As 2020 is increasingly putting more pressure on us about the environments and our societies health this message is more important than ever. Everything you do has an affect on everything around you. It’s that karmatic effect, what you do now effects your future and that is just true. So the next time you go to declutter and clean out your closet think about what to do next. To often clothes get thrown out, “out of sight, out of mind”. While that saying may be true there are so many issues with it, its not healthy for you, nor the planet. Here’s why.
In America we all have this “bigger is better” mindset, and that through material goods we can prove to one another we are “better” or more “valuable” than someone who has less than you. With this limiting mindset we are all contributing to the wicked problem of waste on earth. For example, as time goes on and our material mindsets grow, so do our land fills. We are now buying more clothing than ever in a year and using them for half the time as they did 15 years ago, Therefore generating more waste and not even using what was purchased for its potential lifespan. An average American throws away approximately 81 pounds of used clothing per person, per year. On average, nationally, it costs cities $45 per ton to dispose of old clothing. We are literally thowing out pounds of money, and material. The average lifetime of a piece of clothing is approximately 3 years, and with todays norm of fast fashion, many clothes turn into a one time use and to worsen that, they’re made from cheap synthetics across the globe which may take hundreds of years to decompose and have a massive carbon footprint. The popularity of fast fashion is destroying us, we need to normalize reducing how often we shop, start reusing our clothes, and start recycling what we can no longer use. If the average life of clothing was extended by just three months, it would reduce their carbon and water footprints, as well as waste generation, by five to 10 percent. Something that is so small, can be the start one of the most important changes on the planet, and what the world doesn’t know is that nearly 100% of fabrics and materials are recyclable! We have so many small solutions that in the end all equate to one massive change. I think the issue is, is that we all have a “were damned if we do were damned if we don’t mentally or that “I alone cant fix the planet so why try” but this is so so wrong. Yes, climate change and the waste issue of the world is rather gloomy and a big problem to face but the fact is… we need to start thinking locally, and not globally. Start with small changes, at the root of the problem, our mentalities. With that said, once you change your mind, and become aware of the problem all thats left to do is educate yourself and make conscious actions in your daily life. So let’s do just that. What happens when you throw out your clothes? Back to that statistic a bout each person throwing out 81 pounds of clothing a year… that turns into 26 billion pounds a year with the entire population of ONLY the United States and Canada, let that sink in. Before we talked briefly about synthetic clothes that are typically the cheapest and more often than not- terrible quality which makes it a perfect contender for having a short life span in your closet. These synthetics that you get shipped half way across the world for a one time use produce 400% more carbon emissions per item per year than your typical quality clothing item, to make it worse when they end up in the landfills, they release toxic greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane into the environment. On top of that, landfills are already the 3rd largest source of atmospheric methane on the planet, and we just continue to add to the issue of released emissions. Clothing waste ALONE accounts for 10% of all carbon emissions on the planet, and half of what ends up there doesn’t need to be. Truth is, just because it may not be wearable doesn’t mean it won’t serve a purpose and that its ready for the trash. These items can have a second life in your home as dishrags or recycled and turned into insulation. The amount of energy and water consumed to just create one pair of jeans is a-lot more than it would cost to take the time to drop off your bag of clothed at a donation center, or to even better- learn how to sew. Statistics show that 60% of people admit to not donating their clothes because theydeemed them as unusable. But its better to be safe than sorry! When you cant fix or repurpose your clothing at home, donating them is always the next best thing. Want to talk about a quick and cheap way to having a funky and cool closet? THRIFTING! Donating not only helps people find affordable clothing and home supplies, but also supplies jobs, helps your community, and reduces waste. Most donation centers also have the resources to redirect your tattered clothing to real recycling centers to become carpet padding, insulation, and a variety of other useful and needed things!! There are so many alternatives for your clothes rather than the trash and more and more are appearing everyday, even shops like H&M have created change within their stores that make it even easier for consumers to recycle and get educated. H&M’s garment collection initiative that they set up helps keep textiles in use, rather than in the landfill. H&M says that “By allowing customers to drop off (any) used clothing in any of our stores around the world for reuse and recycling, and by recycling the collected recyclable cotton textiles into new fibers, we can offer products made with recycled cotton. Our aim is to constantly increase the use of recycled fabrics, and since 2014, we have offered collections containing 20 percent recycled cotton from collected textiles.” The company’s goal: all materials either recycled or sourced more sustainably by 2030. It’s changes and goals like these that need to be in the media more and mass discussed. In reality the possibility and opportunity for change is all around us waiting to be discovered, Climate Change can be fixed! We need to adapt our habits before we are forced to. Truthfully, there are so many ways to reduce your clothing waste. Find local recycling centers, shop brands that offer one for you, shop locally and research there manufacturing, shop thrift, learn how to sew to repair and reuse clothes, have a clothing swap with your friends, list your unwanted items on sites like depop or even sell on your instagram story. Every action starts another, change your clothings life cycle and change a statistic. Change the end of the story. More information on how & where to recycle clothing, sustainable shops, and more: https://trashisfortossers.com/how-to-recycle-old-clothing ^^DIYS & HELPFUL INFO https://recyclingcenternearme.com ^^ FIND YOUR LOCAL RECYCLING CENTERS https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/fair-trade-clothing ^^ 35 ETHICAL & SUSTAINABLE BRANDS Sources: https://www.thebalancesmb.com/textile-recycling-facts-and-figures-2878122 https://www.upworthy.com/9-reasons-you-shouldnt-throw-away-clothes-and-4-things-you-can-do-instead https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/whats-in-your-landfill-lots-of-textiles/2020/01/27/7d43830c-364c-11ea-bb7b-265f4554af6d_story.html
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