Sinhalage-Fonseka said as people were becoming more environmentally aware people were changing, with even Meghan Markle backing clothing re-use and consignment. "Along with the fun of it, and knowing that you're getting quite good quality clothing, it's guilt-free because you're diverting from the landfill, and it's not fast fashion."
She now scours the secondhand stores as a habit, not out of necessity. She also bought a barely-used Taylor Boutique jacket for $80, which would've cost $900 in a store. Her favourite pieces include an Alexander McQueen jacket she bought for $90 which would have cost $3000 new. So she hit the opshops, became hooked, and now about 95 per cent of her wardrobe is second hand - but she estimates it's worth somewhere between $50,000 and $70,000. It was a lot and it didn't really leave enough for a wardrobe." "I was earning $35,000 a year at the time and I was paying $300 a week for rent. "I was just out of law school, I'd just started my first job, I was working for a very public personality and my job required very nice clothes. Wellington resident Chamanthie Sinhalage-Fonseka has been shopping almost exclusively at opshops since 2012.Īt first, she started buying secondhand to save her bank balance. WRAP UK have calculated that extending the life of clothes by just nine extra months of active use would reduce their carbon, water and waste footprints by around 20-30 per cent each.Īt Auckland's four landfills, textile waste accounted for four per cent of the waste in 2010, and in 2040, that's expected to increase to six per cent.Ĭhamanthie Sinhalage-Fonseka has bought second hand clothing since 2012, firstly out of cost necessity, but now for the environment. The fashion industry creates about ten per cent of the global CO2 emissions - more than aviation and shipping combined, according to the United Nations.Ĭharity bins and opshops seemed like a good place for unwanted clothes, but they were inundated and sending much of it to the landfill anyway, Casey said. "There's just this complete lack of awareness of what happens to the clothing that we put in a clothing bin." "Every kilo of clothing that's landfilled creates 3.6 kilos of greenhouse gases," Casey said. * New Zealand designers carve out niche to take on fast fashionĬasey set up The Formary, based in Wellington, which works to redesign fibre waste from businesses and organisations to save it from the landfill. * Why fashion brands fail - from Topshop to Andrea Moore * Fast fashion could already be past its peak * Alison Mau: A new old coat changed my life
0 kommentar(er)
