Recycle Your Wardrobe

by Maria F. Aldana — March 24, 2008

Fashion recycling is what I like to call it. Do you ever wonder how you accumulated so many clothing items over the past year or two? Half of it probably just sits in the closet in boxes or bags that haven't been touched since a month after it was purchased. Your clothing collection is most likely going to keep growing over time, as we love the feeling of consuming new things, especially clothing. In fact, we are buying a third more clothes than we were 10 years ago, and only a small fraction actually gets recycled. Buying fewer clothes of higher quality is the start to a more sustainable fashion industry. According to Dr. Frances Corner, the head of the prestigious London College of Fashion, "We have to think more carefully before we buy, we have to buy fewer clothes anyway, and pay more for them."

There are many ways to change our daily image, and spending less is always a good thing, so consider some of these fun and ethical ways to start recycling your wardrobe:

• Gather all the clothes you haven't worn in the past 3 to 12 months and sort them out by color and style (jeans, t-shirts, sweaters, dresses, skirts, and shoes).
• Pick out the clothes you would absolutely never wear and put them in a brown bag. Tell your friends to do the same and gather together one night for a clothes swap cocktail party. You'll end the night having enjoyed some bonding time and with a new outfit!
• Try on clothes and determine whether they need tailoring or find ways to customize them rather than just replace them.
• Take the clothes to a local consignment shop or donate to a charity.
• Designate a recycling bin for your clothes and every 2 months repeat the above steps.
• For more information, check out clothing recycling Web sites from around the globe:

United States: http://wearablecollections.com

England: http://www.bigwardrobe.com

Canada: http://www.usedclothes.ca