Never at any time in our history have there been so many clothes in the world, and another 69.7m tonnes added every year. Some clothing is now so cheap it is considered disposable. The fact we don’t make time to value or care for clothes like we did in past generations is leading to textile waste on a massive scale, with millions of tonnes of clothing going prematurely to landfill.
The fastest-growing household waste in Australia is clothing, according to a Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia which said Australians sent $500 million of fashion clothing to the tip in 2013. It suggested this waste could be reduced if we removed spills quickly using baby wipes or sloshing with water to stop stains setting. And it said if we are like other Western countries, we only recycle 18 per cent of clothing compared to 55 per cent of paper and 63 per cent of metal.
Charity shops are the main way second-hand clothing (also known as post-consumer waste) is resold and recycled through 3000 outlets in Australia operating under the National Association of Charitable Recycling Organisations umbrella. From these shops, Australia exported 70,000 tonnes (that’s 70 million kgs) of second-hand clothing in 2012 with an estimated value of over $70 million (that amounts to $1/kg) according to NACRO’s submission to the National Waste Report 2013 (pg7).
Developing nations may relish our second-hand offerings but it is only a matter of time before that outlet for spent clothing is saturated (if it isn’t already). On the downside, it destroys local clothing industries and amounts to Western countries shifting waste on to developing nations.
So there is the waste issue – then there is the resource issue. Two thirds of clothing is now made from synthetic fibres (FAO fibre apparel consumption survey 2013 pg 2) which means it is made from petroleum, coal or gas. Who knew that? Only one third of clothing is made from natural fibres, mostly cotton.
Who knew that for every pair of jeans (less than 1kg) it takes 10,000 litres of water to grow the cotton fabric according to WRAP UK? Australia’s cotton producers have made great strides to improve their resource efficiency in recent years according to Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay, who claims a 40 per cent improvement in water-use efficiency and 95 per cent reduction in pesticide use through the introduction of genetically-modified cotton varieties.
Jane Milburn is doing action research on the issue of textile waste this year as part of the 365-day Sew it Again project to inspire upcycling of natural fibres, demonstrate slow fashion through refashion, and revive home-sewing as a life skill.
In the same way the food revolution has raised awareness of where food comes from and its impact on health and environment, the fashion revolution is raising awareness of where clothing comes from and its social and ecological footprint.
The choices we make when we dress each day influence the kind of world we live in. Jane believes the ‘greenest’ clothes are those that already exist in the world which are readily accessible by op-shopping, swapping and refashioning. It is through individual action that we can collectively make changes towards reducing the astounding waste being generated by cheap, disposable clothing habits. Actions you can take include:
- Buy the best quality you can afford based on the buy once, buy well philosophy
- Buy locally-made clothing that comes with an ethical, sustainable story
- Care for your clothes – remove stains, wash with care, mend and repair
- Re-love existing clothing sourced by swapping, sharing and op shopping
- Learn to sew and refashion clothing that already exists to suit yourself
The upcoming holiday season is an ideal time to reflect on our clothing habits then consider how you may become a little less consumptive and a little more conservative in consideration of Earth being a finite world with limited resources. Let’s not waste it.
– first published as Stitch in Time column for Smart Farmer magazine December issue