1. Buy less and wear more
As the Fixing Fashion report says: “The most sustainable garment is the one we already own.” Extending the active life of 50% of UK clothing by nine months would save: 8% carbon, 10% water, 4% waste per metric ton of clothing, according to WRAP’s Valuing Our Clothes report.
2. Read the label
Petroleum based synthetic fibres like polyester require less water and land than cotton, but they emit more greenhouse gases per kilogram. But bio-based synthetic polymers made from renewable crops like corn and sugarcane release “up to 60% less carbon emissions, partly due to the crops creating carbon sinks”. Labels should show whether clothes are made using recycled polyester (rPET).
3. Vote with your feet
Some brands are more sustainable than others, so choose where you buy your clothes. In the UK, some sustainable and vintage brands offer lifetime repair services. Fifty-nine major retailers including IKEA and GAP have vowed to increase their use of recycled polyester by a minimum of 25% by 2020.
4. Shop and drop for charity
In 2017, the UK’s 11,000 charity shops saved 330,000 metric tons of textiles from landfill, and helped to cut carbon emissions by millions of tons a year, through reusing and recycling second-hand clothes.
5. Choose organic cotton
The Soil Association told the Environmental Audit Committee that increasing organic cotton production could minimise the environmental impact of the fashion industry, as it would reduce the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and water.
6. Rent or borrow clothes
Apps like MyWardrobeHQ allow peer-to-peer clothes sharing, based on a sharing economy model. In the US, Rent the Runway was launched in 2009 with designer clothes for special occasions, and now has 6 million members.
7. Watch your washing
A 6kg domestic wash has the potential to release as many as 700,000 fibres into the environment, which should make you think twice before you pop stuff in the laundry you’ve only worn once. Washing on a lower temperature uses less energy, and adopting simple habits, like turning clothes inside out, will increase wearability.
