War on Waste - Fast Fashion Take Outs

If ever there was an argument for slowing down fashion manufacturing and consumption, it came across beautifully in episode 3 of ABC's The War on Waste by Craig Reucassel. We loved the whole series as it spelt out the issues we are facing with facts, stakeholder experiences and offered SOLUTIONS - practical solutions that we can all adopt.

Here are the key points we took out of last night's episode that zeroed in on Fast Fashion and coffee cups (of which we will never ever use again.......)

- Addiction to fast fashion has created a massive waste. We are manufacturing more than we could ever wear and it's now one of the leading causes of landfill waste in Australia

- On average each Australian spends $2,000 on clothing a year with three fifths of that being thrown out within the year of purchase

- Six tonnes of discarded clothing is being thrown out every ten minutes in Australia

- We are not thinking about the resources it takes to make the clothing, to produce one t-shirt, 2700 litres of water is used - crazy to throw that away!

- While intentions are good, donating clothing also has its issues. The Smith Family in Australia receives 13 million kilos of clothing a year, it's donations are broken down to:

Solutions

- Slow down your buying habit, think before you buy - do you really need it? What is it going to go with and where are you going to wear it?

- Buy pieces that will last the distance (not ever for a one off). Quality fabric and quality make that will not collapse in the first wash.

- Shop your own wardrobe and take some time to put looks together from the pieces that you have. If you need a hand, contact a stylist as they are guns at wacking together new looks 

- Swap clothes with your friends and family 

- Make sure you edit your donations, don't give anything that can't be worn ie: holes/stains  

It's going to come to us - the power of consumers. We can choose where we shop, what we buy, how we buy it - step by step we can make a difference.

To watch the series and learn more facts about the impact of waste, check it out here.