The Widows from Waste: Inspired by The Premature Disposal of Our Clothes
The Widows from Waste consists of five stories of the clothes that we have abandoned for a minor fault or another. In this collection the lonely clothes wake up to life, confused about why their owners have disappeared. These clothes come together, forming haunting widows that walk in sorrow for their lost companion, the human.
The yearly amount of disposed clothes is massive. In Europe, only 6,4 million tons of clothes are being disposed of annually. The clothing industry has been claimed to be the second-largest polluter in the world. The materials and the making of the garments use water, energy and numerous different chemicals. For example to make one T-shirt the production consumes as much water as one person drinks in a year while the making of a pair of jeans drinks up to 10,000 liters of water. The clothing industry is also responsible for approximately 10% of the global carbon dioxide emissions every year.
The time a single piece of clothing is in use has been shortening remarkably over the years. Even counting just from 2000, the usage time has fallen by over a third. According to the report by Ellen MacArthur Foundation from 2017 the clothing utilization average was 160 times. The clothes we wear every day are bound to be worn out faster while the fine celebration clothes or our special favorites that we wish to preserve may stay with us for many years gaining only a handful of uses before being discarded. In 2015 a Finnish project TEXJÄTE investigated the clothing utilization in Finland and stated in their final report that for example the pants were worn for an average of 5,3 years and the T-shirts for 4,5 years. The amount of discarded clothes in a year per person was 13kg according to a Finnish newspaper in 2016. Three years later in the country next door, Sweden, an environmental assessment of the Swedish clothing consumption reported that on average a T-shirt was used 30 times and washed 15 times.
The clothes were better utilized before but fast fashion has changed our consumption habits. The change started around 1960 with the rise of the welfare societies where the citizens became wealthier than before. As consumers, they could then shift their interests from the durable to the more fashionable clothes. The industry answered hungrily to the rising demand and the ready-made wear found ways to be produced cheaper and faster. This trend has only intensified over the years leading to the fast fashion phenomena of today.
During the following years all the way to the present the number of the clothes we own has kept on increasing while the prices of the clothes we buy have kept falling. We seem to be buying whatever we want instead of what we actually need. The media, the advertising, the trends, the fashion industry, and numerous other agents from the logistical to the political have all affected our consumption habits by creating a culture in which the consumer thinks that the fast fashion is the norm, the clothes are cheap and the clothing stores should offer new items every week. And that the consumers need to be constantly buying the newest trending items.
Buying fast and discarding the garments just as fast is a vicious cycle that needlessly grows the amount of textile waste in the world. Fast fashion lives up to its name as some garments may only be worn a handful of times before being thrown away to make room for the next trendy item. In 2013 the clothing industry produced approximately 80 billion pieces of clothing but only after four years that amount had grown to 150 billion. Some of these clothes won’t even be ever worn as they attempt to answer the insanely fast-changing trends that lead at times to the overproduction of the fast fashion items. The acceleration is not only happening in the item production numbers but also in carbon emissions and global warming.
The changing trends are not the only reason for a garment to be thrown away. Many of the fast fashion clothes are of poor quality by their construction as well as material-wise which causes them to break after just several washes. Among the cheap materials, there are many that are not even biodegradable. As 73% of the waste textiles end up in the landfill or getting incinerated the shadow the cheap T-shirt casts extends a long way.
The ecological and the ethical problems the fast fashion phenomena causes have gained more visibility during the past few years. The sad and serious news, the many awareness campaigns, the numerous articles and books have tried to shed light on the darker corners of the industry. In the inquiries many answer that they appreciate the sustainable fashion but often the appreciation fails to affect the action when weighted against a nice bargain. The price is still the most influential factor in the decision making today.
The reasons for buying a cloth are many but so are the reasons for discarding one as well. Being worn out or being broken is just the first on the list. The garment can also lose our favor by being of the wrong style, color or shape. Maybe the cloth doesn’t work for the purpose it was bought for, maybe it is out of fashion. In a Finnish inquiry from 2013, the three biggest reasons for throwing a garment out of the wardrobe were being broken, being the wrong size and having been ruined in the laundry.
