Here’s an interesting (and sad) fact…
‘More than 300,00 tonnes of used clothes goes to landfill in the UK every year, according to WRAP, the waste charity. It said that 5 percent of the UK’s total annual carbon and water footprint came from clothing consumption. Textiles release methane, a greenhouse gas as they degrade in landfill’.
I mean, who knew?
Recently I recorded an episode of my podcast – PERIODICAL – with a lady called Jade who I’ve recently started following on Instagram (@notbuyingnew). I began following her when my curiosity around how I could become more eco conscious when thinking of clothing.
Curiosity ramped right up after reading facts like the one above.
I had to get curious about how I could embark on my eco clothing journey and learn a new way to deal with what I felt was holding me back.
1. I am a self confessed clothes snob. I like branded clothing, in the latest fashion styles, my wardrobes is busting (but I never have anything to wear) , I clothes shop purely for the dopamine hit, oddly I hate the shopping part, which often negates the happy hit and I find myself wallowing in post purchase guilt, yet I still do it?
2. I grew up wearing hand me downs from my 5 older siblings (two of whom were boys), so I filed the taunts of ‘hand me down kid’ in my brain as an insult (alongside ‘cor love yourself much’ once and insult now a superpower).
Our stories from the past often drive our future, be we don’t have to lamely follow them, we can (with persistence and patience) reinvent those stories so they serve us better.
Jade was (as it turns out) a great place for me to begin my education in the lesson of ‘how to do second hand and still kill it in the style stakes’ and she is a constant source of information and ‘how to’s’.
If you want to dip your toe in the charity shop life, she’s your girl!
We’re at a time where we’re consumed with finding the next hit of happy, often we’re looking for it through clothes, bags, shoes (ohhhh shoes), food, alcohol and casual sex, but what if those were the very things that were making us feel miserable, what if those things are keeping us in a cycle of misery whilst lining the pockets of some huge companies who’s job it is to keep us spending, eating, drinking and shagging?
What if we’re all being played, what if we’re all just puppets in this huge consumer game ‘buy the pretty thing, you’ll feel better if you buy the pretty thing’, sound familiar?
What if we flipped it on it’s arse and took back control?
What if we chose to find out happy by investing in a much loved capsule wardrobe, where every item of (second hand) clothing is loved and worn, no more stuffed draws of surplus t-shirts (seriously, I have too many t-shirts).
What if our feel good came from recycling clothes and – gratuitous plug – Wear (ing) ‘em Out – knowing the we’re contributing to the health of our planet, not to mention the health of our bank balance, can I get a ‘hell yea’!
It will be a slow process for me, for sure, but I’m here for it.
Jade has promised to take me charity shop shopping (the fear is real), and I’ve just emptied my wardrobe of 2 bags of unloved and unworn clothes (the pain is real), I’m even looking into ‘swishing’, it sounds a bit like swinging only you swap your clothes in stead of partners, although the partner would probably be easier to part with *jokes*
I want to be kinder to our planet and break the overwhelming consumer cycle.
There’s plenty of happy in other areas right?
How do you feel about shopping secondhand?
Any tips you could pass on to us newbies, leave your comments below and lead the way.
