Hello, fellow eco-warriors! 🌿It's time for Mid Green Family to spill the beans on what we've learned this year, which habits are sticking, and how we're hustling toward our 2023 goal. 🌟 You might recall we kicked off with a mission to cut our household carbon footprint by a whopping 2.5 tonnes of CO2e. For the nitty-gritty details, you can hop over to our Targets page.
Our ultimate, audacious goal? To hit net-zero by 2030—set long before we had a clue about the roadmap.
But first, a quick reminder: Adding our voices, our time and our resources to advocate, educate or act for change (collective action👯) can be one of the most immensely impactful ways to fight the climate crisis. There are many ways to do this, and it is better together - whatever your together looks like. For me, it is still a massive AND, in that collective AND individual actions still matter. Especially in high-income nations like Australia, where the combined impact of our individual choices are baked into our National climate plans, including the National Waste Policy Action Plan. Our individual actions also help us flex our "trade-off" muscles, where we weigh decisions, actions, and consequences—essential not just at home but in our work and activism too. Every step on this journey counts!
Recap time: Fashion
Did you know that the textile industry is responsible for a whopping 10% of total global greenhouse gas emissions and churns out 20% of the world's wastewater? It's time to put our fashionable footprints in check! 👗💚.
This year, our goal was to trim my fashion footprint by 0.3 tonnes of CO2e, starting from a baseline of 0.7 tonnes CO2e—just for me. The kiddos weren't included this time (maybe next year?) because they're growing, school uniforms and all that. But keep reading to see how my eco-choices rubbed off on them!
How was I planning to cut my fashion footprint in half?
1. Avoid Purchasing New Clothes: This involved a series of related goals...
2. Buy Secondhand: Time to get thrifting and also donate any clothes I no longer wore but were in good condition.
3. Upcycle/Repair Existing Clothes: Time to dust off the needle and thread (I don't actually own a sewing machine, so it was minimal sewing kit repairs only).
4. Wear and Care: Making better washing choices and understanding the impact of laundry products. No more phosphates!
The ThredUp calculator is now back online in a revamped survey form, calculating your rough fashion footprint. It considers shopping habits, washing, and repairs—basically the full lifecycle of sustainable fashion. And it comes with some super fun facts to chew on at each decision point. Here's one that floored me:
"Shopping online has a 79% lower carbon impact than shopping in-store. Why? Beep-beep, the car. Nearly 93% of in-store’s impact comes from driving there. If you’re local, walk or bike. If you go online, slow down shipping by choosing standard over express (50% less carbon emissions!)."Fashion Footprint Calculator (thredup.com)
of course, the Tesla keeps my transport to the local shopping centre more eco-friendly then it was last year, but I never considered that online would actually have less of a transport footprint? Still feels a little counter-intuitive but I'll leave it out there.
Avoid Purchases
I'm almost at the end of the year, and guess what? It looks like I'm going to hit my target of zero new clothing purchases for the year!! Smashing it! But let me spill the beans on what I did buy to keep it transparent...
Knickers and bras. These needed updating, and no, I'm not about to whip out the sewing kit and replace the elastic in undergarments. Some things, when they're done, they're done. You just need new. Future goals, maybe.
I'm getting pretty close to needing a few new pieces of fitness wear. I'm open to purchasing these secondhand, so I might hunt around in the new year for some sports leggings or so. I'm definitely one of those people who will wear any old t-shirt to the gym, so I'll stretch it out as long as possible.
Then there were weddings and events. I had a dear friend's wedding, and this was the closest I came to caving and buying something new. Luckily, I got frustrated at the shops, gave up, and came home to sift through my own wardrobe (and my sister's) to find something I already had. If I had a bit more cash to splash, I'd consider hiring or leasing something from the Volte for another special occasion.
Avoiding New: What Works for Us:
Raid your own wardrobe—rediscover old treasures!
Raid a friend's wardrobe—I love borrowing from my sister and saving a purchase for special occasions.
When it's time for a new buy, spend on quality of fabric and fit, not fast fashion. How will it look five years from now?
Buy secondhand
I've had a couple of trips to secondhand stores near me in Scarborough (handy, right?) and sifted through racks to find jeans without holes. I picked up a denim shirt and a dress that have already become staples in my rotation. Winning!
It's quite obvious when you think about it, but jeans can have around three times the carbon impact of a t-shirt (all that material!). Denim can be a great material to invest in since, when made well, it lasts and lasts. That makes them a prime item to thrift (plus, they're already nicely worn in!).
Buying secondhand: what works for us:
Know what you want before you go - easy to be distracted by what's on offer!
Aim for purchases like jackets and jeans - high fabric items with quality
Try to shop during the week to beat the weekend bargain hunters!
Upcycle / repair existing clothes
Okay, I'm a big fan of iron-on tape. Without this trusty miracle worker, many a pair of work pants wouldn't have made it out of the closet with their unraveling hems. I'm not fooling anybody with claims of sewing prowess—my kids are still amazed when I confidently sew a button back on. But these basic skills are enough to extend the life of clothing that might otherwise be discarded.
In this category, I'll also include all those items that no longer fit well. Sigh. Short of depriving myself of the joys of eating, I'd rather donate them amongst friends and family and get something that fits in return.
Upcycling: what works for us:
Iron-on or hem tape.
Know how to sew on a button—I swear, these two fixes will solve 80% of your clothing troubles when it comes to extending their lifespan!
Can't fix it? Doesn't fit well? It's clothes swap time!
Wear and Care
This is another one of those areas where once you make the change, it just becomes a new habit. The new way of washing. Our changes here include:
Always washing in cold water.
Only washing dirty or smelly clothes (no unnecessary loads—what parent would say no to less laundry!!!).
Using better products.
Air drying.
I haven't tried soap nuts (yes, they're a thing), but I love Tirtyl's laundry sheets (now rebranding to Skipper) and the laundry soak from Source Bulk Foods. Every now and then, I do think that my white socks aren't as WHITE as they used to be with other, commercially branded detergents. Then I remember that I only choose products that won't contribute to polluting our waterways and harming marine life, causing algae blooms, and so on. Suddenly, those school socks don't seem so important. 💧🌿
Wear and care: what works for us:
Only wash if you need to!!!
Air dry
Swap your products, look for phosphate free and grey water compatible on the back
Power of role modelling
I've bought probably 80% of the kids uniforms off the secondhand f'book pages for school, making it more affordable and sustainable too. I've even had Miss 11 come thrifting and pick up a pair of pants. I think most parents are up for passing on their old kid's clothes and having kids wear secondhand. Even have the Grandparents engaging in good quality secondhand purchases to keep the wardrobe fresh.
Managed to have Halloween and Book Week costumes crafted from home items and Marketplace purchases to stick with the #sustainable theme.
The tricky years are teenagers - so watch this space as the tweenager becomes much more fashion conscious over the next couple of years!!
Conclusion: Phew! That's our year in fashion sustainability. We've killed it for year one and will keep up the good work from here. Things I know I will purchase will be shoes, sandals and some sports / fitness gear next year but other than that, I can probably milk the no new purchases for a bit longer yet. How's your eco-journey going? Share your stories, tips, and challenges with us! 🌱👚💚 #EcoFashion #SustainableStyle #FashionFootprint #YearInReview
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