And Then What?

In Jane Milburn's (@textilebeat) Book - Slow Clothing she writes that Australian's on average buy 27kgs of textiles a year and throw out 23kg (mostly synthetic fibres) - that means we are buying more than double the global average of 13kgs. For some reason we falsely justify it by thinking we are giving it to charity and therefore helping people. Most garments given to charity are now sent to landfill and/or to poorer nations - both harmful in so many ways. Synthetics have many toxins and can take up to 200 years to decompose (scary!). The availability of cheap second hand clothes in poorer nations is now preventing their own textile industries from flourishing and making people even poorer.

Can you now guess what this image is? Its discarded clothes being prepared for landfill, people trying to make their issues someone elses' problem. It shouldn't be like this - we are all part of the same world. Before you purchase your next item, think of how much wear you can get out of it, how long you can keep it for and what kind of afterlife it will have when you are finished with it. Don’t be afraid to mend torn garments either.

For our founder Dana, making clothes that are biodegradable and good enough to be treasured for a long time is paramount. "As a teenager, I took my mum's navy silk shirt and wore it happily for another 15 years before it was worn out. Silk is so beautiful, people often keep it for longer, there are no chemicals or pesticides involved in creating silk yarn and better still, once it is ready to be buried, it can naturally decompose in 6 weeks."

So try not to create problems for the world - lets stop thinking of clothes as a disposable item, lets be banded together.