Thrift and consignment store purchasing isn’t always just a manner to store touch money — it’s also grown to be an antidote to the “speedy style” that is taking a toll on earth, says a commercial enterprise proprietor who facilitates human beings discover “pre-loved” fashions.
“Fast fashion tells us to shop, for now, purchase loads, purchase these days because the following day the trend will trade… And so the waste simply piles up and it fills the landfills,” says Lynnette Regehr, who owns Sustainably Styled — a Winnipeg-based totally pop-up shop.
She also does private thrift shopping and holds domestic events in Winnipeg.
“As I started getting to know greater about the environmental effect that fashion has at the Earth and on people living close to wherein production happens, I made it extra of an aware choice to interchange to shopping for almost all of my garb pre-loved,” Regehr stated.
According to groups consisting of Forbes and Greenpeace, consumers globally buy four hundred according to cent more garb nowadays than they did two many years in the past. More than eighty billion clothes are produced every 12 months.
According to the UK observe, nearly a 3rd of clothes in closets there hadn’t been worn in extra than 12 months.
That’s why Winnipeg personal stylist Monique Andrew — a.K.A Style Hunter Fox — takes the time to check local 2d-hand shops whilst purchasing for her customers.
“I love consignment shops. It’s a wonderful manner for human beings to likely promote their fashion that they may be now not sporting in an effort to purge and maybe get something out of their authentic investment, and you could locate extraordinary things,” says Andrew.
“The planet can’t take care of the whole thing that it is producing. We have extra than sufficient already in existence for anything that we ought to likely need.”
Sustainable layout, second-hand garments: How you can turn out to be an aware style shopper
Food waste and ‘rapid fashion’ harming the environment, says waste authority
Andrew spends numerous time in consignment and thrift shops, doing non-public searching for customers like Crystal Thompson.
“I myself for my part am more of a conventional style so … the patterns that are available and out for about 48 seconds don’t depend to me as a great deal,” Thompson stated as she seemed thru a rack of garments Andrew curated for her.
“I assume the exceptional a laugh part of recycled or thrift or excessive-end thrift purchasing is that you may discover a higher high-quality piece for much less cash while assisting the local community and the environment too.”
According to the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion, between eight and 10 in step with cent of global greenhouse gasoline emissions are created by the fashion industry —extra than all worldwide flights and maritime transport mixed.
It takes around 7,500 liters of water to supply one pair of denim, the UN says — equivalent to the quantity of water the common man or woman beverages over a duration of seven years.
“When you hear about what takes place just because I want a pair of jeans, it just doesn’t sit down well with me in any respect,” says Regehr.
“It’s surprising due to the fact we don’t experience it right here in North America. We do not have the direct impact of that. Our waterways have not been polluted. Our consuming water has not been sullied and we are no longer sick from the value of fashion.”
Regehr encourages clients to follow the seven R’s:
Reduce.
Reuse.
Recycle.
Rent.
Repurpose.
Repair.
Research.
She says research is crucial so customers know if their clothes are made properly, sustainably and fairly, and that allows you to keep themselves, and the industry, extra accountable.
It’s the concept behind Fashion Revolution Week, which incorporates the April 24 anniversary of the collapse of the Rana Plaza garb manufacturing unit, which killed 1,138 human beings in 2013.
The Fifth Estate: Made in Bangladesh
The tragedy sparked a campaign for changes, setting strain on the fashion industry to conserve, shield and repair the environment, and give a voice to garment people — maximum of whom are girls.
