Why You Should Give Your Clothes a Second Life

The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions. To combat this, experts recommend increasing the reuse, upcycling, and recycling of old garments.

Fabric waste constituted 3.1% (432,901 tonnes) of the total waste generated (13.9 million tonnes) in 2021 in Malaysia. Globally, 92 million tonnes of textile waste are produced annually, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.

In one country alone (Australia), it’s been calculated that 6 tonnes of clothing waste ends up in landfill every 10 minutes. Globally, over 10,000 tonnes of waste are sent to landfills every day.

The waste is primarily driven by the “fast fashion” business model, which produces cheap, low-quality, disposable clothing. Many of these textiles are synthetic and take hundreds of years to decompose.

So, when you next declutter your wardrobe, remember many of the clothes we get rid of end up in landfill, so let’s aim to extend our clothes lives for as long as possible. Save clothes from landfills by extending their life through repairing, swapping, donating, or recycling them into new materials.

Give gently-used clothing to local charities, shelters, or thrift shops. Turn old, stained, or torn clothing into new items like cleaning rags, pillow covers, or quilts. Fix damaged clothes – sewing buttons, patching holes, or fixing zippers – to keep them in use longer. Host clothing swaps with friends.

Every piece of clothing saved from landfill is a win for the environment.