Be the change you wish to see in the world

Environmental concerns

Australia is currently facing a textile crisis. We are the highest consumers of clothes and fashion goods in the world (1). The average Australian buys 56 new clothing items a year, more than in the USA (53), UK (33) and China (30) (1). Over 1.4 billion units of new clothing comes onto the Australian market each year and 300,000 tonnes of that ends up in landfill (2). Australians buy on average 15 kg of clothing per person per year, with 66% of it being sent to landfill (3). Globally, we have enough clothing for the next six generations sitting in warehouses that might never be sold (4).

We have long known about the detrimental effects of fast fashion such as high carbon emissions, water pollution, exploitation of workers (5), microplastics and textile waste (6). The industry is the second-biggest consumer of water and is also responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions, which is more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined (6, 7). As a consequence, every time we buy new clothing, we pose a serious threat to the ongoing climate crisis and to the environment. Many Australians are also confused about disposing of their unwanted clothes, with a large-scale Australian study finding a third of us throw them in the bin (8). At the same time, 63% of Australians say they are concerned, or very concerned about the environmental impact of textile waste (2).

Back in 2017 I became worried about the huge amount of clothing I saw thrown out as roadside rubbish. I started upcycling damaged clothing, bedding and fabric that two local women kindly collected for me into baby blankets, children’s clothing, soft toys, toiletry bags and rag rugs. Studies have found women to be the most likely to make changes to their carbon footprint. They are more concerned about the environment and actively participate in hands-on efforts to improve it, potentially related to their nurturing roles and greater focus on protecting natural resources (9, 10). By 2024, I realised working alone on small projects was having little effect on these environmental issues. I began to understand that I would need to connect and work collectively with likeminded people if I was going to have any real effect on the environmental impacts of the fashion industry.

I have also noticed that since the pandemic, people are shopping much more and buying things that they don't want or need. Is it because they are just in the habit of online buying and its dopamine hit? We currently need 1.75 Earths to support our consumption of resources (11). I believe it is of vital importance that we make changes to our behaviours before it is too late. Hopefully we will not continue to contribute to the climate crisis until we are finally forced to ask ourselves: ‘What did we do when we still had a chance to turn the climate crisis around?’ My dream would be for everyone to set a goal for themselves of buying half their purchases secondhand, instead of buying everything brand new. And wouldn't it be nice if children ask for a birthday or Christmas gift that was secondhand because they and their parents knew that valued resources had gone into making it?

Textile sustainability into the future will undoubtedly be about the reuse of our garments until they wear out. Ways to reduce the damaging effects of fast fashion are to restyle and wear what is already in our wardrobes, buy sustainably made or secondhand garments, swap our clothes, learn stitching skills to regenerate and upcycle our clothes, and donate our unneeded belongings to charity (12). By grappling with issues around consumption, circularity and textile waste, we offer ourselves the opportunity to take back our agency and care for our beautiful planet.