Due to a lack of reporting, transparency, and accountability within the fashion industry, sound data is not available for which of these disposal methods is most commonly practiced.
It is certain, however, that the preferred method is not recycling.
It is certain, however, that the preferred method is not recycling.
(Brown, 2023; Chan, 2023; Lee, 2023; Wunderlabel, 2022)
|
What is Fast Fashion?
|
“Cheap and speedy production of low-quality clothing to meet the latest and newest trends”
(Lai, 2022) (The Model Gene, 2021)
"Cheap and constantly changing fashion has developed, in part, due to a business model in which fashion brands and retailers push down prices by aggressively cutting costs and using inexpensive materials – notably cheap synthetic fibres (e.g. polyester, nylon, acrylic and elastane) produced from oil and gas."
(Changing Markets Foundation, 2021) |
Production Process of Fast Fashion vs. Traditional Fashion
(The Nuts and Bolts of Fast Fashion, n.d.)
|
(Changing Markets Foundation, 2021; Kent, 2021; Press, 2022)
|
|
What is greenwashing?
Greenwashing is when an organization spends more time and money on marketing itself as environmentally friendly than on actually minimizing its environmental impact…It is intended to mislead consumers who prefer to buy goods and services from environmentally conscious brands.
Why do brands greenwash?
|
84% of people indicate that they have shifted their purchase behavior towards being more sustainable in the past five years…[and] more than a one third (34 %) of the population is willing to pay more for sustainable products or services.
Brands recognize the growing market for sustainably and ethically sourced/manufactured goods and resort to greenwashing as opposed to reforming practices. |
(Business Wire, 2021)
What greenwashing looks like
Examples of greenwashing include clothes claimed to be monomaterial or recyclable that are actually made from blended synthetics which are impossible to separate; garments tagged as ‘responsible’ – with no explanation – yet contain blends of several different types of fiber; and products made from 100% polyester, with no sustainability credentials, that are nonetheless included in a ‘sustainability’ collection.
(Changing Markets Foundation, 2021; Edwards, 2023)
(Chan, 2023; How Much Clothing Do People Own?, 2020; Igini, 2022; Roadrunner, 2021; Ruiz, 2023; Thomas, 2019; Wunderlabel, 2022)
|
|
|
(Chan, 2023; How Much Clothing Do People Own?, 2020; Igini, 2022; Roadrunner, 2021; Ruiz, 2023; Thomas, 2019; Wunderlabel, 2022)
|
(Birch, 2023; US EPA, 2017)
|
|
|
What they don't want you to know about your donations
Saturday in Accra, the capital of Ghana. Market day. Shoppers pack the streets of the central shopping district, the roads clogged with stalls and street hawkers. When you’re looking for second-hand clothes in Accra, there is only one destination: Kantamanto, the largest second-hand clothes market in Ghana, and perhaps in West Africa. Every week, 15 million garments move through Kantamanto, where an estimated 30,000 traders are crammed into just seven claustrophobic acres. The majority arrives, via container ship, having been donated to charities in Europe and North America. From here, the clothes will spread across Ghana and across borders, into Côte D’Ivoire, Togo, Niger, Benin and beyond.
The second-hand trade in Ghana and across West Africa exploded in the 1980s and ’90s as Western charities flooded Africa with clothing, intended both as fundraising and aid. When second-hand textiles first arrived in Ghana, the local population had no experience of such wastefulness. In fact, they assumed the owners of the clothes must have died, leading to the Akan phrase still marked on one of the entrances to Kantamanto: Obroni wawu, or “dead white man’s clothes.” (In Tanzania, second-hand clothing is similarly sometimes called kafa ulaya, or "dead Europeans" clothes’.) But the donations, however well intended, have done as much harm as good. Unable to compete with the flood of cheap goods into Africa, local textile manufacturing sectors collapsed. Between 1975 and 2000, the number of people working in the textile trade in Ghana fell by 75 per cent. Businesses simply couldn’t compete on price with a product people were throwing away.
