Here is a 1% which we will hopefully be moving away from as the 2020’s progress. Did you know that just 1% of our clothing gets made into new clothing? That is rather shocking isn’t it?
It is estimated that on average every person on the planet buys 13 garments every year. There is considerable variation of course and in the UK for example 33 garments are purchased per person each year. Over the space of a lifetime therefore the average UK consumer might buy 2640 garments. Just 26 of these will be used to make other clothes once they are thrown out.
No one wants to think that other peoples’ pants and socks are recycled into their new clothes. I am reminded of the rather fabulous portmanteau ‘grundies’ which marries ‘grotty’ with ‘undies’. Many items will not be suitable for recycling into other clothing of course but overall only 12% of the material used in discarded clothing is recycled into other things. That means that the remaining 88% finds itself in a waste-stream which will most likely end in landfill. This leaves the fashion industry in the unenviable position of being responsible for 10% of humanity’s carbon emissions; making it the third most polluting industry globally (after fossil fuels and agriculture).
In 2017 Vogue reported that ‘sustainable fashion just got sexy’ but despite the good intentions, recent CO research shows that the sale of fashion that is actively promoted as sustainable and ethical is less than 1% of the retail offering in the UK. Another 1% which we really need to increase.
There are some great companies out there leading the way. Many high street retailers are driving things forward by actively engaging with their supply chains. You can buy ethically sourced and organic clothing if you look for it. Recycled materials are increasingly being used too such as by using waste plastic to create fabrics. But this has its own issues associated with potential micro-plastic pollution of the environment.
To move away from the monster which is fast fashion we need to look at the merits of slow fashion. We could buy fewer, better quality garments which we expect to last longer. Could you buy fewer than 33 clothing items this year? Perhaps you could consider supporting the embryo circular fashion industry where clothing is made back into clothing at the end of its life? A good example of this is a recycled t-shirt offered by Isle of Wight based brand Rapanui.
I’ll make an exception though for the pile of discarded ‘grundies’; perhaps they could be used as an innovative fuel source instead?
One Percent Blog 