After writing sometime back about how some UK high street stores are now offering and encouraging recycling schemes I wanted to investigate this further. Where do all these clothes go that we donate through such schemes and even through our humble charity shop? And is this really as sustainable as we think?
Every year over a million tonnes of textiles are thrown away in the UK alone. At least half of that is recyclable but we only currently recycle about 25%. When we do thoughtfully donate our unwanted garments we do it with the best intentions, hoping they will go to someone who will enjoy it as we did and raise money for the multitude of charities we now pass them on to. However after a little research it seems that this is not quite how it works. Apparently second-hand clothing merchants buy the majority of donated clothing which is then sorted and bundled and then sold on outside of the country. A whopping third of all donated clothes globally goes to sub-Saharan Africa where 300 bales can be sold for £25,000. These cheap and often low quality garments flood these poor communities eroding many local textile and garment industries and eradicating beautiful craftsmanship and handiwork skills at the same time. Some of the textiles that are unusable as clothing gets passed onto other textile processors who turn them into wiping cloths or other things such as insulation, toy stuffing and carpet padding. Of course it is far better to donate or recycle old clothing than to send it to landfill but does the idea that we are doing some good by doing this makes us feel that is ok to just buy more? The second-hand clothing sector helps this feel sustainable when actually the rate of consumption is anything but. If we really want to pass these on to be reused maybe we could to try other ideas such as clothes swapping or maintaining our clothing? Many items are discarded because they need repairing or are stained which could all be dealt with by us if we were willing. Sewing is a useful skill to learn and one all our grandmothers would have done. Stains can be dealt with by dying a different colour. Buttons can be quickly re-attached and holes darned or patched. Some could even but used for the kid's dressing up box! But the biggest and most important message from this, I believe, is to buy less and buy better quality. That way we won't want to throw or give garments away. We will cherish them and they will last longer than the latest trend or fad from the glossy magazines. Ismay x #SustainableFashion #SecondHandClothes #BuyLess Related Posts How to Shop for Second-hand Fashion Top Tips for Selling your Clothes Now I am starting to source fabrics for the launch collection I am beginning to realise just how difficult this is. I want to use not only sustainable fabrics such as organic cotton or bamboo but also want the fabrics and components such as zips and buttons to be made in Britain. I can hopefully be more certain of the suppliers ethics and the product's provenance if I am sourcing from UK manufacturers. However I am making it doubly hard for myself in wanting both eco credentials and British made goods.
There seems to be very little organic cloth available in the UK at the moment but I am hoping this will increase over time. I have discovered Discovery Knitting (excuse the pun!) who knit GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified organic jerseys and are based near me. So that's my t-shirts and sweatshirts covered with very little fuel emissions at my end. There is also the Organic Textile Company who are based in Wales and hold a varied range of fabrics from denim to cotton poplin for shirts. They buy in their fabrics from GOTS certified mills in India, Turkey and China, many of which are made on small hand looms in an artisanal way. The company return some of their profits to help the Indian weavers they work with and support local initiatives. I would rather use British made goods to create an authentically British product but I shall have to compromise on this until more becomes available. Offset Warehouse have a variety of sustainable fabrics that are ethically sourced but none were suitable for what I needed. Both these companies will not be able to cover all my fabric needs so I am also looking into a some British woollen weavers who are over 175 years old. It would be amazing to include this textile heritage into the collection, even though they don't stock organic products. As for components and trims there are not many UK manufacturers left. I managed to find one button manufacturer Courtney & Co. who use corozo to make buttons. These are made from the nut of the Tagua tree from central America, which is a highly sustainable and eco-friendly material. However they only make one style of button and I will need more than that so again I will have to re-think my options until I can find other products. So if anyone can recommend any UK textile mills making sustainable fabrics or UK manufacturers making eco friendly components please let me know :-) Ismay x #SustainableFashion #OrganicFabrics #MadeInBritain Related Posts Design Decisions Meet the Manufacturer The Creative Process While we have seen for some years now the use of recycled plastic bottles into fleeces there are some other amazing innovations happening that are pushing the boundaries of textiles. As textile manufacturing and garment product is such a dirty, polluting business many clever eco-minded people have been working on different ways to make the next generation of textiles. Many of these have been created from weird and wonderful things you would never imagine wearing.