(Franklin-Wallis, 2023)
The second-hand trade in Ghana and across West Africa exploded in the 1980s and ’90s as Western charities flooded Africa with clothing, intended both as fundraising and aid. When second-hand textiles first arrived in Ghana, the local population had no experience of such wastefulness. In fact, they assumed the owners of the clothes must have died, leading to the Akan phrase still marked on one of the entrances to Kantamanto: Obroni wawu, or “dead white man’s clothes.” (In Tanzania, second-hand clothing is similarly sometimes called kafa ulaya, or "dead Europeans" clothes’.) But the donations, however well intended, have done as much harm as good. Unable to compete with the flood of cheap goods into Africa, local textile manufacturing sectors collapsed. Between 1975 and 2000, the number of people working in the textile trade in Ghana fell by 75 per cent. Businesses simply couldn’t compete on price with a product people were throwing away.
(Franklin-Wallis, 2023)
You've been greenwashed
Retailers greenwash the act of donating to help consumers justify a need-for-new mentality.
(L) A pair of Levi’s jeans found at the Old Fadama dumpsite reads “Created by Levi Strause & Co in 1873 it has become an American tradition, symbolizing the vitality of the West to people all over the world….PLEASE DONATE WHEN NO LONGER NEEDED.” These secondhand jeans left Kantamanto as waste.
(R) A franchised Levi’s store that recently opened in one of Accra’s (Ghana, West Aftica) many new malls showcases the “American tradition” of new jeans to a growing consumer class.
(R) A franchised Levi’s store that recently opened in one of Accra’s (Ghana, West Aftica) many new malls showcases the “American tradition” of new jeans to a growing consumer class.
|
For profit clothing collection bins in a Wal-Mart parking lot labelled as “Clothing Recycling” to support D.A.R.E. The small text reads “Mid Atlantic Receives all proceeds and makes a fixed annual payment to D.A.R.E. America a non-profit organization.”
|
|
(L) Collection bins overflowing on a rainy day in a grocery store parking lot alongside a couch dumped at the bins and visible waste, such as a cup of soda.
(R) Collection bins in an outlet store complex where customers can drop off the “old” as they buy the “new.” |
|
(The Or Foundation, 2022)
The true look of our charity: The story of Old Fadama
The story of Old Fadama
Your feet will get dirty. This is unavoidable. Even without rain for days, the ground covering of textile and plastics, often one and the same, rises out of the lagoon like a stew overflowing from the pot, saturated with the juices of the city’s excrement. Stormwater runoff, human feces, animal feces, cooking oils, and anything else that may have been dumped along the river banks or poured into the open gutters that serve as de facto sewers across much of Ghana, or that has seeped out of the piles of materials brought here to be scavenged and burned mix with the brackish water of the lagoon. Loose boards are thrown on the ground to create small walkways between the one room houses that rise out from the muck on stilts, but the boards will sink or slip and many paths aren’t covered. You may try to leap across the lowest lying areas, but there is no landing zone free of filth. Your feet will get dirty.
(The Or Foundation, 2022)
How to donate responsibly
Opt local and contact charity retailers first. They are in-tune with the needs of your community and will be able to advise you on goods they are seeking and will be able to sell/give to a person in need.
(Franklin-Wallis, 2023; Wayforth, n.d.)
|
Renting is an affordable way to keep your wardrobe fresh, try contemporary and designer brands, and push personal style.
"Rent the Runway has released new data that suggests there are significant environmental savings when people rent, rather than buying new. The US company, who worked with third-party consultants Green Story and SgT to conduct the research, estimates that its rental model has displaced the production of 1.3million new garments since 2010 – leading to savings of 67million gallons of water, 98.6million kWh of energy and 44.2million pounds of CO2 emissions over the past decade." (Chan, 2021) |
|
Try these rental services:
|
|
(ThredUp, 2023)
|
|
Why 2nd hand is a win-win
(ThredUp, 2023)
Spots to shop
There are a lot of amazing places, both locally and online, that offer gently worn to new-with-tag items!
Most of these places offer options for consignment, too, which means you can swap what you don't wear for things that are new-to-you!
Most of these places offer options for consignment, too, which means you can swap what you don't wear for things that are new-to-you!
|
|
Online Options to love:
|
|
|
(Depop Reveals How Much You Can Save by Shopping Secondhand, n.d.)
Making minor repairs aren't as hard as many people think.
Here's a quick tutorial demonstrating 4 easy ways to mend your clothes by hand.
Here's a quick tutorial demonstrating 4 easy ways to mend your clothes by hand.
There are also places that offer repair services!
|
|
|
There are any number of creative ways to repurpose unwearable clothes.
Here are a few ideas from the Good On You blog!
Here are a few ideas from the Good On You blog!
