Textile Waste and the 100 Day Dress

For a country of 23 million people, Australia is the 2nd largest consumer of textiles per person in the world. A shameful stat. Almost half of Australians believe our country might actually rank between 6th – 12th in terms of textile consumption.

Fast fashion in Australia has become an addiction fuelled by cheap imported clothing manufactured in Third World countries or China. Multi-nationals produce so much clothing at such low prices even workers on the minimum wage could afford to change up their wardrobe as often as they might check their email inbox.

Rather than support companies exploring child labour or textile workers who are similar to contemporary slaves earning pitiful amounts for long hours of work, I would much prefer to support more ethically conscious industries and those that are environmentally aware.

Photo by Tom Fisk on Pexels.com

Disposal of Used Textiles in Australia

1 in 3 garments produced ends up in landfill – unsold!

Citizen Wolfe – Australia

The donations of used clothing does not prevent textiles from entering landfill. Despite 83% of Australians donating unwanted or damaged clothes to charity, 14% of those charity donations end up in landfills.

For every 1 kg of used textiles that are diverted from landfill, 3-4 kg of greenhouse gases may be prevented from entering the atmosphere.

This year I have been working hard to reduce, recycle and re-use. The mantra for the 21st century.

I send my used textiles to a company that purposefully recycles them – e.g. Upparel which has to date diverted 731,137 kg of textile waste preventing 2,924,548 kg of gases.

I refuse to buy cheap t-shirts that lose their shape after two washes, even if they are cheaper than buying a salad sandwich. I refuse to buy new t-shirts at all now.

I question new clothing purchases:

• Do I really need another cheap cardigan in another colour?
• Another pair of leggings for yoga?
• Newer Sweatpants that aren’t covered in ‘piling’?

The answer is NO. I don’t.

Day 1 of the 100 day Dress Challenge from Wool &

100 Day Challenge Wearing Merino Wool

For the past 47 days, I’ve been participating in a dress challenge at the company called Wooland.com – that is, I have committed to wearing the same merino wool dress (washing it overnight every few days of course), for 100 consecutive days. Being odour-resistant, quick-drying and comfy, it has not been a problem to wash it overnight, to change up my outfits around the dress, layering under or over it as needs and weather dictates.

I am so happy with this purchase that I hope will last me many years.

In developing new combinations of existing clothes, I find I haven’t doubled up on any combinations so far, using different tops, cardis and jumpers to prevent repetition.

That is, I have not worn the same outfit combination with the dress twice. This keeps my interest level in the challenge. ie. I have not become bored with wearing the dress and I really like the creative aspect with accessories, but it does present a problem.

This challenge had made me acutely aware of how many clothes are in my existing wardrobe. The challenge screams at me that I have way too many clothes for what I need. This is indulgent and not environmentally friendly or ethical.

I think I hear murmuring in agreement.

Capsule Wardrobes

Admittedly, certain clothes do get a good run with me. One shirt in my wardrobe is over ten years old and another is almost 17 years old. I tend to buy timeless, durable pieces, not trending high fashion that quickly dates. But… even so, I could get away with much much less.

Instead of chucking out half my items to create a smaller capsule wardrobe, which would contribute to landfills, I want to find an alternative that is more environmentally friendly.

A Second Life for Old Clothing

I intend to re-use unwanted fabrics to

• Make new items from old – cutting down a maxi skirt to a mini skirt or tank top
• Making a rag rug or quilts from scraps
• Taking the fabric/scraps to a sewing group to make free recycled bags for the community to replace plastics
• Making t-shirt yarn from older stretched t-shirts
• Using excess textiles as paint or cleaning rags instead of buying paper towel and chux
• Re-purposing unwanted clothes for little children or babies
• Making dog coats or bandanas for fur-babies
• Offering to friends or relatives who might wear them
• Upcycle via a textile recycling program at Zara, H&M etc.

What do you do with your unwanted clothes and textiles?

Have you got an idea on how to re-use or re-purpose them?

An Experiment in Sustainable Fashion

Day 1 of 100 days has commenced with the arrival of the parcel.

Am I excited?

Hell yeah.

Will I still be excited in 100 days?

I reserve my judgement for now.

I have taken a bold step in accepting a challenge from Wooland, a company dedicated to promoting sustainable fashion and making women’s lives easier. The challenge runs over 100 consecutive days and it involves wearing the same garment for 100 days and documenting the process.

Why?

Our aim is to design the most practical, most wearable dress in your wardrobe.

Wool&.com

The company motto says it all:

Live Simply

Consume carefully

Do Good

Wear a Wool& Dress for 100 Days Straight

This is Day 1.

The challenge rules mean I’m attempting to wear the same dress for around 8 hours a day, for 100 days, documenting the journey and styles, via a daily photograph. Photos that, ultimately, will be emailed to the company at the conclusion of the experiment.

If I can do that, I am eligible to claim a $100 credit at the Wool& web store. Keeping to the challenge for 100 days will be tricky but at this point, I’m determined.

My savvy shopper radar is activated and ready to go the distance!

Advantages of Wearing the Same Outfit for 100 days

Natural, breathable fibre clothing is way nicer, next to the skin, and to be honest, I am highly attracted by the benefit of a simplified morning routine, making “what to wear” the easiest question of my day.

