How can you reduce your environmental impact?

Let me introduce you to fast fashion, that little monster that influences your wardrobe highly. It has become a challenge to wear a garment more than five times. Why?

The general quality of fashion items is declining every year. As a result, our clothes immediately look faded, shapeless, or worn out.

Also, fashion trends are changing so quickly that we cannot keep up. We continue to purchase just to stay up to date, also influenced by the social media awareness and influences.

Last week, we saw many negative topics around our satured fashion industry. Today, I want to focus on the more positive. On actionable things that you can actually start doing that help decrease this negative impact.

The question you might have is;

how can I individually reduce my environmental impact?

It would surprise you, but I am not only going to tell you that going vintage is the only solution. You do not believe I started from one day to another going fully vintage, right?

Here are a few tips and tricks for you that will hopefully inspire you!

1. BUY LESS

Even the greenest garment uses resources for production and transport to your home, creating some environmental impact.

A root of the problem lies in our excessive consumerism. We have way more items in our wardrobe than your grandparents have or used to have. Try this out as a little experiment and just ask them to be able to compare!

We tend to think that buying new clothes will make us happy. Maybe we should reconsider some foundations of our lifestyle.

When thinking about this, I have to share this quote from the brand patagonia that I LOVE;

2. BUY CLOTHES FROM SUSTAINABLE BRANDS

More and more fashion brands take into account the environmental and social impact of their production.

I have to be honest with you, speaking of today, the offer is still limited and it is easier and cheaper to go to the closest shopping center to refill your wardrobe. But the more we demand sustainable clothing, the more will be available, just like organic food was difficult to find 15 years ago. Today, it is available in most supermarkets! Sustainable clothing has the same potential!

Pricewise, yes, you will pay more for sustainable clothing than in a fast fashion shop (H&M, Zara, Primark…), but we know what lies behind those very low prices, as explained in my previous articles about the environmental impact of the apparel industry.

3. BUY BETTER QUALITY

Because clothes have become so cheap, we no longer care as much about quality. We just buy new garments when the ones we have lose their shape or appeal.

Additionally, we have all had the experience of buying expensive clothing or pair of shoes and facing the disappointment when two month later, they already look old or have holes in them.

If we stop buying poor quality, it will push brands to improve the quality of their garments. It will also allow us to keep our clothes longer, which is good for our wallets and for the environment.

Interestingly, the website I used as a big source for these great tips has provided 6 tips to recognise whether garments have been made well. Very interesting to try out and experiment with, also when buying vintage items, it is crucial!

4. THINK TWICE BEFORE THROWING OUT YOUR CLOTHES

Don’t throw your clothes in the normal bins! Most of them consist of synthetic, non-biodegradable fiber and will just pile up in the landfill. There are other options:

• Try to repair them. Sometimes with a bit of imagination, you can repair or even redesign it until a whole new piece. Be creative here!
• Donate your clothes to your friends, family, neighbours or to charity
• Some clothes shops take back used clothes from their own brand or even from other brands. Remember to bring old items to a vintage shop, hehe!
• Put them in the textile recycling bin. Textiles can be recycled to make new clothing. This also decreases the negative impact on our planet a little.

5. KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR WASHING

Washing our clothes has a significant environmental impact. The average household does almost 400 loads of laundry every year, consuming about 60,000 liters of water. It also takes a lot energy to heat the washing water and run the drying cycle. Try to gather all your laundry in baskets and only wash if really necessary! Also good to know, washing your clothes does decrease the quality of your item, so be careful with this!

And last but not least, very unexpectedly...

6. BUY SECOND HAND, SWAP, & RENT CLOTHING

Instead of buying new clothing, have a look at alternative options:

• Second hand shop: It’s not a new concept! You can find second hand shops everywhere in the world. More on this in another blog post that will be online soon!
• Swap clothes: These types of initiatives are becoming more and more popular. People bring clothes that they are no longer happy with and exchange them for clothes they will use. This is an economic and eco-friendly way to refill your wardrobe. You can also organize it among your friends. I once did this and it was great, we had such an amazing night. If you want to know how this went, let me know in the comments and I will write about it next time! I can give you tips on how to organise a clothes swap.
• Rent clothes: Clothes rentals is also a growing industry. This is a great option, especially for clothes that you will not wear for a long time or often (baby or pregnancy clothes, party dresses…)

The organization of second hand, swapping and renting clothes usually takes place on a local level. I will help you find out what is available in your neighbourhood in one of my next blog posts, mentioning great cities to go to for buying vintage clothing.

source; https://www.sustainyourstyle.org/en/whats-wrong-with-the-fashion-industry