We say it all the time: It’s time to slow down fast fashion.
100 billion new clothes are made every year. The energy needed to manufacture them emits more CO2 than aviation and shipping combined! And with about 100,000 flights taking off everyday, that’s a lot of CO2! The industry also uses the equivalent to 31 million Olympic sized swimming pools worth of water every year. And the dyes and chemicals used in the manufacturing process often end up polluting our rivers and oceans. Meanwhile, 3 out of 4 items of clothing end up burned or in landfill, and just 1% are recycled into new clothes.
Our fast fashion addiction and obsession with trends mean we are creating a constant demand for new clothes, most of which are never even worn! In the U.K., the average person buys 33 new items of clothing each year, and will typically only wear ⅓ of them.
It’s these wasteful practises that mean fast fashion is the second biggest industry contributing to climate change. It’s time to change our ways and slow down fast fashion.
“To stay within 1.5°C warming by 2050, we need to reduce emissions by 45% by 2030. The fashion industry alone could prevent us from achieving net zero."
All of us can do something to help - from shopping less to extending the life of our clothes - and one of the easiest and cheapest ways to shop more sustainably is to buy second hand. This isn’t a new concept to most of us as charity shops are a very familiar part of our high streets - however, it is becoming more and more popular as our we become more aware of fast fashion's impact on the environment. We’ve seen boycotts of fast fashion chains led through social media, an ever increasing demand for second hand clothes and a whole lot more accountability within the industry!
On average, each item that’s bought second hand rather than new, saves approximately 4kg of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere and 5,000-10,000 litres of water (this is how much water it can take to produce 1kg of Cotton)!* This is what it would take to drive 10 miles & take 25 baths...for each item! We’re really proud that in 2021 so far, shoppers have bought over 65,000 items from Thrift+. That’s a lot of water and a lot of carbon saved (yay!)
We’re revolutionising the fashion industry and are on a mission to introduce 1 million shoppers to re-selling and shopping second-hand clothes.
If you want to help us spread the word, know that each new person is a step in the right direction on the way to creating a circular fashion economy.
#1millionshoppers
If you have any questions about changing your fashion habits please do email us at hello@thrift.plus - we will be happy to help. You can also connect with us on Instagram at @we_are_thrift where we share slow fashion knowledge, outfit inspiration and exciting updates!
*Source: Fixing fashion: clothing consumption and sustainability, Environmental Audit Committee, UK Parliment. Feb 2019.