Sustainable Fashion at Social Science Week
We are buying 60 per cent more clothes today compared to 20 years ago and we are only keeping these clothes half as long as we used to.
This is one surprising fact that students learned at a lecture Feb. 3 on sustainable fashion given by Kelly Drennan, Founding Executive Director of Fashion Takes Action. Kelly’s talk was sponsored by the Peace Centre and the Sustainability Office for Social Science Week Feb. 3-7.
A poster at the door showed that this talk related to five U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Each of the 30 talks at Social Science Week have been evaluated in light of which SDGs they are advancing.
Another fact that students learned is that the average person is only actually wearing/using 30 per cent of their wardrobe. “These clothes are virtually disposable,” Kelly said. “They are cheaply made to keep up with the ever-changing trends. We used to have two fashion seasons, and now we have 52.”
Individuals can make choices to be more sustainable and pressure the textile industry to make large-scale changes. It is common practice for unsold clothes to be cut up and placed in the garbage. “On average, every North American throws out 81 pounds of clothing in the garbage each year,” Kelly shared. “Behaviour change starts with awareness.”
Kelly pointed out some interesting ideas and reasons to hope, such as The North Face brand, which is now repairing zippers and selling damaged and returned items at a discount and acquiring a new clientele in the process. She also mentioned a collaboration that Ottawa-based used clothing broker Bank & Vogue had with Converse running shoes to make shoes with recycled denim.
Kelly went over the 7 R’s of fashion: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Research, Repurpose, Repair & Rent. We can all try to implement lifestyle changes, such as:
- hosting or participating in clothing swap events
- buying fewer clothing items that are higher quality and more durable
- learning to repair and sew your clothes
- donating all clothing you are not using, including damaged clothing and clothing you are waiting to fit into, to reputable services, such as Value Village and The Salvation Army
- considering washing your clothes less- if they don’t smell, don’t launder them
- being brave enough to be an outfit repeater.
“There are enough clothes out there already that you do not need to buy new clothes for at least five years,” she said.
For more information from Fashion Takes Action and to get the Sustainable Fashion Toolkit, go to: https://fashiontakesaction.com/
