Why clothes don't have to go in the trash right away.
Clothing has become affordable for all of us. So affordable that if there is a hole in a sock or one missing button on our shirt, we no longer think about whether we should repair the sock or the shirt, we just throw it away and buy a new one. A few generations ago, things were very different. Why? Back then, clothing was incredibly expensive due to the costly manufacturing of fabrics and production.
Decades after the post-war period, you were looked upon with a darned and mended garment, because the economic upswing led to prosperity and you could now show that you could afford clothes. Mending clothes was no longer part of good manners. This shift was additionally supported as production costs went down. Today we buy socks for €1.99 and trousers for €15.00. We have become a throwaway society, especially when it comes to clothes. According to Greenpeace, only one in seven people has had clothes repaired in the recent past, and about half have never had clothes repaired at all. To the advantage of the fashion industry, which is producing and selling more than ever.
Let’s remember a few figures about unsustainable fashion:
- In Germany, 1.3 million tonnes of clothing are thrown away every year.
- Globally, the number is about 4.3 million tonnes.
- On average, we wear a piece of clothing only four times before we throw it away.
The mountains of thrown away clothes are getting bigger and bigger and the waste of resources as well as the negative environmental impacts during production are increasing.
But there are a few ways to help change this problem:
- Buy less, but choose high-quality and sustainable clothes. You can read about what you need to keep in mind and what is the difference between slow fashion and fast fashion in our other blog posts on the topic.
- Rent clothes that you are sure to wear only once, for example at a special event like a wedding or a business meeting.
- Buy secondhand - look for clothes that will last and that you want to wear for a long time.
- Swap clothes privately with friends or at official clothes swap parties to give the clothes you no longer want to wear a longer life.
- Wash your clothes less often, but more gently, in cold water and with sustainable detergents.
- Wear your clothes as long as possible, because the longer you wear them, the lower the negative impact of the garment's production. For example, Sellpy calculates the average COâ‚‚ footprint of a new garment to be 4,820 kg COâ‚‚e. The longer it is worn, the more this value is apportioned to the time after purchase.
This last point means that you should wear your garment for quite a long time. According to Livia Firth from Eco Age, a garment only becomes more sustainable when it is worn at least 30 times. That doesn't sound like much at first. But our current average is much lower: we simply throw our garment out after wearing it only 4 times. It would be even better if you wore one or the other garment until it is really no longer wearable. High-quality garments can also be passed on wonderfully from generation to generation.
Care and love your clothes:
Make repairs:
A loose button or a small open seam can be repaired quickly with a household sewing machine and a sewing needle. Broken zips can also be replaced with a little knowledge. A tailor in your area will be happy to do this job for you.
Plug holes:
A hole in a sock or your favourite jumper can be repaired with great darning techniques. There are many videos by true artists on YouTube who teach you the technique that our great-grandmothers still mastered. What do you need? darning thread, darning needle and maybe a darning egg (for socks).
Patch holes with iron-on patches:
A hole in a jumper or trousers can be patched quickly and easily with an iron-on patch.
Patch holes with the Japanese Sashiko technique:
Ideal for all hard-wearing and fashionable garments where it can be clearly shown that they have been repaired. A piece of fabric similar to the garment is placed on the back of the hole and attached to the garment from above with many lines of stitching (similar to quilting, the artful stitching of two pieces of fabric together). This creates a lining from the hole to the fabric and the many seams ensure that the two are firmly attached. This technique is great for jeans, linen and strong cotton fabrics.
Fitting sizes:
Whether your clothes are too tight or too loose, there is often a way to make them fit you again. However, it is advisable to find a good alteration tailor to make the adjustments professionally.
Turn old into new:
Do you have a few woolen jumpers whose shape you no longer like and you have basic knitting skills? Then simply unravel the woolen jumpers. Knot the threads, wash and stretch them and roll them up into wool skeins. Then you can make a gauge test and choose what your next jumper or cardigan might look like. Then get to knitting. Wool jumpers made from recycled threads look great.
Upcycling:
If you really can't wear an item of clothing anymore, you still have the option of making something new out of it yourself, such as a bag from a T-shirt, or an apron from old jeans. Or go to a designer/tailor who will make a new garment out of it. A jumper can be turned into a new skirt, a top from a blouse, or a jacket from a coat, thus improving the eco-balance of your garment.
Repair sneakers:
Every one of us loves our sneakers and probably everyone is sad when they are no longer quite as wearable. What's also important is that only a few of them have been produced in a truly sustainable and fair way. That makes it all the more important that you take care of your beloved shoes. Because when you wear shoes for a long time, you show respect for the workers in the factories, and the environmental balance of the pair of shoes is improved by wearing them for longer. So that you can enjoy your sneakers and trainers for a long time, there is now a new small but fine branch of industry that cleans your sneakers freshens them up again, or gives them a new individual look, such as Sneaker Surgery in Hamburg. But also cobblers can freshen up your quiet pair of shoes. Just ask.
If you follow all these steps, nothing is standing in the way of your sustainable wardrobe.
