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Are your clothes wrecking the planet?

In today’s world of fast fashion, where shops no longer just produce seasonal collections but often drop new lines on the High Street on a weekly basis, shopping has the potential to become even more addictive. People often buy more clothes than they need, just to follow the latest trends.

Cotton (43% of all clothing sold) causes pollution through:

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pesticides used in cotton farming

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toxic dyes in manufacturing

•

huge amount of natural resources used, like water

Read more about this here

How often do you buy new items of clothing? Do you recycle your old clothes or just throw them away? What could you do to help make the clothing industry more environmentally conscious?

Reply 1

ThomH97

Is it okay to blame women for this? :wink:

Reply 2

hello_shawn

I have not bought a single piece of clothing for myself. Except the time when my t shirt got dirty after spending almost 2 hours in the heat trying to fix my bike :wink:

My parents don't approve that I have the same wardrobe every year, yet who are the ones wasting the money?

Reply 3

Shish_bish

Original post by Spirithorse

•

pesticides used in cotton farming

•

toxic dyes in manufacturing

•

huge amount of natural resources used, like water

What do you mean by “recycle old clothes” can we do that just like we do for plastics ..

Anyway, I have stopped buying clothes coz it’s a good way to save money.

Reply 4

fallen_acorns

I'm really glad people are slowly turning against fast-fashion.

Its such an easily avoidable problem for most people.

It saves people money
Is enviromentally friendly
Is humane, reducing reliance on sweatshop workers
etc. etc. etc.

Reply 5

moonrise

Original post by Shish_bish

What do you mean by “recycle old clothes” can we do that just like we do for plastics ..

Anyway, I have stopped buying clothes coz it’s a good way to save money.

I think OP meant putting them into clothes donation bins or giving them to charity shops. Also you can upcycle them into new items of clothing or something that uses the fabric.

Reply 6

ThomH97

Original post by Shish_bish

What do you mean by “recycle old clothes” can we do that just like we do for plastics ..

Anyway, I have stopped buying clothes coz it’s a good way to save money.

Take them to a charity shop. Even if not sellable, they can recycle the fabric in clothes.

Reply 7

Spirithorse

Original post by Shish_bish

What do you mean by “recycle old clothes” can we do that just like we do for plastics ..

Anyway, I have stopped buying clothes coz it’s a good way to save money.

RESELL
“Recycling” clothing doesn’t necessarily mean only sending it to get shredded up and turned into something new. Recycling can simply mean passing items on to be used and loved by someone else. If you’ve got items in great condition, and want to make a little extra cash, sell them on Ebay.

DONATE
If you want your clothing to live on, but don’t want to mess with reselling, donating your items to a local charity shop is an amazing option to help others while keeping your clothing out of landfills.

UPCYCLE
Old t-shirts, cotton dresses, jersey lounge pants, etc. make amazing cleaning cloths. If you don’t want to go out and buy reusable rags or washcloths, make your own! Simply cut up old clothing into squares or rectangles (or pentagons, or hexagons, or whatever your shape of choice is) and clean your dirty ass apartment with your new nifty upcycled rags.

RECYCLE
There are tons of amazing sustainable resources and organizations that will take your too-far-gone clothing, accessories and textile items, and repurpose them for other uses. Uses like making home insulation, pillow stuffing, car seat stuffing, and even “new” fabric made from recycled fibers.