[REPORTER] For people who keep a close eye on sustainable fashion,
there’s a couple of stats that are common knowledge.
The first is that Australians buy 27 kilos of new textiles per person per year.
That’s twice the global average, with only North America buying more.
The other stat, is Australians then chuck out 23 kilos of clothes per person per year.
That's worked out by taking the latest national clothing waste figure from the ABS
and dividing it by relative population.
And now for the big reveal...
as a nation, we send 542 935 tonnes of clothing waste to landfill a year.
That’s the equivalent of ten coat hangers
and by coat hangers, I mean the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
All of the stats I've just hit you with,
are what many recycled fashion retailers
and consumers say,
is their motivation to go second hand and/or sustainable.
[BIANCA SMITH] So my new year’s resolution was to buy no new clothes, at all.
[MICHAL CARRINGTON] When we see these retail outlets popping up,
that are perhaps changing the way supply chains work,
changing production,
all about reusing and recycling and reducing consumption,
then that would absolutely suggest
that there is a long-term consumer trend
and that will continue.
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[REPORTER] Steering young people away from fast fashion
and new clothes made in sweatshops, is what motivates the owners
of this Canberra recycled clothing store.
And while they do need to bring in stock from overseas
to meet the huge demand for second hand American brands,
the owners say every recycled item in store has been saved from landfill.
[BIANCA SMITH] So, I’ve just got too many clothes at home and I didn't wanna...
like, I just wanted to sort of slow fashion down a little bit and get on that slow fashion movement.
And if I wanna buy anything, it’ll be second hand.
[HAMISH JACKSON] Seeing what impact climate change is going to have on all of us,
I believe that I have a part to act in a way that is ethical and sustainable
in all facets of my life, just making changes here and there.
[BIANCA SMITH] I don’t think it’s a trend, I feel like it’s something that’s here to stay,
I think more people, as soon as they start the journey of,
sort of, just thinking about consuming less or
less waste and things,
once you start that, I don’t think you really stop,
but... as more friendship groups start it, you hold yourselves accountable.
[HAMISH JACKSON] The owners of this shop do a really great job of curating a great selection
so you’re going to be paying a little bit more,
but you’re getting really good quality and you're being sustainable, but there's also that option
of going to a Salvos or a Vinnies and getting a lot cheaper clothes,
clothes that people have donated in,
but still performing the same practice of being sustainable and ethical.
[JESSICA KIRBY] When I first started, barely any young people would come in but now,
definitely young people coming in a lot more.
[REPORTER] Annually, charity op shops divert almost 644 000 tonnes of our unwanted stuff from landfill.
And while they face a significant and expensive dumping problem,
80 to 90 per cent of clothing donations can actually be used,
raising more than $263 million a year for the needy.
So that’s the charity sector,
but with consumers so keen on sustainable products,
could some businesses be using sustainability as a marketing tool?
[MICHAL CARRINGTON] Just because we’re walking into a shop that says recycled fashion above the door,
for example,
it doesn’t negate our responsibility either as a consumer,
or the responsibilities of the people who run and own that organisation
to really understand the ethics of their entire supply chains.
Are we actually at a net level reducing the harms in our consumption,
or are we just trading off one harm for another?
If I’m in a shop in London
and I'm buying
a really cool vintage leather or denim jacket
that comes from the U.S.,
I need to think about the carbon footprint,
why has this product come all the way over from the U.S.?
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[REPORTER] To find out what you’re really buying, you can start by asking in store or online.
[MICHAEL CARRINGTON] And you’ll be amazed at what you will actually get back.
We have seen a lot of greenwashing, we’ve seen a lot of reputational work,
but we are seeing a shift in organisations now where it's less perhaps about that reputation
and the greenwashing side of it, but it’s actually perhaps more about, well,
let's make sure we are a responsible organisation,
we don’t then have to worry about, you know,
really covering up and maintaining our reputation.
[REPORTER] MANRAGS is an Aussie brand that launched in 2016 to sell socks.
Last year, it started recycling them too.
Customers can send in any old brand of socks, as long as they’ve had a wash.
[MICHAEL ELIAS] We begin the separation process here in Australia
to define reuse or repurpose, recycle.
What’s reuse is completed here,
what then goes into the sorting process for repurpose and recycle is conducted overseas.
That then gets separated into colours, into materials,
into a number of separation processes,
before it’s then, you know, shredded and spun into a new yarn or turned into insulation.
Unfortunately, we don’t have the technology or the facilities here in Australia.
I say "unfortunately", because I want to do that domestically.
[REPORTER] This year, MANRAGS launched a second recycling program,
collecting boxes of unwanted textiles from people’s homes.
Its stats show more than 90 tonnes of clothes and shoes have been saved from landfill.
And much of the stuff that’s still good goes to op shops, through a partnership with Save The Children.
[MICHAEL ELIAS] The question became,
our children will celebrate our success and they will turn around
- and I’m talking on behalf of my own children -
they’ll turn around and go,
thanks Mum and Dad for this amazing life of privilege,
where you’ve given me everything we've ever wanted,
but...
here we are 20 years on and you’ve fucked the planet.
You've, you know, gone down this path of take, make and dispose,
and the world is no better off because of you.
So, we said no and we wouldn’t accept that,
we didn’t want to see our products end up in landfill.
The word ‘sustainability’ is very very broad.
You know, I mean even in our space, is it about waste? Is it about recycling?
Is it about the second life? Is it about the circular economy?
You know, there’s a lot of things there…
it's just going, what we can we do and how can we be better?
And that, and that’s simply it.
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[REPORTER] Thanks for watching.
Hey, our op shopping mate Bianca Smith told us about the ‘Good On You’ app,
which you can on the spot to research the brands you’re buying.
We'll see you next #GoodShoutFriday.