Check out the full post (complete with tutorials)
(Lang, 2020)
When clothes are no longer wearable, sellable, fixable, or repurposable, its time to close that clothing's loop: recycle it!
Here are some great places to send your spent textiles:
Here are some great places to send your spent textiles:
|
|
|
Some cities and municipalities also offer textile recycling services.
Check with your local facilities to see what's available in your area!
Check with your local facilities to see what's available in your area!
|
|
REFERENCES
Brown, A. (2023, August 9). Resale is all the rage, but fashion brands not making a dent in unsustainable levels of waste. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/resale-is-all-rage-fashion-brands-not-making-dent-unsustainable-levels-waste-2023-08-09/
Business Wire. (2021, October 14). Recent Study Reveals More Than a Third of Global Consumers Are Willing to Pay More for Sustainability as Demand Grows for Environmentally-Friendly Alternatives. Business Wire. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211014005090/en/Recent-Study-Reveals-More-Than-a-Third-of-Global-Consumers-Are-Willing-to-Pay-More-for-Sustainability-as-Demand-Grows-for-Environmentally-Friendly-Alternatives
Chan, E. (2021, September 20). Is Renting Your Clothes Really More Sustainable? British Vogue. https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/is-renting-your-clothes-really-more-sustainable
Chan, E. (2023, September 8). Why Are Billions Of Clothes Never Even Sold? British Vogue. https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/overproduction-fashion
Changing Markets Foundation. (2021). Synthetics Anonymous: Fashion Brands’ addiction to fossil fuels. Changing Markets Foundation. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/SyntheticsAnonymous_FinalWeb.pdf
Choat, I. (2023, May 31). Stop dumping your cast-offs on us, Ghanaian clothes traders tell EU. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/may/31/stop-dumping-your-cast-offs-on-us-ghanaian-clothes-traders-tell-eu
Constable. (n.d.). Your brand new returns end up in landfill | BBC Earth. BBC Earth. Retrieved December 9, 2023, from https://www.bbcearth.com/news/your-brand-new-returns-end-up-in-landfill
Depop reveals how much you can save by shopping secondhand. (n.d.). Retrieved December 12, 2023, from https://news.depop.com/company-news/depop-reveals-how-much-you-can-save-by-shopping-secondhand/
Edwards, C. (2023, September 1). What Is Greenwashing, and How Do You Spot It? Business News Daily. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/10946-greenwashing.html
Franklin-Wallis, O. (2023, July 20). What Really Happens to the Clothes You Donate. GQ. https://www.gq.com/story/oliver-franklin-wallis-wasteland-excerpt
How much clothing do people own? (2020, August). Capsule Wardrobe Data. https://capsulewardrobedata.com/howmuchclothingdopeopleown
Howland, D. (2023, April 19). How good is secondhand apparel for the planet, really? Retail Dive. https://www.retaildive.com/news/secondhand-clothes-sustainable-environmental-impact-resale/647428/
Igini, M. (2022, August 2). 10 Concerning Fast Fashion Waste Statistics. Earth.Org. https://earthorg.mystagingwebsite.com/statistics-about-fast-fashion-waste/
Kent, S. (2021). The Sustainability Gap. The Business of Fashion. https://cdn.businessoffashion.com/reports/The_Sustainability_Index_2021.pdf
Lai, O. (2022, October 15). 7 Fast Fashion Companies Responsible for Environmental Pollution in 2022. Earth.Org. https://earth.org/fast-fashion-companies/
Lang, H. (2020, November 25). Upcycling Clothes: 7 Creative Ways to Repurpose Your Old Clothes. Good On You. https://goodonyou.eco/7-creative-ways-to-upcycle-your-old-clothes/
Lee, G. (2023, May 30). Explainer: Why fast fashion brands destroy unsold clothes. Eco-Business. https://www.eco-business.com/news/explainer-why-fast-fashion-brands-destroy-unsold-clothes/
Mondalek, A. (2020, May 18). How to Avoid the Greenwashing Trap. The Business of Fashion. https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/marketing-pr/greenwashing-fashion-sustainability-marketing/
Palacios-Mateo, C., van der Meer, Y., & Seide, G. (2021). Analysis of the polyester clothing value chain to identify key intervention points for sustainability. Environmental Sciences Europe, 33(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-020-00447-x
