How to Dress Greener: 5 mindful tips
Are you passionate about sustainable fashion, so called slow fashion?
So you know that Fashion is becoming one of the most polluted industries, second to oil industry.
I think any one of us can do something about this.
- Wear more, waste less: Do you know that roughly 60% of clothes will end up being burned or abandoned in landfills within one year of being made. Consider all the natural resources have been used during the manufacturing process, it is a real big waste. Moreover, toxins and microfibers can also leak into the earth from those abandoned clothes and harm the environment. As a consumer, we can utilize your clothes by wearing it a bit longer once you own it. According to Fashion For Good, using clothes nine months extra can reduce 20-30% waste and water.
- Quick and cool washes: Unless you’re dealing with oily stains, the warm or cold water setting on your machine will normally do a good job of cleaning your clothes. Switching your temperature setting from hot to warm can cut a load’s energy use in half. Washing clothes by cold water and quick cycle uses half the energy of washing warm. That is a very simple way to save energy and also our clothes. Many clothes have been instructed to wast in cool or warm water only.
- Care for your clothes: The fashion is moving so fast with new trend and style coming in. As a result, we have a tendency to buy much more clothes than before and wear them less. This is causing a huge environment impacts, from cotton crop to garment manufacturing. If we want to do anything about that, wear your clothes more, take good care of them, keep them longer and try to fix common faults. For example: if the zipper on your jacket doesn’t work properly, think about fixing it or replacing a new zipper instead of buying a new one. This can help you wear it a few years more. Read the instructions on the clothes so that you can take good care of it. Many damages happen when you wash or dry your clothes.
- Give Away, Donate and Recycle: When the clothes have been stuck in your closets for years without being worn, it’s time to pass it on. Donate them to people who may make use of them. Even though the fabric items can be totally damage, they can be reused or recycled and have a potential second life. In Halifax, I know that there are some stores will buy good used clothes to re-sell it like Once Upon a Child. Big Brother Big Sister for example can schedule to collect used clothes from your home and pass it on. Or Value Village is one of the places we can bring our used clothes (and other stuff) to donate. Just please pause a moment before you throw any clothing item into the garbage.
- Discover your own styles, embrace the clothes you already own: Make the best of your wardrobe, try to make your clothes better so that you can wear more regularly. Sometimes, there are some clothes that you decided to buy because you really love it, but it turns out that you do not wear it often. Think about the reason why, maybe it doesn’t fit properly and therefore you just hesitate to use it. May be you never wear your beautiful coat because it doesn’t have pockets. Or you don’t like the hoodie on your jacket. Thinking that you can do something better for your clothes but do not sure how to start, our tailors are happy to help with that. Discover your own personal styles, not all the new trends can be your styles. Do not allow yourself being dragged too much by the fashion industry.
At Halifax Tailor, we are working everyday to bring new life to those clothes, so that they can walk down the street again instead of ending up in the bottom of the closets and landfills!
More Sustainable Fashion Resources
True cost of clothing industry – movie
How to reduce waste in fashion industry – article