Clothing Afterlife: More Harm than Good – The Velvet Underground Shop

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Clothing Afterlife: More Harm than Good

Thrifting. An essential means for our way of living right? Generationally, words such as ‘thrift’, ‘ethical’, and ‘sustainable’ are becoming banal. The sad cold truth is that we equate these words with a different medium, one that lacks the originality that it once possessed. Words such as these, have strayed from what they once were because of the exhausted way in which we include them into what we believe they mean within our life.

‘Is that an ethical brand?’.

‘Oh, my bag is made from sustainable fibers’.

‘I thrifted it! I’ve been thrifting everything’.

‘Is that to-go coffee cup recyclable?’.

‘It’s compostable! I feel so much better about buying these’.

‘Yes, the brand only produces garments using dead-stock fabric from Liz Claiborne’.

‘Yes, my bag is made from leftover cutting scraps from our sewing studio!’.

‘I’ve only been thrifting, but I hold myself accountable to only thrifting once every four months’.

‘Yes, it’s recyclable! I forgot my reusable cup today. Knowing our cities’ lack of accepted recyclable materials, I bring my own reusable cup’.

‘It’s compostable, but I make sure I take these compostable pieces to the proper facility in town in order for them to properly get composted’.

So what happens when we don’t respond in these ways? When we don’t know the realities. What do conversations like these transition into? A means for over-use, therefore, a dwindling truth of our own reality. Words such as ‘sustainable’, ‘ethical’, and ‘recycled’, used to hold so much power, they were enlightening.

Maybe our intentions are pure with such terminology, but what are our true beliefs? Our true morals? Do they align with the purity ‘sustainable’, ‘ethical’, ‘eco-friendly’ encompass?

So,‘carefully and not wastefully’. Does thrifting align with this today? Our perception may be skewed. Thrifting has become an out for holding ourselves accountable in regards to our continuous culture of disposability. We grow our closets into what we believe is enough.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the concept of thrifting - reusing, repurposing / up-cycling. Yes! These are great ways to create new from old, to identify with a purposeful ideal. But when does the cycle transform into the mere culture of disposing.

We thrift, we re-use, but then we get tired of these pieces, just like we do when buying new. What do we do? We resell or donate, and some of us have the audacity to throw pieces directly into a waste bin. Regardless of thrifting, this cycle leads to a culture of continuously needing more. Entangled consumerism.

In June of 2019 in my course at the University of Cincinnati, I had the honor of listening to a presentation from Liz Rickett’s - creator of the non-profit, ‘The OR Foundation’. She spoke about her individual work, waste / the reality of our waste, and the Global North’s Impact on the Global South. “We talk about secondhand clothing in a very classist way. We (donating) are saviors, helping those in need, making other people’s lives better with our unwanted shit. Or as a diversion of waste”, said Liz Rickett’s.

Goodwill was founded in Boston in 1902 by Rev. Edgar J. Helms. “The idea was simple, fight poverty not with charity, but with trade skills—and provide a chance for the poor and the unemployed to do productive work”, from Goodwill. This was a beautiful program at the time, teaching poorer citizens the skills to repair / restore collected goods, and earn a profitable wage.

What is Goodwill’s verity now? Legally, yes, it is still considered a charity to this day. But beyond this identification, corruption exists. From Medium, to name a few “Goodwill actively fights legislative proposals to increase minimum wage, unsafe working conditions have led to many deaths of disabled employees, and less than one-eighth of the company’s profit goes toward its charity work”.

But think about the amount of clothing you have brought to Goodwill in just one trip. From Liz Ricketts' presentation in June 2019, “Goodwill and St. Vincent de Paul, only sells around 10% of donated clothes”. 10%.

So the rest? “On average, 700,000 tons of used clothing gets exported overseas and 2.5 million tons of clothing are recycled. But over three million tons are incinerated, and a staggering 10 million tons get sent to landfills”, according to Green America.

A large portion of clothing is automatically sent to landfill, due to damage and mildew that can contaminate entire bags of donations. Around 14.5% are used for recycling. The garments are shredded and searched for buttons / zippers, and natural fabrics are pulled, where their yarn is re-spun for re-use.

