European Week for Waste Reduction

This past week was European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR), a campaign that encourages Europeans to raise awareness about sustainability and waste management.

 Each year, the campaign centres around a theme. This year’s theme is “invisible waste”, which refers to the enormous but often overlooked amount of waste produced in the manufacturing of products. The majority of this invisible waste is unrecyclable, which means that it ends up in landfills, contributing to rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere.

The textile industry is responsible for a huge portion of waste. Globally, around 92 million tonnes of textile waste are produced each year, which is estimated to increase by 60% between 2015 and 2030.

 The problem begins with the “make, use, dispose” model. Clothes are made cheaply, purchased at a low cost, and after a few wears are thrown away. This pernicious model creates an endless cycle of waste. The UK consumes the highest amount of new clothing than any other European country, five times what was consumed in the 1980s. On top of this, roughly one million tonnes of textiles are thrown away every year in the UK, with an estimated three hundred thousand tonnes of clothing thrown away in household bins alone. In order to affect change, we must move away from our linear economy into a circular economy in which we “make, use, reuse, remake, and recycle”.

So, what can we do as individuals to make this happen? As scary as these statistics are, there are many things we can do to reduce our waste footprint.

1.     Buy second-hand  

Instead of running to another fast-fashion chain for your next sartorial purchase, why not challenge yourself to shop second-hand? The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) estimates that if second-hand clothing sales increase by 10%, carbon emissions could be cut per tonne of clothing by 3% and water use by 4%. In addition to your local charity shop, there are also a growing number of online second-hand stores you can turn to, like The Real Real, Vestiaire Collective, Beyond Retro and Depop. Shopping at stores like these more often will allow for a more circular economy, and ultimately, a healthier planet!

 2.     Repair, reuse, re-wear! 

More often than not, when you notice a tear, rip or pilling on your clothes, it is repairable. It is estimated that extending the life of clothing by an additional nine months can reduce carbon, waste and water footprints by 20-30% each. Clothing materials used to be of much higher quality and repairs were commonplace. Now, we are much more likely to throw a damaged item away. Who has time to repair a £5 t-shirt made of polyester when you could simply throw it away and buy another one? This modern mentality has a high environmental cost. So, the next time you find a hole in your socks or a stain on your shirt, try to repair it!

3.     When in doubt, don’t throw away

If you have gotten all the wears you can out of your clothes, don’t turn straight to the bin. Of the three hundred thousand tonnes of clothing thrown away in household bins each year in the UK, 20% will wind up in landfill and the remaining 80% will be incinerated. To avoid this, you can either donate your unwanted items to your local charity shop or, if you have a particularly expensive item, sell it online on Depop, Gumtree, eBay, etc. If you have old underwear and holey socks that you don’t know what to do with, clothing banks (usually located outside of supermarkets and libraries) will accept and recycle them for you.

So, this week (and beyond), we challenge you to be mindful about your own waste footprint. What will you do to make an impact? Let us know in the comments below!