The way we buy, use and dispose of our clothes can have a huge impact on making any of our clothes more ecological. Buying for an actual need will most likely result in more times of use, buying with consideration will spare the wardrobe the fast visitors. By buying good quality we can maximize the factors that we can’t help, meaning the durability factors, for example. Getting to know a little bit about what to look out for when buying a new garment can save us from the unpleasant surprises of suddenly breaking clothes.
To take proper care of our clothes is a bigger environmental act than many of us have ever even thought it to be. The washes, the tumble drying, the ironing all require energy. The consumption of water and the chemicals used during the laundry day accumulate over time to significant amounts. Not only do the well-maintained clothes stay their beautiful selves for longer but it has been estimated that by prolonging the time of the garments in active use by three would lower its environmental impact on the climate impact by 65% and on the water consumption by 66%. It is said that one of the most consequential environmental features of a garment is its utilization time. By repairing, modifying and reusing we can prolong the cloth’s lifetime. The most ecological garment is the one that endures in our use the longest.
When it is finally time to let go of our loyal garments, we owe it to them to do it right. Most often the unwanted clothes end up in the mixed waste but this is by no means the best place for them. The mixed waste means turning the textile into energy by burning or in the worst case they will end up dumped in the landfill. The utilization of the textile waste is still under proper development. To find a more circular life for the textiles is under investigation in several countries. It is estimated that in Europe only 3-8% of the textile waste is recycled as reusable material. Some big changes are planned for this as separating the textile waste from the mixed will become mandatory in 2025 and the new progressing centers are being build this very moment.
When the garment to be disposed of is still wearable and in a good condition, it doesn’t belong to the waste container, textile or mixed. The secondhand markets, shops and sales as well as the many charity shops are a wonderful way to give the garment a chance for another relationship with a consumer. But the broken, dirty and thoroughly worn out clothes will hardly find a new home even through them. This emphasizes again the importance of having the fashion industry to produce more sustainable products and us choosing them over the suspiciously cheap alternatives.
Buying that beautiful shirt or dress or jacket is a wonderful thing, whether it is from a tiny boutique, a local tailor, a big market, or a secondhand store. The new (at least new to us), beautiful thing can give us a lot of joy and all the moments of joy are an essential part of a happy life. But in our decisions, we should aim for the more sustainable consumer culture. Our decisions are what drives the industry and our actions mean everything to the environment’s well-being.
With best wishes and season’s greetings,
sincerely
Iina
For further reading:
Fashion Revolution Fanzine - An emagazine exploring the issue of waste and mass-consumption in the fashion industry
Inside Out Style - More information about what to look out for in order to recognize the clothes with a longer life expectancy
Clothes Doctor - Sharing tips about how to increase the lifespan of clothing
YLE’s article - An interesting read about how the charity clothes won’t always go where expected (in Finnish)
Suomen Tekstiili ja Muoti’s article - Answering questions about the textile recycling (in Finnish)
