Breathing new life into your clothing doesn't have to mean making new purchases. From altering and mending to renting and vintage, there are many ways to refresh your look in a socially responsible way.

The fashion industry operates mostly using a linear model. Every year, more than 100 billion items [1] of new clothing are made, yet 92 million tonnes of annual textile waste [2] is sent to landfill, in part because only 1% of textiles is currently recycled [3] back into clothing. With the fashion industry contributing up to 10% of global carbon emissions [4], a report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation calls for a transition to a circular economy [5], with new models of accessing clothes, including repair, rental and second-hand shopping.

This is an area ripe for entrepreneurs. The adverts from brands that have in the past appeared on my social media feeds were one of the biggest challenges ‘to stop buying new clothes’. So I unsubscribed from them, however busy women who like clothes – and who have changing needs and body sizes - would benefit from being able to easily access a range of services to help them clothe themselves and their families. We need a click-and-collect range of options to complement our carefully curated and well-cared for slow wardrobes.

I never bought a lot of clothes, my wardrobe was always very minimalist, but after meeting my partner, I realised that my lifestyle has another meaning.
 

New collection of silk scaves, dyed with flowers & plants from studio garden. 

The 3 R’s For The Fashion Savvy: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

Why should we reduce, reuse, and recycle? The clothing industry is vast and damaging industry. While being responsible for creating millions of jobs that range from factory workers to designers and retail sales workers. Not to mention satellite industries like the fashion press, models & modelling agencies. However, the disturbing impact of this industry is that it is now the second largest polluter in the world; second only to large oil corporations. ‘ Fast fashion ’  creates a high demand that subsequently churns out massive amounts of cheap clothing. The consequence of disposable fashion items from this industry are seeing huge increases in carbon emissions that are without doubt accelerating global warming.

As ridiculous as it sounds, it takes approximately 700 gallons of water just to produce one new cotton t-shirt. The clothing industry is also responsible for high amounts of chemicals being released into the natural landscape including the atmosphere, because the processes of printing and dyeing fabrics are chemically intensive, resulting in the dumping of massive amounts of polluted water into rivers and streams around the world polluting our clean drinking water.

Reducing the environmental impact of the fashion industry is extremely important. We are past the days of the disposable consumerist mentality. Today, the impact of over 7 billion people on our planet is simply too great. In North America alone, consumers are buying and disposing 5 times as much clothing as we did 25 years ago. It is saddening to hear that over 85% of all of this clothing ends up in the landfill. 

This amounts to 10.5 million tons of clothing–an equivalent of 40 kilos of clothing per person thrown in the waste each year. To make matters worse, 95% of that total could have been recycled. 

In the United States alone, the EPA reports that current clothing and textile recycling has a greater impact on reducing greenhouse gases than the recycling of yard waste, glass, and plastic? Imagine what we could accomplish!

To limit the unnecessary disposal of quality items, the environmentally - conscious are turning to clothing exchanges and repurposing still wearable pieces. As we move forward collectively, these practices, as well as investing in high quality clothing instead of fast fashion that is invariable badly made with poor materials selection, this will extend a piece’s lifespan by two or even three times. Designer and brand name clothing is usually well-made out of high quality material, giving it extra long-wearing power. Classic tailored pieces tend to not go out of style, so passing them on to a new owner makes sense, both financially, environmentally, and yet with style!

Today there are online communities where we can resell clothes no longer worn with second hand communities like Vinted, Swap or Re fashion.

Repair allows favorite pieces to be given a longer lifespan, while up cycling satisfies the hunger for new clothing by altering existing ones

One more option to save you money while helping the planet, is the slogan ‘buy less and buy better quality’, it has a real benefit in the long run.

Few people buy new clothes out of necessity; fashion is far more often a form of self-expression. Yet the current model, propelled by trends and endless new drops, seems at odds with an ethical sentiment, which perhaps explains why 30% of clothes in our wardrobes have not been worn for at least a year [7].

You can read in an earlier journal post about how you can give new life to your favorite clothes by dying at home naturally.

I hope you found this piece informative, now that you are here please lets stay connected.

references….
[1] www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/sustainability/our-insights/style-thats-sustainable-a-new-fast-fashion-formula
[2] www.nature.com/articles/s43017-020-0039-9
[3] www.bbc.com/future/article/20230227-how-to-recycle-your-clothes
[4] www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/08/actnow-for-zero-waste-fashion/
[5] www.archive.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/assets/downloads/A-New-Textiles-Economy.pdf
[6] www.worldcirculartextilesday.com/
[7] www.wrap.org.uk/taking-action/citizen-behaviour-change/previous-campaigns