Fancy wearing some tea or coffee? Well, an eco-milk fibre has been produced by a micro-biology student, Anke Domaske. Qmilch is made from the protein from sour milk which is similar to silk, yet far less expensive. Recycled coffee beans have been transformed into performance fabrics by high tech sports company Virus. A similar product is already being used by big names like North Face, Puma and Timberland. And fermented tea has been made into a vegetable leather called Kombucha by fashion designer Suzanne Lee. While they are not strictly edible (I know but the title sounded good!) these scientific developments could become very important as the need to become sustainable is more widely accepted. There are many other designers looking at similar innovative ideas. Irene Marie-Selig was recently awarded the Kering Award for Sustainable Fashion for her Amadou mushroom skin, which is another cruelty free alternative to leather. Mushroom is now being looked at to create other products such as takeaway coffee cups and even surfboards! Bamboo is another material that I believe we will start to see much more of in our clothes (ok, we don't eat it but pandas do!) It is anti-bacterial, highly absorbent and needs far less water than cotton during farming. Ismay x #TextileInnovation #SustainableFashion #EdibleClothes Following on from my last post I thought it would interesting to look at our laundry and how washing and drying our clothes impacts on the environment. Ok, so in a garment's lifecycle 75-80% of its environmental impact comes after its bought from washing and drying. That is massive in comparison to the energy it takes to manufacture the garments themselves. That's why it's so important that we all learn to be greener with our laundry. Not only will we help to save energy but also our own time and money too!
Reports by Proctor and M&S show that 90% of the energy used comes from heating the water alone. 13,500 gallons of water are consumed by the average household for about 400 loads of laundry. That's sounds staggering but to put it into some sort of visual perspective imagine it like this; a washing machine lasts about 11 years and the water used in that time would provide drinking water for 6 people for a lifetime or fill 3 swimming pools! Here are some helpful tips: 1) Using a washing machine with a high energy rating means it will be more efficient. 2) We all know that running a tumble dryer is expensive and energy munching but did you know that a if you use a dryer 200 times a year you will use half a tonne of CO2? Hanging them out to dry will mean the clothes last longer as there is less wear and tear and you get the exercise too! 3) This is a no brainer, but wear your clothes more than once! Garments such as jeans and knitwear will benefit from being washed far less as they fade and bobble with over washing. You consume up to five times less energy by wearing your jeans at least three times. And, of course, always run a full load to maximise the energy usage. 4) Use ecologically sound detergents. Not only are there hidden nasties in our clothes from manufacture but then we put more on them when we wash them. These chemicals can easily effect young skins and then go into the water systems damaging wildlife. Bio-degradable products that are phosphate free are the way to go. Concentrated detergents have a much smaller carbon footprint too due to less packaging & shipping. You could even replace your fabric softener with a cup of white vinegar to save money and the planet. Our grandparents used many non-toxic stain removing and bleaching tricks with common kitchen cupboard items and to great effect. These can be easily found on the net if you are interested. 5) We are all being told to wash at a lower temperature these days and it really does make a big difference. Washing at 30 degrees uses 40% less electricity. It will reduce colour loss and fabric damage too. However I must add that towels, bedding and underwear should be washed at a higher temperature to remove bacteria. While I am a big advocate of washing less already even I will adopt more of these tips. I hope they can help you too :-) Ismay x I chose to look at the different clothing brands in my blog so far because they were each doing something to be sustainable. Some of them are not the most sustainable fashion brands there are but I was trying to look at ones who stock or make childrenswear.
