According to a recent survey made within young adults, 61% of whom said they would be so interested in sustainable fashion they would pay more for it. This is great news, but let’s face it: sustainable materials are still an emerging industry, although innovators like us are going commercial as fast as possible.
There are, however, many things everyone can do – or not do – in order to add to individual sustainability. Going sustainable often means NOT taking certain actions (anymore).
Here are 10 things you might want to avoid.
- Don’t buy stuff you don’t need, no matter how attractive the design or the price. The 30 wears rule applies here: if you don’t think you’re going to wear it 30 times, it’s not a sustainable choice.
- Don’t buy stuff without trying them on if you can avoid it – unfitting items are likely to face a very fast end of life in one way or the other.
- Don’t always buy – for a special occasion for example, why not borrow from a friend. Also, these days some clothing brands such as Bergans rent items like children’s outerwear, which is smart, as little people grow out of them fast.
- Don’t overlook new materials like Tencel, which is a very sustainable choice and has very competitive qualities compared to cotton and viscose.
- Don’t avoid flea markets (what a bad word for something so good!) and online marketplaces for pre-owned items. You can make vintage finds and bargains on new or almost new items there, in addition to making an ecological choice.
- Don’t over wash – if it doesn’t have stains, airing might be enough. Also, refreshing jeans by freezing them for a day or two effectively kills germs as well as spares the item, water and energy.
- Don’t tumble dry – that is completely unnecessary energy use, which also wears the item out way before its natural end of life. Air drying also saves you some of the hassle of ironing creased items from the dryer.
- Don’t wash polyester items, especially fleece, without a wash bag that prevents microplastics from getting into the water system. There are probably many products for this but Guppyfriend is one.
- Don’t throw your textile waste in mixed waste. There are plenty of ways of recycling all of it: selling or donating good quality items and taking the not-so-good to e.g. high street shops who collect textile waste for reuse in industrial processes. Don’t forget to include your worn out home textiles!
- Finally, the most important “don’t”. Don’t lose hope in a more sustainable world and stop making changes in your own life. Never think that the choices of just you, your family and friends would NOT make a difference. If all 7.6 billion people thought so, the planet would not stand a chance.
We all can and should just do our part.
Stay sustained <3
Emmi
Link tip recap
Millennial consumer survey: https://spinnova.com/archives/
The 30 wears campaign by Livia Firth: http://www.thesustainableedit.com/the-30-wears-campaign/
Bergans of Norway: https://www.bergans.com/en
Tencel: https://www.tencel.com/about
Guppyfriend: https://guppyfriend.com/en/
Please note that Spinnova promotes brands, products or services only as a non-paid, sincere endorsement for anything 100% sustainable or otherwise cool.