Press, R. (2022). Your Clothes Can Have an Afterlife. NIST. https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2022/05/your-clothes-can-have-afterlife
Ramirez, I. (2023, November 14). It’s Time to Break Up With Fast Fashion. Vox. https://www.vox.com/even-better/2023/11/14/23955673/fast-fashion-shein-hauls-environment-human-rights-violations
Roadrunner. (2021, January 8). The Environmental Crisis Caused by Textile Waste. Roadrunner Modern Waste + Recycling. https://www.roadrunnerwm.com/blog/textile-waste-environmental-crisis
Ruiz, A. (2023, March 9). 17 Most Worrying Textile Waste Statistics & Facts [2023]. https://theroundup.org/textile-waste-statistics/
Shaw, S. (2023, April 18). These 3 take-back programs make recycling clothes as easy as 1-2-3. CNN Underscored. https://www.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/home/clothes-recycling-guide
Tasty Home (Director). (2017, September 17). 4 Easy Ways To Mend Your Clothes By Hand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g3zsegbL-0
The environmental cost of fast fashion. (2022, April 28). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2bxO-PgcT0
The Nuts and Bolts of Fast Fashion. (n.d.). IESE Insight. Retrieved December 8, 2023, from https://www.iese.edu/insight/articles/fast-fashion-business-model-zara/
The Or Foundation. (2022). Waste makes visible our separation from nature. https://theordev2.s3.amazonaws.com/2023-01/Waste%20Landscape%20Report%20-%20Compressed.pdf
Thomas, D. (2019, August 29). The High Price of Fast Fashion—WSJ. The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-high-price-of-fast-fashion-11567096637
ThredUp. (n.d.). Fashion Footprint Calculator. Retrieved December 12, 2023, from https://www.thredup.com/fashionfootprint
ThredUp. (2023). ThredUp Resale Report 2023. https://cf-assets-tup.thredup.com/resale_report/2023/thredUP_2023_Resale_Report_FINAL.pdf
US EPA, O. (2017, September 12). Textiles: Material-Specific Data [Collections and Lists]. https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/textiles-material-specific-data
Wayforth. (n.d.). 4 Ways to Ensure Donated Clothes Don’t End Up in a Landfill | Wayforth. Https://Wayforth.Com/. Retrieved December 12, 2023, from https://wayforth.com/blog/moving-solutions-b2c/4-ways-to-ensure-donated-clothes-dont-end-up-in-a-landfill/
Wunderlabel. (2022, December 12). Fashion Statistics 2022/3. Wunderlabel.Com. https://wunderlabel.com/lab/fashion-statistics/
Business Wire. (2021, October 14). Recent Study Reveals More Than a Third of Global Consumers Are Willing to Pay More for Sustainability as Demand Grows for Environmentally-Friendly Alternatives. Business Wire. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211014005090/en/Recent-Study-Reveals-More-Than-a-Third-of-Global-Consumers-Are-Willing-to-Pay-More-for-Sustainability-as-Demand-Grows-for-Environmentally-Friendly-Alternatives
Chan, E. (2021, September 20). Is Renting Your Clothes Really More Sustainable? British Vogue. https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/is-renting-your-clothes-really-more-sustainable
Chan, E. (2023, September 8). Why Are Billions Of Clothes Never Even Sold? British Vogue. https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/overproduction-fashion
Changing Markets Foundation. (2021). Synthetics Anonymous: Fashion Brands’ addiction to fossil fuels. Changing Markets Foundation. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/SyntheticsAnonymous_FinalWeb.pdf
Choat, I. (2023, May 31). Stop dumping your cast-offs on us, Ghanaian clothes traders tell EU. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/may/31/stop-dumping-your-cast-offs-on-us-ghanaian-clothes-traders-tell-eu
Constable. (n.d.). Your brand new returns end up in landfill | BBC Earth. BBC Earth. Retrieved December 9, 2023, from https://www.bbcearth.com/news/your-brand-new-returns-end-up-in-landfill
Depop reveals how much you can save by shopping secondhand. (n.d.). Retrieved December 12, 2023, from https://news.depop.com/company-news/depop-reveals-how-much-you-can-save-by-shopping-secondhand/
Edwards, C. (2023, September 1). What Is Greenwashing, and How Do You Spot It? Business News Daily. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/10946-greenwashing.html
