Have you wondered what happens to all the clothing once we discard them?
Between the years 2000 and 2014, the overall clothing production doubled, with the average consumer buying 60 percent more items of clothing compared to 15 years ago. Yet, each clothing item is now kept half as long. We throw away 26 billion pounds of clothing each year. Post-war, due to scarce resources people repaired and reused clothing, but now since the clothing is cheap and mass-produced, there is no need to reuse.
What changed?
So, why did we lose our love for repair and reuse? Why did the throw-away culture become the norm? And why are people throwing away vast amounts of clothing each year?
There is less incentive for people to make do and mend when the clothing is so freely and cheaply available. The culture has shifted from one where we value clothes to one where old clothes are thrown away and replaced with the new. It’s a vicious cycle that, if continued, could have a devastating impact on our society and planet. More impulse purchases are made and never worn, meaning that over 60% of households have unwanted clothing in their home.
In a recent survey by Oxfam, 49% of the UK's population admitted to throwing garments in the bins. Usually, they do this as they don't realize that worn-out or dirty clothes can be recycled or accepted by charities. While 16% said that they didn’t have time to take them to a charity shop and 6% weren’t even aware that it was possible to recycle clothes.
As people spring-clean their wardrobes, an estimated 680 million items of clothing are thrown away each year, with a staggering 235 million of those garments ending up in the landfills. This means, on average, each person in the UK will let go of 19 items per year, with seven going straight in the bin. Men are more likely to send clothes to landfills, with 82% saying they would bin items this spring compared with 69% of women.
How do we slow down this trend of fast fashion and prevent mass amounts of good clothing going to the landfill? We simply buy less and extend the life of our clothes. Extending the active life of clothing by nine months can significantly reduce its environmental impact. The annual footprint of a household’s newly bought clothing (this includes cleaning and washing), is the equivalent to driving a car 6000 miles, filling 1000 bathtubs of water, and the weight of 100 pairs of jeans. We need to do everything we can to extend the life of our garments.
