Want to be more sustainable?
Here are a few suggestions and a bit of an update about what some retailers are doing:
The fashion industry causes 10% of all green house gas emissions, producing more emissions than all international flights and shipping combined.
And did you know that every second one garbage truck full of textiles is burned or sent to landfill.
So, what can we do about this? I thought I’d share with you a few retail initiatives and suggestions.
Shop second hand –
Have you come across Thrift+?
Thrift+ is founded on the belief that charity shoppers deserve the same quality shopping experience as regular shoppers. It’s a site where you can buy or sell good quality second hand clothing. Their vision is to create the single best destination to shop for second-hand clothes online. Thrift+ give a 33% of the selling price to charity. High Street charity shops only give 19% of the final selling price to charity because of their high overheads. It’s an easy site to shop for High Street and designer labels and has lots of filters to narrow down your search and also offers a 30 day refund policy.
Thrift+ estimate that over 50,000 bags of clothing are donated everyday in London alone, so you should have plenty of choice. In the past 12 months the business has raised over £150,000 for charity and diverted 10’s of thousand of items from landfill.
Cos –
You can now buy and sell second hand Cos clothing. You just register on their site to either sell your Cos clothing that you no longer need or have the opportunity to purchase second hand Cos garments.
Celtic and Co. –
They have been around for 30 years but a retailer I thought was worth mentioning, particularly this time of year because of their style of merchandise. They create natural, timeless and sustainable knitwear, footwear and outerwear and 75% of their products are made in Britain. They pride themselves on sourcing their materials from yarn specialists that have the highest ethical standards in the industry. And they have been recently nominated by Drapers magazine for ‘women’s footwear brand of the year’.
Charnos –
Tights are the plastic straws of fashion, they are mostly made from nylon, a plastic-based synthetic fibre derived from coal and crude oil. Nylon production is thirsty, energy hungry and generates nitrous oxide – a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than CO2 and it takes at least 30 years to decompose. Charnos have made a recycled range available in 15, 40 and 70 denier, at £6.99. By using offcuts from current tight production and adopting repurposing methods they claim to cut emissions by 80% and reduce water consumption by 90%. Available at UKtights.com
Reve En Vert –
This is a site if you want a bit of luxury, so not for your everyday shop. It has been referred to as “the Net-a-porter of sustainable fashion”. It offers a unique curation of luxury ethical and sustainable fashion, jewellery and accessories as well as organic homewear and beauty products. So, one to look at if you’re looking for a gift or for something to last the test of time.
Baukjen –
Every year, thousands of tonnes of clothes are thrown away with household waste and as much as 95% of those clothes could be recycled. So, company’s like Baukjen now offer you the opportunity to recycle your old products. They will send you a prepaid postage label so you can return your old Baukjen clothes and they’ll either donate to charity, work with their factories to repurpose them into new fabrics to use again or recycle in a sustainable way and in return they’ll send you a £20 voucher to spend on your next order.
Ikea’s new initiative –
Well ok it may not be fast fashion that they are changing but they are certainly doing their bit for furniture retail. It now has a new scheme where it will buy back old Ikea stock. If the item brought back is ‘as new’ condition customers will receive a voucher worth 50% of its original price to redeem in store. Items in slightly less perfect condition will be exchanged for vouchers worth 40% or 30% of the original price. The furniture sold back will then be made available to buy in the store’s second hand section, rebranded as ‘As Is’. Anything that can’t be resold will be recycled.
As always, if I can help in anyway, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
For more helpful styling tips why not follow me https://www.facebook.com/LesleyClarkeStyleAdvisor
or Instagram: lesleyclarkestyleadvisor
