Sale!

                                     Reduced Price!

Clearance!

These words can be found plastered to the windows of apparel businesses each day, urging you to come inside…look around…buy something nice for yourself. But finding cheap clothing isn’t always a good thing. Fast fashion is dominating the fashion world.  The Council for Textile Recycling (CTR) states that the average citizen throws out over 70 pounds of textile waste each year. That $10 blouse you found on sale was cheaply made so it can make it to the racks as soon as possible and into your closet for a small price. But cheap is as cheap does. Soon that blouse will be out of style, as new styles are created daily, it will rip at the seams, it won’t be able to hold up physically or fashionably.

So you get rid of it.

But where did that blouse go?

 

Even recycled clothing can have a negative affect on the environment. The CTR states that on average 12lbs out of 70+lbs of clothing is donated per US citizen. Charities and apparel recycling businesses get overstocked and can’t keep all of the donated clothing, therefore the overflow is sent to landfills, making your “smart” decision have detrimental affect.

 

The CTR has a plan to reduce textile waste to 0% by 2037 by

1. Generating resources to launch the “Wear. Donate. Recycle” campaign, informing the public of the situation at hand
2. Creating an open source platform in order to share information that supports post-consumer textile waste (PCTW) diversion activities.
3. Engage with brands and businesses and end PCTW

 

So next time you see that enticing “Sale” sign, ask yourself, “Do I really need another shirt?” “Would this purchase help me and the environment?” “Are there better ways to get new & exciting clothing?”

Make the choice for sustainable fashion practices!

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3 Ways to Stay Fashionable and Sustainable

1. Organize a clothing swap with friends!

   • We all have items in our closet that go un-worn! Get with your friends and throw together all your unwanted apparel and find something new!

2. Repurpose your old clothes!

   • Don’t let your plain cable knit get thrown away! Spice it up by distressing it, adding pom poms or turning it into a scarf! There are so many ways to up-cycle your old clothing!

3. Damage Control!

   • Do you have a dress that you danced a little to hard in and ripped strap? Do you have a pair of boots that are ripping away form the sole? Well don’t let these issues get in your way! Get handy and repair these yourself. A small cross stitch will fix that strap and a little super glue never hurt anyone- fix those soles with a generous dab so you can have your apparel items for longer!

If you find a way to be Fashionable and Sustainable, post using #fashionablesustainable 

 

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By Allison Atkins