Tag Archives: textile waste

Sew 313 – Who wants our waste

Jane Milburn wears Textile Beat jacaranda purple“It’s time to stop giving our crap to the poor.” We think we are being kind and generous when we donate our unwanted clothing to charity – but are we just shifting our old stuff their way to help ourselves? When we give to people in need, we should give quality stuff – or cash.

In this thought-provoking post on We Are That Family, Kirsten wrote: ‘Just because our donation feels like we are helping, in reality, we could be hurting. Bales of used clothes are sold to African countries for resell and they end up flooding the market and often put local textile businesses and seamstresses out of business.”

Yesterday I wrote that Australia exports 70,000 tonne of used clothing each year (according to NACRO) mainly to UAE, Pakistan and Malaysia – that is 70,000,000 kg of cast-off clothing every year. Every pair of jeans (less than 1kg) takes 10,000 litres of water to grow the cotton fabric (according to WRAP UK). They are big numbers. Textile waste is a big issue and the more I read, the more I’m convinced that as a society, we need to change our ways.  Continue reading →

Sew 217 – Shift thinking on textile waste

Jake makes tshirt ribbonThe funny thing about this Sew it Again project in which I set out to reduce my clothing stockpile is that I seem to be accumulating more! There is so much surplus clothing in the world, that people either give it away, donate to charities or dump it to reduce the burden it has become.

Because I see waste clothing as a resource, I’m spending this year coming up with ways individuals can reuse it and sharing them on this blog, at workshops and talks. Around the world, there are other thrifty, resource-savvy people reusing waste clothing too – just google upcycling or refashion. We are part of a DIY refashion revolution exploring more sustainable, mindful and resourceful ways of living.

When I reflect on progress to date, I’m excited that local government authorities are inviting me to demonstrate what can be done with old clothing – via the t-shirts reworked workshop last Sunday at Redcliffe City Council’s What’s Cooking in the Gardens event, and a similar activity planned for Brisbane City Council’s Green Heart Fair at Carindale on October 12.  Continue reading →