Sustainable fashion

Photo: Becca McHaffie, Unsplash

The fashion and clothing industry is one of the biggest in the world – and also one of the most polluting and damaging to people and planet.

We can all make changes to how we acquire, wear and dispose of our clothing to help reduce waste and support sustainable, ethical practices. This may be shopping slower, less often and for better quality, natural fabrics and ethically made items; shopping secondhand; swapping; or even making.

We’ve compiled a list of resources to help you get started.

Awareness – what happens to our ‘used’ clothes

  • Dead White Man’s Clothes – a multi-media project based in Accra, Ghana, exploring what happens in the largest ‘used’ clothing market in Ghana and perhaps West Africa. For a brief look into the market and the impact of secondhand clothing on Ghanaian society please watch the research ‘trailer’ below

  • Fashion and Degrowth Discussion Panel – from Extinction Rebellion April 2021. Approx one hour watch. In a groundbreaking conversation, XR co-founder Clare Farrell and Giorgos Kallis, ecological economist and one of the principal advocates of degrowth theory, talk about why modern Western society is so unnerved by ideas of degrowth, what we need to enact alternative visions to modern growth-based development and and how to apply them to an industry built on unfettered expansionism.

Local charity & secondhand shops

Upcycling/recycling

  • Emmaus – Selling upcycled and restored items to raise money to support their community, which is home to 39 people working hard to rebuild their lives following homelessness.
  • Recover – A Welwyn Garden City-based charity and social enterprise offering upcycled furniture
  • Sew Enjoyable – A St Albans-based business offering sewing classes and workshops.

Educational resources

  • The True Cost film – a must-watch movie about the clothes we wear, the people who make them, and the impact the industry is having on our world.
  • Fashion Revolution – a key campaigner for a clean, safe, fair, transparent and accountable fashion industry through research, education, collaboration, mobilisation and advocacy.
  • EcoAge – a fashion-focused sustainability consultancy with an insightful blog.
  • Soil Association – key information on why organic fabrics and home textiles are so important to sustainability.
  • Conscious Chatter podcast – an engaging and insightful podcast covering all aspects of sustainable fashion.
  • Traid, Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development

Tools & apps

  • Good on You – sustainable and ethical fashion brand ratings
  • Done Good – list of brands that do good for people, animals and the planet
  • Depop – use the app to buy and sell preloved fashion
  • Ebay – use this resell giant to shop secondhand and from charities
  • Thrift + – shop and donate secondhand fashion
  • Project 333 – wear just 33 items for 3 months and get back all the joy you were missing while you were worrying about what to wear

Sustainable fashion inspiration

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