17 June 2016
Emma Watson, Margot Robbie and Lupita Nyong’o championed Sustainable Fashion at the 2016 Met Gala for the Green Carpet Challenge, raising the issue of the impact of fashion on the environment and on people. Is sustainable fashion a new trend? We hope so.
With garments of clothing costing less and less, and fashion trends being quicker and quicker, there is an increasing amount of waste produced from textiles.
An estimated £140 million worth (350,000 tonnes) of used clothing is disposed of to landfill in the UK every year. This means that every 10 mins, 7 tonnes of clothes, or 10 thousand garments of clothing, are thrown away in the UK. By going to landfill, we create waste; we lose potential resources and we also waste masses of energy used to produce the items. Clothes need energy to be produced and transported to shops. Energy is consumed when fabric is produced as well as when the item of clothing is made. By recycling clothing, you reduce raw material use, reduce water use, reduce energy use and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.
Source: Zero Waste Scotland, Valuing our Clothes Report
Livia Firth, wife of Colin (you know, Mr Darcy), started the Green Carpet Challenge to encourage eco-friendly fashion on red carpets. But beyond red carpets, there is room for sustainable fashion.
Seeking vintage clothes, buying clothes in charity shops (A useful map of charity shops in Edinburgh can be found on the website of Change Works), or buying clothes made from sustainable sources or recycled materials are solutions.
2016 is Scotland’s year of Innovation, Architecture and Design. Have you created a new textile from recycled material? Have you found a new way to re-use clothes? If yes, apply for one of our VIBES awards.