Think Before You Buy
What is the problem?
We have seen a massive consumer shift since the 1950s from natural fibres to synthetic. New Zealand wool exports made up a massive 50% of our export market 70 years ago, the figure now being less than 1%. Why? The pioneering of mass production and the low cost of petroleum has resulted in the price of clothing plummeting and the increase in consumption rising. So while we spend less per garment or item, we are buying more than ever before.
What’s more, most of it is fossil fuel based. Synthetic fibers are made of plastic, a by-product of petroleum. We wear this on our bodies, put it in our homes and wash it down our sinks, allowing it to leach microplastics into our waterways. Why is this a problem? For one, researchers have discover that some of these products are hormone disruptors, affecting the fertility and sex of both humans and sea life, and may be linked to cancer in the form of PCBs, a known carcinogen commonly found in plastics.
For another, microplastics are incredibly damaging to the environment both from the release of microplastics into the ocean and the pollution caused as a result of the production of synthetic textiles. Fabric dyeing is responsible for 20% of all industrial water pollution globally, and the fashion and textile industry is responsible for 10% of total global greenhouse gas emissions, with predictions at the current rate of consumption to hit 50% by 2030.
So what to do?
Buy Natural - Choose textiles that are not made from fossil fuels such as wool, linen cotton, hemp etc. These products are natural and renewable, biodegradable, breathable, non-allergenic and when they do come to the end of their life, can naturally disintegrate back into the earth.
Buy less, buy better (REDUCE). That’s the mantra that has come from a recent study on fashion published in the Finnish scientific journal Environmental Research Letter which looked at different clothing ownership and disposal models. When you think of buying an item, think of cost per use, not cost up front. It is difficult to see how a $20 t-shirt can be made without high environmental and social costs.
Buy Vintage (REUSE). Keeping clothing in circulation for as long as we possibly can reduces the lifetime impact of garment. If you’ve got a favourite jersey that just needs a hole patched up, get creative. Next time you need a new item, head off to one of our second hand retailers - lots to choose from! (Wastebusters, Salvation Army, Hospice store, Recycled Boutique to name a few). Swap items you no longer want with friends.
Buy Circular (RECYCLE). Check out how some of our NZ fashion brands are leading the charge on recycling end of life cotton into new threads. The Circular Cotton Collective is currently doing a feasibility study to get some pretty cool technology to New Zealand to take old cotton, break it down, and make it into a new textile ready for reuse.
Want to find out more?
Get tickets to the Wao Summit 2022.
Check out the Campaign for Wool, a global initiative that aims to highlight wool as a superior fibre.