Franklin-Wallis, O. (2023, July 20). What Really Happens to the Clothes You Donate. GQ. https://www.gq.com/story/oliver-franklin-wallis-wasteland-excerpt
How much clothing do people own? (2020, August). Capsule Wardrobe Data. https://capsulewardrobedata.com/howmuchclothingdopeopleown
Howland, D. (2023, April 19). How good is secondhand apparel for the planet, really? Retail Dive. https://www.retaildive.com/news/secondhand-clothes-sustainable-environmental-impact-resale/647428/
Igini, M. (2022, August 2). 10 Concerning Fast Fashion Waste Statistics. Earth.Org. https://earthorg.mystagingwebsite.com/statistics-about-fast-fashion-waste/
Kent, S. (2021). The Sustainability Gap. The Business of Fashion. https://cdn.businessoffashion.com/reports/The_Sustainability_Index_2021.pdf
Lai, O. (2022, October 15). 7 Fast Fashion Companies Responsible for Environmental Pollution in 2022. Earth.Org. https://earth.org/fast-fashion-companies/
Lang, H. (2020, November 25). Upcycling Clothes: 7 Creative Ways to Repurpose Your Old Clothes. Good On You. https://goodonyou.eco/7-creative-ways-to-upcycle-your-old-clothes/
Lee, G. (2023, May 30). Explainer: Why fast fashion brands destroy unsold clothes. Eco-Business. https://www.eco-business.com/news/explainer-why-fast-fashion-brands-destroy-unsold-clothes/
Mondalek, A. (2020, May 18). How to Avoid the Greenwashing Trap. The Business of Fashion. https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/marketing-pr/greenwashing-fashion-sustainability-marketing/
Palacios-Mateo, C., van der Meer, Y., & Seide, G. (2021). Analysis of the polyester clothing value chain to identify key intervention points for sustainability. Environmental Sciences Europe, 33(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-020-00447-x
Press, R. (2022). Your Clothes Can Have an Afterlife. NIST. https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2022/05/your-clothes-can-have-afterlife
Ramirez, I. (2023, November 14). It’s Time to Break Up With Fast Fashion. Vox. https://www.vox.com/even-better/2023/11/14/23955673/fast-fashion-shein-hauls-environment-human-rights-violations
Roadrunner. (2021, January 8). The Environmental Crisis Caused by Textile Waste. Roadrunner Modern Waste + Recycling. https://www.roadrunnerwm.com/blog/textile-waste-environmental-crisis
Ruiz, A. (2023, March 9). 17 Most Worrying Textile Waste Statistics & Facts [2023]. https://theroundup.org/textile-waste-statistics/
Shaw, S. (2023, April 18). These 3 take-back programs make recycling clothes as easy as 1-2-3. CNN Underscored. https://www.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/home/clothes-recycling-guide
Tasty Home (Director). (2017, September 17). 4 Easy Ways To Mend Your Clothes By Hand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g3zsegbL-0
The environmental cost of fast fashion. (2022, April 28). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2bxO-PgcT0
The Nuts and Bolts of Fast Fashion. (n.d.). IESE Insight. Retrieved December 8, 2023, from https://www.iese.edu/insight/articles/fast-fashion-business-model-zara/
The Or Foundation. (2022). Waste makes visible our separation from nature. https://theordev2.s3.amazonaws.com/2023-01/Waste%20Landscape%20Report%20-%20Compressed.pdf
Thomas, D. (2019, August 29). The High Price of Fast Fashion—WSJ. The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-high-price-of-fast-fashion-11567096637
ThredUp. (n.d.). Fashion Footprint Calculator. Retrieved December 12, 2023, from https://www.thredup.com/fashionfootprint
ThredUp. (2023). ThredUp Resale Report 2023. https://cf-assets-tup.thredup.com/resale_report/2023/thredUP_2023_Resale_Report_FINAL.pdf
US EPA, O. (2017, September 12). Textiles: Material-Specific Data [Collections and Lists]. https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/textiles-material-specific-data
Wayforth. (n.d.). 4 Ways to Ensure Donated Clothes Don’t End Up in a Landfill | Wayforth. Https://Wayforth.Com/. Retrieved December 12, 2023, from https://wayforth.com/blog/moving-solutions-b2c/4-ways-to-ensure-donated-clothes-dont-end-up-in-a-landfill/
Wunderlabel. (2022, December 12). Fashion Statistics 2022/3. Wunderlabel.Com. https://wunderlabel.com/lab/fashion-statistics/