• No daily indecision regarding what clothing co-ordinates with what; what is socially appropriate and if it looks good. (First world problems)
• Saving water and less laundry – who’s against that?
• Less ironing – wool is wrinkle resistant
• Less use of chemical detergents in the waterways
• Supporting a sustainable product – fine merino wool from a sheep’s back
• Exercising creativity – inventing different styling options
• Living with less overall
• Reducing the impact on the planet
• Wool is a performance fabric with remarkable odor-resistant properties. A few reasons why you’ll love wool. 

Disadvantages of Wearing the Same Outfit for 100 days

• Will I become bored?
• Will I forget to document the challenge each day and miss the challenge benefits?
• What if the dress become stained/damaged/stretch out of shape?
• Will it dry in time for me to wear again the following day?
• Will it smell between washes?

Wool – Environmentally Friendly, Sustainable, Practical

It has taken around eight weeks for this dress to arrive, such is the demand and popularity for this product, made with fine merino fabric, (and a small part in nylon).

I’ve chosen a very practical black style with short sleeves for durability. With winter approaching, there is less chance of me sweating in the tropical heat.

Being somewhat of a germophobe, and Covid and all, the issue of washing the dress infrequently does play on my mind.

Because I won’t be sitting at a desk for 100 days. I’ll be out and about.

Furthermore, I am reminded by the company marketing speels, that wool is not just breathable and naturally soft, wrinkle-resistant, it dries quickly, making keeping the dress clean fairly simple.

And that is part of the point.

Wash less. Do we really need to wash clothing if it isn’t smelly and dirty? Aren’t we trying hard to be sustainable in terms of reducing water use, chemicals in the waterway and keeping clothing durable but smart-looking?

Countdown to Thursday, 4 August 2022

1659579600

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

100 Day Dress Challenge

Could you wear the same garment each day for 100 days?

DIY Recycled Fashion Skirt

Reducing Landfill Waste

In my bid to make this a sustainable living year, I decided to re-purpose an old item of clothing and up-cycle it to a new piece. This helps reduce landfill and provides a new item of clothing to wear and enjoy.

With a small piece of elastic, a skirt like this can be made in less than half an hour!

I took an old wrap around skirt, now completely out of fashion, and an infant girl’s dress, and up-cycled them to make a fashionable one size fits all skirt for the modern young girl. Suitable for ages 8 to 20 something, I think.

What you need:

A large rectangle of remnant fabric or older piece of clothing large enough to re-model into a skirt of the length you desire

20 mm wide knitted black elastic

Sewing machine and matching thread

What you do:

1. Take a measurement from your waist downwards to where you want the hem of the skirt to sit and add 2 inches or 5 cm to this measurement (for a hem and seam allowance).
2. Ensure the piece is at least 1.5 times the width you want the final skirt to be (this allows for gathering), and cut.

Cut a long rectangle of fabric to the desired width and length.

I like to be different and a little bit lazy, when it comes to sewing, so I chose to use the old wrap around skirt for the fabric piece. This lent itself to cutting into one long piece. I thought great- there would be less hems to come apart later. In my case, the length was 1.8m long. Therefore, if cutting two pieces they would become a front and back piece, each at 90 cm wide plus seam allowances.

3. Sew the side seams wrong side out, press and turn right way out.

4. Hold the 20 mm wide piece of black elastic around your waist to get an idea of how tight or slack you want the waistband to be. Add 1 ” or 2.5 cm to this measurement and cut to length.

5. Join and sew the ends of the elastic with a solid stitch. I overlapped them as I wanted less bulk at the side of the skirt where the join would sit.

I also used a second fabric, a former child’s dress to make another one of these skirts.

6. Using a long stitch length, run around the top of the main skirt fabric. Then pull the ends to gather it in to your desired width.

4. Divide this edge of the waistline, into quarters and mark with pins. Pin between marker pins adjusting the tension and gathering evenly.

5. Do the same with the joined piece of elastic. Then match corresponding pins to each other, so that the bottom edge of the elastic is pinned to the right side at the skirt top.

6. Sew using a strong triple stitch around the bottom of the elastic where it was pinned to the skirt edge.

*Make sure the elastic is sewn to the right side, otherwise the elastic will try to flip over and not sit flat when wearing it. See below.

7. Sew the hem if you haven’t done that already.

8. Voila… skirt in less than 20 mins….

The Prototype is revealed.

Cost: Electricity for the machine, 20 minutes of my time, 80 australian cents for the new elastic…

Benefit: Fashionable skirt that will fit a primary student/teen/twenty something…

Satisfaction: Clearing some fabric from my scrap basket!!

I then began to wonder what other kinds of potential upcyclable clothes may lay hidden in my bundle of unwanted clothes. Either that or I will be making a whole lot of Dog bandanas!

That gives me something to ponder about…

More recycling ideas on using scrap materials

This makes me so Angry – Abhorent exploitation of Third World Workers

Do you buy products from The Gap, H & M, Walmart and The Gap?

Do you realise what dangerous practices you are supporting?

Do you realise that people, primarily young girls suffer as a result of us in the western world wanting to wear some clothing that may look stylish or has a “brand” name.

After many workers in Bangladesh died a horrific death in a clothing factory fires, 3 1/2 million factory workers protested to increase their wage from 29 cents an hour to 35 cents an hour. And The Gap refused. The police were called and more girls will die, just so we can choose to buy clothes that feather the corporate giant’s nest egg. Do they give back? Do they improve conditions? Is their only legacy: Greed?

I am so angry….

Something to ponder about and take action today. Do not buy these products!!! Take a stand with you wallet and your consumer choice. Exert pressure on the companies and tell them why!