According to the RecycleNow website, UK households have an average of £4,000 worth of clothes – but 30% of those haven’t been worn in the last year and around 336,000 tonnes of our unwanted clothing gets thrown away.
There are many reasons for that including:
- they no longer fit
- they need repairing
- they’re out of fashion
- you already have something similar and never got round to taking it back
But what if these clothes could be reused, recycled or upcycled? Statistics show that more than 30% of our clothes end up in landfill yet the reality none of it needs to as every garment could be put to good use. What can you do to ensure our unwanted clothing does not end up in landfill?
- Mix and match – have a look at your clothing and see if it could be combined with other things to transform how it looks and feels.
- Look for shops that offer repair services.
- Sell clothing online or take to a charity shop if it’s no good for resell.
- Get creative – things like bags and shoes could be painted so they once again look new.
- Pass on clothing – things like children’s clothes have a short shelf life so if you can, hand them down to siblings, family member or friends.
We can all do more with our unwanted clothing – and by doing so we could transform our wardrobe, make some extra money and do our bit to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfill.