The four R's of sustainable fashion are Repair; as evidenced by the Trouser brand HebTroCo, Recycle; as shown by Devon label Quba & Co., Re-sell which is utilised by M&S & Oxfam and lastly Reduce; which is shown by most of the brands mentioned in their efforts to reduce waste and carbon emissions. I also believe there should a fifth 'R' here which would be to Re-think. We all need to re-think our mass consumption of every type of product especially fashion. What's more there needs to be a total re-think in way we all live and work to have less impact on the planet. Although I do think it's some progress that the brands I have talked about are doing something, is it enough? Should there be more thought about the longevity of the product? Should they be encouraging us as consumers to 'buy less, choose well, and wear more' as Vivienne Westwood once said? Some other brands who have cleverly thought about some of these issues are Little Circle who buy back their garments after use, Mud Jeans (non childrenswear so only get a quick shout out!)who lease their Jeans to their customers and also Patagonia. The 4 R's stand central to Patagonia core values, so although they don't do kids clothes they deserve recognition. This is manifested by careful product design to ensure longevity & reduce waste, garment aftercare such as stain removal advice & free repair and recycling and reselling unwanted garments. I could write so much more about this inspiring company but maybe you should find out more yourself? So to end I have to say If Patagonia can do all they do using the 4 R's and be profitable then why can't more brands? This is what drives and inspires me going forward to set up my boys clothes label. So watch this space! Ismay x #LittleCircle #PatagoniaClothing #MudJeans #SustainableFashion Did you know that good old Marks & Spencer's, that stalwart of British brands, have a clothing exchange scheme run in conjunction with Oxfam? I must have been asleep and missed it, but if you bring in your old, unwanted clothes to an M & S store and pop them in their 'shwop' box they are then either resold, reused or recycled and help Oxfam to fund lots of worthwhile charitable projects all over the world.
This brilliant partnership has raised an estimated £16 million through the collection of over 20 million items since 2008. And there is more joy in this! - every time you 'shwop' you can collect 50 spark points if you show your 'shwopping' card at the till before unburdening yourself of your unwanted articles. These points entitle you to different special offers. You can also drop off your swopping at Oxfam stores instead and if you have an item of M & clothing in the bag then they will give you a £5 M&S voucher in return - not bad eh! You can also 'shwop' shoes, accessories and soft furnishings and not a stitch is wasted. Every year 1 billion items of clothing or approximately 500,000 tonnes are sent to landfill. This project is helping us to move away from the idea of disposable fashion which is well needed in my opinion. Some of the projects that have been funded in the third world include providing clean water, business training for women and community farming. I have recently been utilising H&M's 'garment collection initiative' whereby you chuck a bag of unwanted natty threads into their recycling bins and receive a 25% discount voucher off your next shop of £25 or more. They have gathered more than 32 tonnes of garments since 2013 and have made collections from these recycled clothes. Some are sold seconde hand to be re-worn and some are turned into textiles fibres which are used for things like insulation. The H&M Foundation has partnered with the Hong Kong Institute of Technologies to develop technologies to recycle clothes made from textile blends. H&M were awarded the Corporate Social Responsibility award last week by the fashion industry's insider magazine Draper's Record. This initiative and H&M's great commitment to organic and sustainable cotton showed that sustainability has become an intrinsic part of H&M’s business. Ismay x #M&S #Recycling #SustainableFashion #BritishHighStreet #H&M Quba & Co. are another innovational brand who manufacture in the UK. It was started by two friends with passion for sailing twenty years ago in Salcombe, Devon. Inspired by British nautical heritage they came up with the idea to re-use reclaimed canvas sailcloth and turn them into unique jackets. They had some jackets made up by a talented local seamstress that so unique that the word soon spread.
The brand's popularity and orders soon grew from local sea-farers to holidaymakers and now they sell all around the world. They now have a specialist manufacturing unit and employ eight expert craftspeople and now create a whole range of sailcloth products, which are handmade to order, including holdalls, deckchairs and cushions. To date they have 15 of their owns stores mostly at seaside locations and they also sell through their website. Their distinctively British designs are still inspired by the charismatic coastline and salt washed colours of the seaside. The brand is supported by Monty Halls the broadcaster explorer and marine biologist who can be seen around Salcombe sporting their jackets. Peter Andre has also been spotted wearing their gear too, which must be giving the brand some exciting exposure! Quba & Co. is such a good example of creative upcycling that I find so inspiring and refreshing that I now have one of their jackets on my wishlist (when I can afford it!) However I am unsure if the rest of their clothing range is made in the UK. By the way, I obviously can't use any of their imagery for this blog post so have had to include seaside pics of the Boy Wonder instead! Check them out here: http://www.quba.com/ Ismay x #QubaAndCo #UpcycledFashion #SustainableFashion #MadeInBritain Although I love Scandinavian brands I also want to champion some independent British brands that are thinking about sustainability too. One of these is Tootsamcginty whose garments are ethically made as their suppliers are registered to SEDEX (Suppliers Ethical Data Exchange) This means complete transparency in the supply chain and manufacturing techniques. Their clothes are designed to last longer with longer sleeves and hems and hardwearing fabrics. The materials they use are mostly natural and aren't chemically produced.