TEXJÄTE project’s seminar materials - A lot of information about the textile consumption and recycling habits in Finland (in Finnish)
References:
Aalto, Kristiina. 2014. Kuluttajien halukkuus ja toimintatavat tekstiilien kierrätyksessä. Read 11.12.2020 at https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/153031
EcoWatch. 2015. Fast Fashion Is the Second Dirtiest Industry In the World, Next to Big Oil. Read 2.12.2020 at https://www.ecowatch.com/fast-fashion-is-the-second-dirtiest-industry-in-the-world-next-to-big--1882083445.html
Ellen MacArthur Foundation. 2017. A New Textiles Economy. Read 2.12.2020 at https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/assets/downloads/publications/A-New-Textiles-Economy_Full-Report.pdf
Mistra Future Fashion. 2019. The impact of Swedish clothing consumption. REad 2.12.2020 at http://mistrafuturefashion.com/impact-of-swedish-clothing-consumption/
Polarn O. Pyret. n.d.. Vaatteiden käyttöikä. Read 2.12.2020 https://www.polarnopyret.fi/pop-cares/vaatteiden-kayttoika?ref=C632325AAD
Radhica. 2020. Ekologiset, eettiset ja vastuulliset vaatteet -opas parempiin vaatevalintoihin. Read 3.12.2020 at
Suomen Tekstiili ja Muoti. 2019. 5 kysymystä pikamuodista. Read 2.12.2020 at https://www.stjm.fi/uutiset/5-kysymysta-pikamuodista
Suomen Tekstiili ja Muoti. 2018. Vasta viidennes käytetyistä tekstiileistä päätyy uudelleenkäyttöön ja kierrätykseen - kiertotaloudella kohti pienempiä ilmastopäästöjä. Read 2.12.2020 at https://www.stjm.fi/uutiset/vasta-viidennes-kaytetyista-tekstiileista-paatyy-uudelleenkayttoon-ja-kierratykseen-kiertotaloudella-kohti-pienempia-ilmastopaastoja/
Suomen Tekstiili ja Muoti. 2019. Vaatetta käytetään keskimäärin 160 kertaa, käyttöikä on lyhentynyt. Read 2.12.2020 at https://www.stjm.fi/uutiset/vaatetta-kaytetaan-keskimaarin-160-kertaa-kayttoika-on-lyhentynyt/
Suomen Tekstiili ja Muoti. 2019. Oikein huollettu vaate kestää käytössä ja on ekologinen - katso vinkit tekstiilihuoltoon!. Read 11.12.2020 at https://www.stjm.fi/uutiset/oikein-huollettu-vaate-kestaa-kaytossa-ja-on-ekologinen-katso-vinkit-tekstiilihuoltoon/
Suomen Tekstiili ja Muoti. 2020. Suomeen halutaan EU:n tekstiilien kierrätyshubi -mahdollisuus tuhansiin työpaikkoihin. Read 3.12.2020 at https://www.stjm.fi/tiedotteet-kannanotot-ja-lausunnot/eu-kierratyshubi/
Suomen Ympäristökeskus. 2015. TEXJÄTE -hankkeen loppuseminaari 23.4.2015. Read 2.12.2020 at ttps://www.syke.fi/fi-FI/Tutkimus__kehittaminen/Tutkimus_ja_kehittamishankkeet/Hankkeet/Tekstiilijatteen_kierratyksen_mahdollisuudet_ja_esteet_TEXJATE/Tekstiilien_kierratyksella_toteuttamaan_kiertotaloutta__TEXJATEhankkeen_loppuseminaari_2342015
The Logical Indian. 2017. It Takes Up to 10,000 Litres of Water to Make One Pair of Jeans, Know How It Affects The Environment. Read 2.12.2020 at https://thelogicalindian.com/environment/jeans/
Vaatteitako Vain?. 2020. Mitä tapahtui ennen kuin T-paita maksoi vain 9,99€? - Osa i ja Osa ii. Read 2.12.2020 at https://vaatteitakovain.com/blog-2/
Yle. 2017. Suomalainen heittää vuodessa 13 kiloa tekstiilejä roskiin - näin hankit hyvän mielen vaatekaapin. Read 2.12.2020 at https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2017/12/12/suomalainen-heittaa-vuodessa-13-kiloa-tekstiileja-roskiin-nain-hankit-hyvan
Yle. 2019. Pikamuoti on kasvattanut vaatejätteen määrää[...]. Read 2.12.2020 at https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11037469?utm_source=twitter-share&utm_medium=social
Yle. 2003. Tekstiilien pesu kuormittaa ympäristöä. Read 12.12.2020 at https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-5127233
Yle. 2017. Tanskan TV2: H&M ja muut vaateyhtiöt polttavat tonneittain uusia vaatteita - "Tekopyhyyttä", sivaltaa tutkija. Read 3.12.2020 at https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-9884247