Green This Season - Digital Conscious Fashion Magazine Issue #3 | Page 13

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By Jo-Ann Worthington

Recycling my old clothes has always been
something I have aspired to do, but have
never actually done, blaming time and a
hectic schedule. But upon learning that over
114,000 items of clothing end up in landfill
every hour (equating to 1 billion items per
year), I decided that now was the time to declutter my wardrobe and help planet Earth a
little at the same time. Armed with multiple
plastic bags (all recyclable of course!) I set to
work, and just a few short hours later, I had a
reasonable amount of clothes to donate as well
as new space in my wardrobe.
I decided to take my ready-to-be-rediscovered
treasures to M&S, who have partnered up with
charity Oxfam to run a Shwopping campaign
. Shwopping is simply bringing an item of old
clothing to a participating M&S store each
time you purchase something new.
What really appealed to me about this
particular scheme was that even if the clothes
weren’t in resalable condition, they will still put

them to good use by recycling
the fibres to make new material.
Just think; your old and holey knitted
jumper could be recycled by a designer and
gracing next season’s catwalks! And better yet,
while some clothes will be resold in Oxfam
charity shops and music festivals, a great deal
of them are sent to those who need it most
in the Third World. In short; not a single
stitch is wasted; and every penny goes towards
fighting poverty around the world. So far this
fabulous scheme has allowed Oxfam to donate
an amazing 3.6 million items of clothing to
support those living in the poorest countries;
so follow Joanna’s example and get Shwopping!
Not able to get to an M&S? Then don’t worry,
there are hundreds of other opportunities to
make the most out of your old clothes. Just one
example is to donate to the KICI foundation,
who will recycle your clothes into new
products and use the money raised to benefit
the Knitting Project. This scheme ensures that
young disadvantaged adults in Kenya can be
trained to produce clothing in order to earn
their own income, improving their quality o ?)???????????????e???????????????????????)???????????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????)M??????????????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????????)???????????????????????????????????????()????Q???M?????5i%9?)???????()]??e???????????????)???????????????????)????????????????????????????)???????????????????????????)??????????Q?????????????????????)Q????????????????????????????????????????)Q????????????????????????????????Q????e????)????????????????????????????!????)????????????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????)?????????((0