Fast Fashion - What Can You Do

Following on from my post about fast fashion I thought it would be a good idea to do a little list of different tips to help you boycott fast fashion.

REPEAT your outfits. Nobody cares if you've worn something once or one hundred times. A statistic I recently read said: "If you double the number of uses per garment life cycle, you could reduce carbon footprints by almost 50%".

UNSUBSCRIBE from emails. Ordered something off ASOS last month? Bought a pair of shoes from an online store? Anything like this where you get those annoying emails with offers, deals and reminders. Emails showing the latest garments. The temptation goes away when you stop receiving these pesky reminders.

CHOOSE ETHICAL brands. Research before you buy, have a look online or locally for a more sustainable option. For example I wanted a new bag, but looked online and found Baggu which was made of recycled cotton. Even shopping at a smaller business will help create less demand for fast fashion brands, whilst also supporting a smaller business who will appreciate your purchase. On a personal level, you'll make that person happier than some chain who's in it for the money.

SWAP your clothes with friends or attend a clothes swap event. If you don't have any clothes to swap, just ask to borrow or lend someone a piece for a while.

WEAR WHAT YOU OWN. Dig through those clothes that you have hiding at the back of your wardrobe, go all Marie Kondo and have a clear out (save items for clothes swaps, good items for charity) and organise your clothes so you can see what you have, and wear items you haven't worn in a while. Restyling them with something you now own.

FOLLOW others who are on a journey to becoming sustainable. Social media can have its benefits and finding other people in the zero waste community online can be really helpful in finding out alternatives, facts and information.
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SETBACKS
Nobody's perfect. I work in a very open, old building (that is really cold in winter), and have been suffering from the cold pretty badly (even wearing thermals too). I needed thicker jeans and whilst I had been holding off buying any for a long time, I caved. I bought a pair of New Look jeans out of convenience. The labels states 'made using less water' but if I'm honest I didn't choose these because of this, as the damaging consequences of this whole brand won't be solved by one range of their garments using less water. Whilst it is good that they are noticing consumers demands, it is essentially greenwashing. We're all on our own routes to being more sustainable, and I want to be honest about the steps I'm taking and to document these throughout. Whilst I haven't bought any fast fashion items in many many months, this one was a necessity to me in my situation. I wear these jeans everyday for work and they have definitely had their life cycle worth already! I'm unlikely to change clothing sizes and if anything needs to be repaired on them, I'm now quite handy on the sewing machine, so they should last me a long time.

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I hope that these ideas can be useful to help inspire you to stop buying new where possible, and if available to you, choose a more earth friendly approach to shopping. Additionally, to give you a little reminder that nobody on their way to being eco friendly is perfect, it's all a learning process! 💚