A Perth fashion designer says there is a huge battle underway to end fast fashion and save clothes from landfill.
The Curtin Student Guild is hosting ‘Sustainability Week’, running a series of fashion and food waste conscious events to promote reducing, reusing and recycling.
For the next three days, the Curtin Thrift Market is open to encourage students and staff to use sustainably-sourced fashion.
Last year, Australians spent more than $2.3 billion on fast fashion and, according to the Australian Fashion Council, around 227,000 tonnes of clothing is sent to landfill every year.
Fashion designer and founder of Retourna Group Jessica Broughton says there is a huge battle in the sustainable clothing industry to find a way to reuse fast fashion fabrics, so they don’t end up in landfill.
“Because they use such poor quality fabrics, these materials are extremely difficult to recycle and are a complete liability,” she says.
“We need to encourage consumers to reuse and get the most wear out of their garments, it’s vital for sustainability.”
Jessica Broughton
Curtin Guild vice president of activities Max Zhang says this is the aim of the Curtin Thrift Market.
“It’s important to us that we guide students to do what they can to lead a more sustainable life,” he says.
Having hosted the thrift market every semester for the last few years, Mr Zhang has seen an enormous amount of growth in student participation.
“That’s why we decided to stretch it out to an entire week of events,” he says.
“We want to put an emphasis on not just clothes but other areas of sustainability too.”
For a gold coin donation, you can fill your tote bag up with as many thrifted items as you want.
All proceeds go to an emergency appeal run by UNICEF Australia to help children in Gaza.
Mrs Broughton says Generation Z are leading the charge for change.
“Gen Z are much more environmentally conscious than previous generations,” she says.
“There’s a more accepting mindset in young people of breaking away from the traditional consumer mould and seeking a smaller economical footprint.
“As the buyers and designers of the future, it’s extremely encouraging to see.”
Video: Ava Berryman.
Categories: Environment, General