It’s tough to love our clothes and keep wearing them for longer when we are faced with a tempting array of newness on offer in the shops.
Fast fashion focuses on speed and low costs in order to deliver frequent new collections inspired by catwalk looks or celebrity styles. But it is particularly bad for the environment, as pressure to reduce cost and the time it takes to get a product from design to shop floor means that environmental corners are more likely to be cut. Criticisms of fast fashion include its negative environmental impact, water pollution, the use of toxic chemicals and increasing levels of textile waste.
The textiles industry has been identified as a major contributor to the issue of plastic entering the ocean, which is a growing concern because of the associated negative environmental and health implications. It has been estimated that around half a million tonnes of plastic microfibers shed during the washing of plastic-based textiles such as polyester, nylon, or acrylic end up in the ocean annually .
These microfiber do not biodegrade, they represent a serious threat to aquatic life. Small creatures such as plankton eat the microfibers, which then make their way up the food chain to fish and shellfish eaten by humans.
On current trend, the amount of plastic microfibers entering the ocean between 2015 and 2050 could accumulate to an excess of 22 million tonnes – about two thirds of the plastic-based fibers currently used to produce garments annually.
Hmadecollective &Dev Ethical Sustainable Crafts and Textiles targets the 80% textile waste category which cannot be recycled, and contributes to up cycling methods by using textile waste from HMC and collection drives done locally in New Delhi & Uttarakhand. Through this campaign we aspire to create an economical impact on the not so privileged population by providing them sustained employment, where they can use their skill set to create new products from the textile trash that we collect from locals and businesses.
We wish for you to know how the textile waste provided by you is utilised. For this purpose we launch our mobile application, UpcycleMyTrash, through which we provide details of the donor who donated material and the artisan who made it. The application also allows the end user to customize the design of the end product, should they so choose.
The future lies in the hands of the children today. We understand this and aim to educate and inspire school children, to fully understand the significance and need for up cycling in the sustainable fashion industry.
We aim to be the change we wish to see in the world, and @UpcycleMyTrash is one of the initial measures we’re taking to bring about this change. Significant changes cannot be made in a day, we understand that and through this campaign take baby steps to achieve the larger goal of circularity in the fashion industry.
We invite #slowfashion designer to design products from the old clothes for the environment lover customer of the world over. We are accepting old clothes from any corner of the world to reduce land fill, water and air pollution. Our Ethical designer reshaping old garments into your favorite products available at www.descatuk.com/shop and www.hmadecollective.com.
Each one from us can make a Difference
- Aditi Rangray, Founder Hmadecollective New Delhi