Green America.

From Recho Omondi’s podcast, The Cutting Room Floor, The Afterlife of Clothing Feat. Liz Rickett’s, "We're producing more than we can consume, we're consuming more than we can use, and we waste. Too much clothing not enough fashion, too much clothing not enough culture, too much clothing not enough innovation".

So, 700,000 tons of used clothing gets exported overseas. Where to? “60-80% (donated clothing) will either be sent to landfill or exported to countries like Ghana'', according to Liz Rickett’s presentation in June 2019. This exportation is considered to be the ever-exceeding Global South clothing dump’ ***. We tend to rely on the ‘deficit myth’, an ideal that "someone else somewhere in the world needs something you no longer want", from The Cutting Room Floor, The Afterlife of Clothing Feat. Liz Rickett’s.

Customers are able to toss in old garments, in exchange for a coupon or discount on future purchases. Slogans such as ‘let’s close the loop’ and ‘creating the new’ are marketed to incentivize consumers that H&M actually has something to do with the repurposing and positive aftermath of old clothing.

Ever been skeptical of this take back program? Well, with good reason. According to CBC News, “Of all of the material used to make its estimated half a billion garments a year, only 0.7 per cent is recycled material. The fabrics H&M uses are mostly synthetic and a mix of blended fibers, too difficult and expensive to properly recycle and repurpose”.

This all being a lovely cycle that grants H&M a sneaky tactic to create an insurmountable amount of product. “It would take H&M twelve years to recycle 1,000 tonnes of clothing waste, roughly the amount of clothing H&M produces in just two days”, from environmental journalist, Lucy Siegle. What may be even worse? In 2018, H&M released a big quarterly report. Big as in “$4.3 billion dollars of unsold clothing” big, according to Liz Rickett’s presentation in June 2019.

What’s most astonishing is that after this said loss, “H&M claimed a market gain in 2018”, according to The Cutting Room Floor, The Afterlife of Clothing Feat. Liz Rickett’s. This is vile. I’m trying to imagine the amount of clothing a loss of $4.3 million dollars could even look like, and then attempting to somehow justify a market gain?

Well Made Clothes. Inside one of H&M’s recycling plants.

Yet, what H&M enjoys claiming, versus the reality of the waste and insufficient ‘recycling’ programs, is what we like to call Greenwashing. ”Greenwashing is when a company or organization spends more time and money on marketing themselves as environmentally friendly than on minimizing their environmental impact”, according to Business News Daily. This essentially equates to spoon-feeding consumers exactly what they want to hear in regards to having a green soul and advocating for environmental change. This happens in more ways than one within marketing itself.

Think about trends - they are inherited from the innovators, or trendsetters. Eventually, their measures spark enough interest for production of knock-offs within the fast fashion industry. Moreover, this then allows for an extended period of time between the innovators and the stragglers, who eventually also want a slice of the cake.

What can we do as individuals? Wear your clothing for as long as possible! Repurpose and upcycle. Try making it into something new - repurposing a dress into two tops. Cut and make into household rags, a tapestry, or a picnic blanket. Learn the basics of machine or hand sewing. Make your friends gifts - reusable shopping bags, masks, and hand towels. Host a fun get-together and have a clothing swap. Hey, it’s new to you.

Second, re-sell! Orchestrate a good ol' yard sale. Use helpful online apps such as Depop, Vinted, Poshmark, Ebay, Craigslist, etc. You’ll truly be surprised at who wants your Walmart crew neck from 2011.

Thirdly, literally place a box titled ‘free stuff’ on your street, outside your home, or at a local event. Some people drool over the word ‘free’.

Finally, donate clothing. Think of this option as your last resort! Make sure garments / items are in well enough condition where you would be happy receiving it as well. Remember, if garments are extremely dirty they will go straight to the landfill :,(

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*** Stay-tuned for a follow up on our impact within the Global South clothing dump / circular fashion, and unethical mistreatment of garment workers responsible for sewing your $13 crop top.

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