Clothes waste: How to be part of the solution, not the problem

Buy second-hand. And we are not just talking about rummaging through your local charity shop hoping to find the bargain of the century – although we are not knocking that either. In the world in which we live we have sites such as Vinted, Depop, Facebook Marketplace, eBay and many, many more.

By shopping second hand – or vintage if you’d rather – you will be able to rejoice in the fact that you are very on-trend. US fashion resale was worth $15.6 billion in 2015 and is now worth $55.3 billion. Vinted is the number one retailer in France by sales volume. And we all know the French know a thing or two about style.

If just 10 per cent of Irish consumers shifted a decent chunk of their spending to second-hand retailers, not only would they get some cool bargains, they would be sending a signal to fast fashion that change is necessary.

If you are buying, try and buy from small, local businesses where possible. And there are many of them: Fresh Cuts in Dublin city centre; Slowstreet in Blackrock, Co Dublin; Ohh! By Gum in Clifden; Pure Clothing in Ballina; and YAWUW (you are what you wear) in Cork.

How to be better at keeping your clothes alive for longer

The shocking waste in the clothes we wear

Reactions to Re-turn: From ‘it adds car journeys’ to ‘an incentive for people to litter less’

‘How do we make less money?’ Re-turn continues to break records with cash it actively doesn’t want

If you are going to a swanky wedding or a ball in a castle or some such, rather than spending an absolute fortune on a frock you’ll wear once, why not consider renting one from the likes of Drobey, HappyDaysRental or The 105?

And when you are shopping, try – in so far as it is possible – to prioritise quality over quantity and natural fibres (organic cotton, certified wool, linen) over synthetic (polyester, acrylic).

When you are in shops or shopping online, look for sustainable fabric certifications such as GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard), OCS (Organic Content Standard), RWS (Responsible Wool Standard), and RCS (Recycled Claim Standard). It is not going to solve the problem but it might go some way to not making it worse.

[ Use your clothes for nine months more and reduce their environmental footprint by up to 30%Opens in new window ]

It is hard to do any serious research while standing on a shop floor with a pair of jeans in your hand, so do some before you shop using resources like Good On You. It is most illuminating and easy to use.

And finally, borrow from second World War Britain and make do and mend. Repairing a hole in a wool jumper saves more than 16kg of CO2e, which is the equivalent of leaving a lightbulb on for 50 days. You get to hang on to a jumper you might love, and it is just a matter of saying ‘darn it’.