recycled clothing

insomniax · 07-01-2009, 09:31 AM

are old clothes the most fashionable clothes

Billions of pounds worth of wearable clothes and other textiles could be saved from landfill each year if we all reused more and wasted less, according to Oxfam and the Recycle Now campaign, launching this year’s Recycle Week, which runs from 22-28 June.

A new poll conducted by Recycle Now reveals only 39 per cent of consumers consider the environmental impact of throwing clothes away and yet 63 per cent2 of our clothing is going to landfill where some of it will biodegrade in airless conditions to form methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.

In fact, we buy approximately 2 million tonnes of new clothing and textiles every year, estimated to be worth a £38 billion, but recycle or reuse just 16 per cent of what we discard. Aside from the financial cost of this, the majority of people are unaware of the harmful impact on the environment.

Production of clothes is a major drain on natural resources – it uses up 10 times more energy than the production of steel or glass. On average, each UK resident purchases around £600 worth of clothes per year and discards £400 worth. As this year’s Recycle Week kicks off and encourages us all to think about the many, easy ways we can all waste less in our daily lives.

David McCullough, Trading Director at Oxfam, is supporting Recycle Week and encouraging others to get involved. McCullough said: “Recycling clothes is just as important as reusing or recycling any other material. A huge amount of natural resources go into the production of clothing, so while it’s easy to get wrapped up in fast fashion, spare a thought for the environment, as well as your purse! Why not make the most of your existing wardrobe and pledge to donate what you don’t want and recycle what you can’t use this Recycle Week.”

tony_stark · 07-01-2009, 02:32 PM

It's all about eco-friendliness nowadays, so I guess there is a point in saying recycled clothing are fashionable. But then again it very much depends on the types of clothing, heh.

honcho · 07-01-2009, 06:18 PM

will recycled fashion put a lot of brands out of business as we the consumer buy less to expound our eco-credentials

**Dunnymonster** · 07-01-2009, 06:45 PM

The biggest problem is that people buy lots of cheap disposable fashion ( primark comes to mind) instead of high quality garments. Of course anybody who keeps an eye on fashion generally will constantly buy new clothing to match current trends. That said it should also be considered that retro/vintage clothing is massive business these days too, so certainly their is a resurgence in recycled clothing. It also helps that most charity shops are now much more upmarket which attracts people to buy second hand clothing, instead of the jumble sale style shops of yesteryear.

tony_stark · 07-02-2009, 08:53 AM

A lot of folks in finland still very much adore the the second hand store thing, where you can buy someone else old dusty sweater for 2 euros. I guess if you're looking some throwback seventies stuff, that's the best place to look from but still everyone's somehow so proud about shopping in the "flea market", here in finland that is. Hey it's good that folks can recycle their clothing and all but still I never really understood why it's such an it thing still here. But each their own, heh. I guess it all comes back to the functionality of symbolic value and perceived image of the good.

harrypothead · 07-02-2009, 12:54 PM

i read that some charities now emply specialists to root our quality clothing from their stores and then put the real quality pieces on ebay so they can get more money.

**Dunnymonster** · 07-02-2009, 07:15 PM

I regularly visit Charity shops for any hidden gems and have found that much of the stock tends to be high street chain seconds/out of season as apposed to actually having the majority of the clothing genuine second hand stuff brought in by the public. In fact Charity shops have become very fussy indeed about the stuff they accept now! I expect Charity shops like Oxfam have dedicated teams who check out items received to see if they have any high value items, the sort of stuff the old dear serving in the shop wouldnt realise is valuble. Its a shame that, cos I was kinda hoping I'd find something like an original Picasso with a 50 pence sticker on it LOL

tony_stark · 07-02-2009, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dunnymonster

I regularly visit Charity shops for any hidden gems and have found that much of the stock tends to be high street chain seconds/out of season as apposed to actually having the majority of the clothing genuine second hand stuff brought in by the public. In fact Charity shops have become very fussy indeed about the stuff they accept now! I expect Charity shops like Oxfam have dedicated teams who check out items received to see if they have any high value items, the sort of stuff the old dear serving in the shop wouldnt realise is valuble. Its a shame that, cos I was kinda hoping I'd find something like an original Picasso with a 50 pence sticker on it LOL

Picasso with a 50 pence price tag, haha. I think stuff like that might have happened. Too lazy to check if google offers any stories, but i am sure there are cases where something extremely valuable ends up accidentally being sold on a flea market or a backyard sale, heh.

**dumb5** · 07-03-2009, 02:15 AM

i remember years ago finding a burberry trench coat at oxfam. i paid £10!

**Dunnymonster** · 07-03-2009, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dumb5

i remember years ago finding a burberry trench coat at oxfam. i paid £10!

Exactly my point that, I am sure the price was decided by a lovely old lady in her 90's who works in the shop who had no real idea what the item was. Its unlikely with the internet these days, that such a thing would happen often these days. I guess they check its potential value on sites like E bay, and collectors forums to determine the real value and price it accordingly.