In the recent post: Ready-to-wear: the collection you need already exists we talked about all of the options for what to do if you're getting rid of clothes that are not for you but are still wearable (in good condition). You can sell them online or on commission, swap them with friends, be a good neighbour and gift them on a buy nothing page or donate to charities / thrift stores. Know that if you are donating to any good cause, the item must be clean and in good condition. If it's not, you might as well have put it in landfill yourself as that is exactly where the charity will send it.
It's clear - buying is the problem
If you have clothes that aren't good enough to bring a new owner joy, then the options are a bit scarce in Aus, but I've found a few.
This really sucks. According to the report Unfit, Unfair, Unfashionable, Australia is on track to generate the biggest carbon footprint by 2030 of all G20 countries from our per capita spending on clothing. Why so much?!! We don't see a whole lot of action or consistent and comprehensive Government policy driving for a circular economy in the textiles industry. Fashion is big business with little financial incentive to shift. As consumers we say we want more sustainable options, but our buying habits don't always reflect this.
The [fashion] industry currently contributes $27.2 billion, more than 1.5% of Australian GDP and employs more than 489,000 people. Australian Fashion Council
I'm going to pause, because whilst fast fashion has a bad name (and rightly so - we do not need 12+ new collections a year taunting us for purchase and unethical production methods), the fashion consumption problem is generally driven more by higher-income countries. These are countries like those in the G20 such as America, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the UK, and even within those countries, some studies have found that the richest 20% have, on average, carbon footprints 20 times those of the poorest.
Additionally, countries like India and Indonesia already have a carbon footprint for fashion consumption (again, on average) that is below the 1.5-degree Paris Agreement target.
Take away this key point - this is a consumer problem Aussies, and we can change it.
In high income G20 countries, reducing consumption could result in over two thirds of all potential carbon reduction savings needed to meet the 1-5 degree target being achieved.
Let's recap that: all of the other potential known solutions to take carbon emissions out of the full textile value chain, like decarbonizing material production or processing, minimizing manufacturing wastage, improving material mix etc, all together add up to less than a third of the emissions we can save by just buying less.
It's too late, I already have them
It's tricky to find places for damaged clothes to go in Australia to be recycled but here are a couple of options:
Upparel works across Australia and New Zealeand to recycle textiles and clothing. It has to be clean. You take an old cardboard box (or grab one from your local hardware store or supermarket), fill with clothes, tape it up, get online and purchase a pickup (no of 10kg or 20kg boxes). It's $25/10kg box to cover the processing costs, so it makes sense to have sorted and removed all your good condition items first to drop or donate for free at your local charity donation place. They sort them over in Melbourne and Aukland warehouses to remove wearable items before the rest are left to repurpose. This is where those textiles get broken down to be turned into new products.
Through our textile reuse and repurposing processes, we are creating innovative changes. Taking what we would normally see as waste, converting it and utilising it as a resource. Upparel process
Stores. Yep, loads of stores are now getting on the bandwagon and will take your clothes back. What are they doing with them? They go through the sorting process and once the 'reusable' clothes are taken out, common options include redistributing as cleaning rags or shredding the garments into fibers, which are then cleaned, mixed with sustainably sourced cotton or other materials, and spun into new yarns. Stores on this bandwagon (thanks for the list AI robot) include H&M, Zara, Patagonia, The North Face, Levi's, Country Road, and Sheridan (for your sheets and towels).
So here's where it gets interesting, and we have to watch out for some serious greenwashing in the textile industry. Clothes are collected, yes. But that's where the visibility ends and much of the 'recycling' is chalking up some scope 3 emissions as they get shipped to other countries for the actual recycling process. The most common locations for clothing or textile recycling are China, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Vietnam.
Compost, seriously! You can actually read all about how to compost your natural material clothing here - How To Compost Fabric | 1 Million Women. Natual biodegradable fabrics are things like silk, cotton, cashmere, hemp, bamboo, linen and wool.
Before buying new clothes, follow the steps in order:
Do I really need it? The real upshot of our deep dive into fashion sustainability this month is this - just buy less.
Can I borrow or lease for the occasion? Note, there are some recent studies to suggest that renting contributes to more emissions than people realise from the sending back and forth and environmental impact from frequent drycleaning.
Can I buy or be gifted the item secondhand? (check out your Buy Nothing group)
If it really has to be new:
Is it made from natural, biodegradable materials?
Is it sold by a sustainable (environmentally and ethically conscious) brand?
If you're getting stuck on that last question and don't know how to navigate the greenwashing, then try a website / app like Good On You (https://goodonyou.eco/). They rate thousands of fashion brands based on their environmental and social impact. Hint: some of those fast fashion brands mentioned above DO NOT get a good sustainability rating. Surprise, surprise.
The fashion sufficiency wardrobe as contemplated in: Unfit, Unfair, Unfashionable
The fashion sufficiency wardrobe is the ideal number of items of clothing that we each would own, based on an equitable approach to achieving the 1.5-degree target of the Paris Agreement.
This wonderful study calculated that 74 separate items (including shoes) for a two-season climate and 85 for a four-season climate (like Melbourne?) should be sufficient. New purchases should be limited to no more than 5 new items a year, of course with a better preference to buy secondhand or repair and maintain for as long as possible.
I love, love, love this clear actionable plan we can all take - especially in Aus where we are rampant consumers of fashion. This is one of my new long-term MidGreenFamily goals - to buy less than five new items a year, and slowly whittle my overall wardrobe down to the fashion sufficiency wardrobe numbers.
The kids will take slightly longer due to their growing state, so we will be embarking on a lot more secondhand buys for them to keep their wardrobes fitting. Mine is really just on a whittle down, with the occasional 'refresh' from a good friends and family swap session to keep it feeling like I have choice when I want it.
Unloved clothing: the wrap
If you have clothes that aren't good enough to bring a new owner joy, then the options are a bit scarce in Aus, but I've found a few.
However, Australia needs more options for textile recycling. The National Waste Report 2020 by the Australian government, says we have a recycling rate of only about 15% for all textiles, with some gaps in visibility in the supply chain (where it might be exported to be recycled) but it's still not good enough.
When you consider almost two thirds of all clothes sold currently are made of synthetic fibers, taking 200 years to break down in our landfills and potentially leaching microfibers into waterways and local ecosystems on that journey, this is an area ripe for action (innovators, take heed).
If my readers know of more options, please contact me and let me update as this area feels very scarce, particularly in Western Australia.
Comments