Frugi is another British brand who garments are made from organic cotton. One of the many great things about organic cotton is that as it contains no nasty chemicals it is less likely to trigger skin allergies which children can be prone to. Frugi's clothes are all certified by GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) and the Soil Association. This means they are also ethically sound by paying their workers guaranteed minimum wages, ensuring safe work environments and not using child labour. Their garments are again made to last with knee patches, strong seams, roll up hems and adjustable waistbands. 1% of their turnover is donated to different charities every year making their social commitment very admirable. British brand Boys & Girls also make their designs with GOTS certified organic cotton which is also FLO certified - meaning they have paid a fair price for it. They use Fairtrade cotton where they can and hope to have the entire range carrying the Fairtrade mark in the future. Their garments are designed to be practical and comfortable. Wouldn't it be great if some of these amazing brands were also made in the UK? I would love to see garment manufacturing come back to Britain but I will talk more about that another time! x #WeLoveFrugi #BoysAndGirls #Tootsa #BritishBrands #BoysFashion Another Swedish brand that I adore is Mini Rodini. It is a creative brand with a sense of playfulness and quirkiness. Their animal graphic print sweatshirts are eye-catching and funky and their photoshoots have a cool edginess to them. They are one of Scandinavia's fastest growing childrenswear brands and sell in some of the most prestigious department stores and boutiques around the world. Being very committed to sustainability and corporate social responsibility they use certified organic fabrics and recycled materials in their garments. Over 97% of their product range now consists of sustainable materials making it one of the most ecological on the market. The many different certifications they hold including GOTS, fairtrade and OeKo-tex and an annual Sustainability Report confirms this ongoing commitment. The large product range includes some fabulous outerwear, accessories and swimwear. I especially love their panther sweatshirt and wish they did one in an adult size! Long live Mini Rodini :-)
#ScandiChic #MiniRodini #BoysFashion Småfolk is old Scandinavian for 'little people' and is the name of another inspiring 'scandi' brand. This Dutch label is well loved for its funky retro all over prints, especially it's famous apple design. Their designs are much emulated and admired but no one does a repeat print quite like them. They have a nostalgia and innocence to them as well as being bright and fun. The garments are good quality which wash and wear very well which is important with messy active kids and makes them good value. The company believes in renewal and being a little bit different - both things I am passionate about. They use organic cottons which is to a GOTS standard, which simply means it is a 100% organic product. The use of organic cotton has far less impact on the environment and the cotton workers. Småfolk garments also comply to Ecotex standards meaning that they do not contain or segregate any harmful substances. You would be surprised how many children's clothes do contain harmful dyes and finishes, but more about that another time.
#ScandiChic #Småfolk #BoysFashion After living in Sweden I have a great love of Scandinavian design and especially some of their children's fashion brands. They are so fun and colourful ,maybe to brighten up their dark winter days? Polarn o Pyret is a bright and happy Swedish brand that are well known for their stripes. Their winter coats are perfect for the cold Swedish climate. They use organic cotton in their ECO collection which have a lower environmental impact. They also use recycled polyester from bottles or textile waste in their fleece jackets and recycled polyamide from fishing nets in their shell jackets and trousers. They have a strong sustainability ethos and are considered one of the greenest brands in the clothing industry. The 'boy wonder' is seen here sporting their wellies, coat and hat and as they are such good quality they can be handed down many times. They have some great all over printed long sleeved tops too and most of the range is unisex which again makes it easier for handing down so prolonging the product life.
#ScandiChic #PolarnOPyret #BoysFashion |
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