How can you play a part in making fashion sustainable ?
Surely, some of us must have attempted the KonMarie’s method to start our journey on decluttering our jam-packed closet. The meaning of decluttering is to get rid of clothes that do not spark joy out. Thanks to KonMarie, your closet’s now organised, clean, and left with the items you need. What’s next? What do you do with the items which do not spark joy? Discard them?
Often, this scenario is common in Singapore. However, do you know that discarding is not the only way to get rid of these pre-loved clothes? You can give them a new lease of life! One of the options is to replace discarding to recycling for upcycling. By doing so, you can play a part in making fashion greener.
Having said that, are you feeling inspired to start your journey on recycling of textiles? For those who are lost, we have collated a list of ways and places for you to get started on this!
Donating to eco-friendly brands that supports recycling of textiles
According to the National Environment Agency, 168,000 tonnes of textile waste were produced in 2019. Out of which, only 4 % was recycled! On the bright side, more and more enterprises in the Apparel Industry have started to take up the role of leading recycling for textiles. For their efforts to work, we all need to play a part in this. Let’s take a look at how we can help to save the earth!
1. Donate Clothes With Presto
As of 1 April 2021, Presto will be working alongside Cornerstone Community Services (CCS) to make recycling and donation easy and convenient for you! You may easily recycle your pre-loved clothes at either one of the 5 selected outlets below. All donated items will be brought to The Barns Outlets which are then being sold to the needy and migrant workers at very affordable prices. If you’d like to donate or find out more about this donation drive, head on over to our blog!
Outlets: Bedok Mall, Republic Plaza, Ion Orchard, Westgate and Suntec City
2. H&M Garment Collection
If you have noticed, there is a green recycling bin located near the cashier counter in every H&M outlet. What is so special about this H&M Garment collection project is, you will receive a shopping voucher for every bag of textiles which you have recycled. Do good for the environment and get rewarded with shopping vouchers.
3. Uniqlo
You might have spotted this Uniqlo recycling box when you walked into Uniqlo! Uniqlo sustainability project will sort the clothing collected into wearables and unwearable. Wearables will be distributed to those who need them most like refugees or disaster victims. Unwearable will be recycled into refuse paper and plastic fuel (RPF) pellets for fuel. Thus, do make sure that you wash your clothes before dropping them into the box.
4. Zara
Zara Joinlife is an exciting and meaningful sustainability project. Pre-loved clothes collected in their stores will either be donated to or transformed into new fabrics and be marketed to finance social projects held by non-profit organisations.
Something interesting which one can anticipate is, Zara is working to provide home collection services or nearby delivery points for their customers who want to donate their clothing online. Thus, when that happens, no one will have the excuse of not giving their unwanted clothes a new lease of life!
5. Wing Tai Retail
Wing Tai Retail carries brands like Dorothy Perkins, FOX Kids & Baby, G2000, Karen Millen, Topshop, Topman, and Warehouse. Thus, you may visit either one of these brands to drop your pre-loved clothes. They have partnered with Greensquare and (WWF-Singapore) for this initiative. Items collected will be sorted into reusable and recyclables. Good quality clothing will be sold to thrift shops or 2nd-hand market) in developing countries. Garments that cannot be reused will be recycled and sold as industrial cleaning cloth. One will be rewarded with a 5% wt+ voucher when you drop your garments at any of the wt+ stores.
We all have a part to play in making fashion greener
With that, here are 4 brands where you can donate your pre-loved clothing items! All these initiatives extend to all textiles of any brand and conditions. Given that these brands have rolled out these interesting initiatives to encourage textiles recycling, we should all take part in them to play a part in making fashion greener. This would then make fashion something more sustainable for everyone to enjoy.
Aside from recycling our pre-loved clothing, we should also treasure these clothing while they are still in good condition. A good laundry routine should be taken for these clothes to last us for a long period of time.
If you have no idea on how to clean your laundry the right way or are too busy to do so, you can always call us at 6354 3277 or send us a message on Whatsapp to book for a laundry pick up. You can also drop by any of our outlets and look for our friendly staff for their assistance!
