HOW TO CHANGE FASHION HABITS FOR THE BETTER

With the world at its most crucial point of global warming, being more sustainable has never been more important. With companies making drastic changes to become more sustainable it's clear we ourselves have to do our part too. The fashion industry is actually the second biggest pollutant in the world as many factors contribute to this. Factors such as fabric dye in clothes polluting waters, factories producing thousands of garments, microfibers in clothes polluting the ocean (around half a million tonnes), 73% of all clothes ending up in landfill or for incineration, and cotton farms polluting local land and using up around 10,000 litres of water for every 1kg of cotton. Fashion has a huge impact on our earth and our input to these industries is vital.

There are many ways us as consumers can shop more sustainably, sustainable being in the context of maintaining our environment and making it last. One small change we can make with a big impact is reduced the amount of clothes we buy, in the words of Vivienne Westwood “buy less, choose well, make it last”. With the average person spending around $161 per month on clothes, a lot of us have owned up to spending more and most of us only wear 1/3 of our wardrobe anyways and other statistics have shown that “one in three women, the biggest segment of consumers, consider garment worn once or twice to be old”.

With fast fashion brands encouraging us daily to purchase from them with their heavy advertising and constant sales, collaborations and drops, it's easy to be drawn in as the consumer but we must resist and reduce the amount we purchase and instead ask “do I really need this ". Another easy trick to make you rethink what you’re about to buy is think whether the item will last you a long time and if you can't wear it with at least five outfits is it really worth buying? Fast fashion brands are a huge damage to our environment as statistics show that textile production contributes more to climate change then international aviation and shipping combined. If you are really set on an item of clothing have you tried looking on apps such as ‘Depop’, ‘eBay’ and ‘vinted’, as many sellers operate on here and you could find the items you are looking for or one similar being sold second hand or even sometimes brand new and unworn. Purchasing from sustainable and ethical brands is a great way to encourage change and benefit the environment too there are many sustainable brands out there small or big, expensive or cheap they’re out there and are currently the best way to be shopping.

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