Our Wardrobe’s Repurposed Life!
Did you know? Extending the life of clothes by an extra 9 months of active use reduces carbon, waste and water footprints by around 20–30% each. Surprising, isn’t it? How the simplest of practices can have a big positive impact on our planet.
Many of us enjoy going shopping and exploring the latest fashion trends. Constantly filling wardrobes with varied collections of outfits, wearing them a few times and discarding them as soon as the trend changes. Ever wondered when did fashion become so easily disposable? Have you ever considered where all the discarded clothing ends up after you dump it?
According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, one garbage truck of textiles is discarded every second — and a lot of this waste is still wearable. There is absolutely no need for textiles to make their way into a bin as this is both a significant environmental loss and a missed business opportunity. Clothes are sometimes abandoned for insignificant reasons. One must consider an imperative solution to make the best out of this situation — Repairing or Mending! Mending is a slow fashion practice that embraces imperfection while making small repairs to the clothing we already own. From repairing wear and tear, stains and missing buttons to creating something new using the worn out old clothing, repairing has been in practice since the coon’s age (a very long time). Rather than encouraging fast fashion’s disposable culture, people in earlier times used to improvise, restore, and even upcycle their garments.
Joan Crawford (American Actress) once said, “Care for your clothes. Like the good friends they are.”
Think of all the clothes you’ve ever purchased and discarded just after two or three uses. Consider the monetary investment and environmental cost of every single garment being made. Isn’t it terrible to both our planet and economy?
Discarding clothes into trash bins just ends up brutally harming the environment. Why not reuse such clothes to give them another life! Following are some simple ways to make use of your old clothes effectively and efficiently-
1. Recycle by purchasing/selling second hand
Extend the life of your clothes by recycling them, and put less strain on the environment. Give your garments a second chance and resell the pieces that you don’t wish to keep which will further help you to generate profit out of your wardrobe. Not just the mass reaching brands but one can also buy pre-loved items from luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, Fendi etc., on third-party e-commerce platforms. Today, some of the biggest e-commerce websites are stepping up their recycling game by reselling second-hand items, such websites are The Real Real (based out of US, sells globally), thredUP (based out of US, sells in US and Canada), or apps like Poshmark (based out of US, sells globally), Depop (based out of UK, sells globally), and CoutLoot (based out of India, sells in India), which makes it easier to connect buyers and sellers and get great deals on pre-loved items from both mass and luxury brands.
2. Reuse what you already own
Begin with taking good care of your wardrobe (for each and every item that you own) and make the best out of them. Be innovative and experiment with existing clothes by pairing them with different attires, master new styling tricks/ techniques from your old outfits. Try to mix-and-match clothes with accessories to enhance your look, for instance one can make use of a scarf as a belt on dresses and jeans, a strappy black bodycon dress can be worn in 2–3 complete different ways, making it look unique every time you wear it. With simple and useful DIYs or hacks, one can easily mend or even rebuild a ripped item of clothing into a whole new garment. For example, upcycling old jeans into trendy denim shorts, styling old t-shirts using patch work embroidery or by renewing it into a crop top.
3. Repurpose by altering old clothing
Repurpose old pieces of clothes by altering and create the best out of unused or damaged items. Get crafty, look into ways to alter outdated clothes and upgrade them into something new. Your old quilted jacket that you no longer adorn due to its wear and tear, can be put to use to create something as comfy as sliders. You can even revamp your old woolen sweater into creating a beautiful cushion cover. Using embellished saree or any other garment to make tote bags or wallets out of it, is another great idea to bring something old/damaged to use. There are countless other possibilities when repurposing old clothes, like making pet clothes, reusable grocery bags, aprons, head-bands, scrunchies, hair-ties, chokers, washable cotton pads, tablecloth, rugs, quilts and cleaning cloth!
4. Donate
One can put clothes to a good cause by giving away reusable items either to help people in need or to brands that run recycling campaigns. NGOs such as Goonj (based out of Delhi), Uday Foundation (based out of Delhi), Pahel (based out of Delhi), Asha Bhawan (based out of Haryana) etc., give a provision to people to donate clothes that they no longer require. Many brands have launched recycling clothing campaigns to encourage people to bring more and more unwanted clothes in return for discount vouchers/ rewards. Swedish clothing brand, H&M invites people to give away their discarded clothes for recycling and offer a 15% discount voucher on the next purchase at any H&M store. Likewise Levi’s- The most trusted denim brand offers a 20% discount on regular-priced Levi’s items in exchange for an old item given away by the customers.
It’s high time that we increase awareness of our garment purchasing and usage choices. If we pay a little more attention to our wardrobe, we and our clothes can live a little longer!