Our never abating appetite for what we perceive to be current fashion is causing waste on a monumental scale.
Very often our clothes are out of style within a couple of months, and what does it matter? The garment didn’t cost that much so we don’t mind throwing it away and replacing it with the next best thing.
This attitude toward our clothing choice has created a throw away generation. A generation trying to keep up with the latest blogger look, a Pinterest mood, or celebrity image. Reflecting for a moment on our grandparents generation, the thought of using an item once and then throwing it away would have seemed ridiculous, frivolous, and wasteful. In fact in the 1980s, the average American bought 12 new articles of clothing per year; now it's an average of 68 new pieces/year. Of those 68 items, half of them are worn 3 times or less and then discarded. This is madness!
Of the total fibre input used for clothing, it is estimated that 87% ends up being incinerated or disposed of in a landfill. However, it’s not just the physical waste, but also the manufacturing waste. To think that it can take the equivalent of 24 years of a persons drinking water to make one single cotton jacket - In total this equates to around 93 billion cubit meters of water per year. Then there’s Global synthetic material manufacture that requires almost 342 million barrels of oil per year. I could go on here…..
Like me you may be thinking “I don’t waste my clothes, this doesn’t apply to me, I donate my clothes.” But, and it’s a big but, donating your clothes isn’t always going to make a change. Just one Salvation Army store in New York produces over 18 tons of unwanted clothes every three days, most of this is made up of cheap and poorly made garments.
The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of annual global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. At this pace it’s greenhouse gas emissions will surge another 50% by 2030 - worldbank.org
Fast, affordable fashion is everywhere these days, in fact studies show 61% of buyers have no interest in quality long-lasting clothing, with over 25% preferring cheaper clothes that only last one season. This waste Paradigm is supported by the fast fashion industry.
What is fast fashion? It is inexpensive clothing, produced at a rapid rate. Garments are made quickly, really quickly. It’s about catching, or in some cases creating a new trend as regularly as possible, cheap and quick. With some retailers releasing new clothing lines in just 48 hours, from knock off design to being available in store. One major retailer now has up to 52 seasons a year, with a new line out almost every week. This compares to the host of higher end fashion brands releasing new clothing lines in seasons, sometimes just a couple a year. They spend months, designing, sourcing, manufacturing, and distributing and all that takes close to two years.
“Fashion waste is on a whole new level and it’s down to the consumer to do something about this,” - Lee Lucas, principal and CEO of the Fashion Retail Academy
For some of us who like to support these quality brands and go against the tide from choosing the fast fashion retailers, how can protecting our clothes so they last longer and are worn longer be beneficial?
By wearing clothes 9 months longer reduces the carbon footprint of the item by 30%.
We help slow the ongoing wastage of natural resources and cut down on manufacturing and production Co2 emissions.
Wearing our clothes a little longer massively reduces the environmental impact of our clothes and lessens our personal fashion carbon footprint.
Make our clothes feel a little more special in the wardrobe
Having all this in mind ttogs created the Ela range to support our customers, to reduce their personal fashion footprint by protecting clothes so they stay clean, protected, and as fresh as possible whilst still looking great on the hanger.