee Engagement Manager at Schibsted Marketplaces, where she looks after the employee feedback cycle and helps the team to build its culture – and she’s really into feedback. “I’d like to help people get into the habit of seeking and providing feedback on a continuous basis, and to feel comfortable doing so.” She is starting off with a semiannual feedback cycle in Schibsted Marketplaces, to provide the leadership with insights to build a better workplace. But she believes that what really makes a difference is feedback on a daily basis. “There are some simple rules to follow: ask if the person to whom you want to give feedback wants it, focus on the behavior instead of the person, and assume best intent.”

Name: Dana Lin. Position: Engagement Manager, Communications Marketplaces.
Years in Schibsted: 1/2. I look forward to: Touring around Italy and France with my mother!

Hiring talent gets tougher

There’s a big change going on in recruitment. Now the candidates are in power. The best candidates are getting multiple interviews and finding work quickly – they are picking and choosing employer. “This changes the whole recruitment process, and how we present ourselves. We need to meet new demands from the future workforce”, says Lena Berlin Stålhammar, Head of Talent Acquisition in Schibsted Media. How a candidate is experiencing a meeting is crucial, not only when it comes to getting the job or not, but to the brand itself. So Lena and her team are now implementing a tool that is measuring talents’ experience, giving them input on how to improve. And they are offering a training program to leaders on how to handle recruitments.

Name: Lena Berlin Stålhammar. Position: ead of Talent Acquisition, Media Division..
Years in Schibsted: 6. I look forward to: Being a part of future proofing recruitment in Schibsted by working more data driven.