Did you know that in the UK, around 10,000 items of clothing are sent to landfill every 5 minutes?
Here is 5 ways on how you can reduce your contribution to the fast fashion industry. By this, I mean I will show you how you can get clothes, without them having a one time use, being underpriced etc.
As a small business owner who sells clothing, I've noticed how the fast fashion industry has taught us that clothing is cheap and easy to make, when in fact it can be very intricate and difficult to make. Not only that, but also the people making these clothes, are being paid close to nothing, while big fashion industries thrive off of this power.
So hopefully, by reading this post, you will learn something new, make a change in the way you buy clothing or even educate others on how they can live a more sustainable life!
I've put 5 in this post, but if you would like to see more, let me know by either emailing me or messaging me on instagram!
1. Buy clothes from Vinted/Depop
One easy way to reduce clothing going to landfill, is buying clothes from Vinted or Depop! These are apps you can download and people can put up clothing that they no longer want or have a use for. Buying through these apps means that you can upgrade your wardrobe, knowing that the clothing has been saved from sitting in landfill for hundreds of years.
I myself have bought clothing through both, and it was so easy to use! I now wear the things that I've bought all of the time, and its nice to know that its been saved from being thrown away.
So if you can, before thinking of buying clothes from big fashion companies like H&M, Primark, New Look etc, have a look on vinted or depop to see if there is anything similar. There usually is, and if not, hopefully when you are searching you will find some other things that you would like!
2. Buy clothes from companies who recycle fabric
If I was to suggest one company to buy clothes from it would 100% be Rapunui. Rapunui is a company that uses plastic free material, and once you are finished with the clothing you bought, you can send it back, they will recycle it and make it into new clothing! They also use renewable energy to make all of these products, while also only making to order.
All of these factors help out the fashion industry significantly, as there is limited waste, and zero clothes will end up in landfill! A few years ago I got some clothes from Rapunui for a birthday present, and they are so comfy. Not only that, but I know that when I am finished with them, I can send them back, and they are up-cycled.
You can also customise your own clothing as well, by using some of the designs they give you! So please go have a look at some of their stuff, even just to read their story.
3. Donate any unwanted clothes to charity
If you have any clothes you would like to get rid of, without having the hassle of selling them again, you can donate them to charity. It is one of the easiest ways to get rid of clothing you no longer want, while also not throwing it out.
So not only does it give your clothes another use for someone who may like them more, it also supports great causes, so you know that your unwanted clothes will be put to good use.
4. Don't buy from Shein
Let's talk about Shein. Shein is one of the worst contributors to the fast fashion industry, making clothes out of cheap material, extremely underpaying workers and copying work from small businesses.
Shein (like most fast fashion companies) makes their clothes out of cheap, usually fake materials that have no durability and take hundreds of years to decompose. This all means that you'll wear something once or twice, it'll break or tear, you throw it out, and it sits in landfill for years.
Another thing about shein is they constantly steal ideas from small businesses, make clothes to look exactly like them and sell them at unreasonable prices.
This all points towards the fact that big companies like Shein are profiting from the unsustainability of the fast fashion industry. My main point of all of this is, if you are going to search for a place to buy clothes from, please don't use Shein, and try to look for more sustainable options to choose from!
5. Don't buy crochet items from big businesses
I've seen on multiple occasions, crochet businesses ideas being put up on fast fashion websites for enough money to only cover the costs of materials. So not only is a small businesses hard work being copied and sold for the minimum price it should be, the people making the clothes are spending hours upon hours making them, and being paid close to nothing.
As a little insight to crocheting, it cannot be replicated by a machine like knitting can be. So the only way to crochet clothes is to do it by hand.
To reduce buying crochet items from clothing stores you can try and learn to crochet yourself! I myself found it quite difficult at the start, getting the grip of how it all works, but now I absolutely love crocheting anything. And also, I get so much more excitement out of finishing a piece of clothing that I made, instead of buying one from a fast fashion business.
So please take all of these factors into consideration when buying/selling clothing! If you would like to talk more about these topics, message me on instagram as I would love to see your point of view on the fast fashion industry.
I hope you enjoyed reading this, and hopefully you learnt something new!
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