This to me is staggering. I’m the first to admit that although I try to purchase thoughtfully the high street retailers pricing structures are appealing. Whilst I purchase far less garments than I ever had and I am far more thoughtful with my purchases I still identify room for improvement with my purchasing habits.
Why is this important? Over 20% of global production waste comes from the apparel and textile sectors and over 85% of used garments end up in landfill. It might come as a shock but all your thoughtfully donated clothes don’t end up in charity stores to be purchased, instead they are placed into landfill where they can take hundreds of years to decompose. Australians send 500, 000 tonnes of textiles and leather landfill yearly. Do you know how long a leather shoe takes to decompose? Me either, so I googled it.
Over the last two months I set myself a challenge to only purchase second hand clothing. This resulted in multiple market trips, blogger sales and scouring ebay but I managed to last two months with no brand new purchases to my wardrobe. It was sometimes difficult and yes you often need to purchase things brand new but it was a refreshing challenge. So this got me thinking of new ways that I can be more mindful with my purchases without trying to turn full eco warrior and trying to convince you that you can “revamp” clothing SO easily when you find things at the op shop. My reality is that op shops are riddled with cheap clothing that is dated, is made of polyester with evident bodily odours and has cheap fibres within so the fabric begins to ball and pill in certain areas.
So below are some of my top entry level tips to keep our wardrobe as eco friendly as possible, without sacrificing your style and too much of your wallet.
Markets/ Blogger Sales
Go to your local markets and support the gals that are trying to sell their quality items, the more you do this the more they will tell their friends that people are actually interested in purchasing and then they have a stall etc etc etc.
Look at your fibres
Purchase mindfully, not all man made fabrics are from the devil but a certain few are. My advice, keep it as natural as possible and invest in silk because you will honestly never look back.
Ebay
This site has a plethora of designer labels being sold for a fraction of their original cost. Not many people will realise that you are in fact wearing a 2017 hue of blue so just purchase it and all will be well.
Rent clothing
These places have been gaining a lot of bad press recently, but I choose to look at the silver lining. You can rent a dress for a event at a fraction of the cost and it doesn’t sit in your wardrobe for the following three years not being worn and eventually being sent to landfill. Win Win.
There are some quick tips to think about over the holiday season, and it seems quite timely as every single retailer seems to be on sale right now consider these tips and make the earth love you a little more.
