Fashion and the Arts

The Bolingbrook Arts Council’s float is about TRASHION Fashion, to raise awareness that in order to have a more beautiful future, we need to think of ways to reduce and reuse our fashion waste, because the Future Is Now!

Fashion is such a creative and adventurous medium used in art, in which an artist’s imagination can be expressed through textiles and fabrics. However, the textile industry is one of the largest contributors to environmental waste and pollution. If we want to have a more beautiful future, we need to protect our future NOW and change our relationship with our clothing.

Facts:

The volume of clothing Americans throw away each year has doubled in the last 20 years, from 7 million to 14 million tons
In 2018, 17 million tons of textile waste ended up in landfills, according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency, making up 5.8 percent of the total MSW generation that year
According to the World Resources Institute, it takes 2,700 liters of water to make one cotton shirt.
Textiles can take up to 200+ years to decompose in landfills
84 percent of clothing ends up in landfills or incinerators– that’s 11.2 million TONS
The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions
Consumers recycle clothes less than manufacturers– only 15% of consumer-used clothing is recycled, while manufacturers recycle 75%

facts from
https://www.roadrunnerwm.com/blog/textile-waste-environmental-crisis and
https://www.ecofriendlyhabits.com/textile-and-fashion-waste-statistics/

What can you do?

Sell or donate-If you currently have clothes that you no longer wear, host a garage sale and sell them. Alternatively, you could donate them to a sister, a friend, or even through online groups like Buy Nothing Bolingbrook.

Host a clothing swap or exchange-If you want new clothes but still have lots of unworn ones in your closet, host a swap or exchange event instead of buying new ones. This is an excellent way to get new clothing while responsibly getting rid of the items you don’t want anymore.

Rent instead of buying- For those special occasions that you feel require a new outfit, like a job interview, an important business meeting, a dinner, wedding, etc. consider renting one instead of buying.

Recycle- Check if your city has textile collection bins where you can dump the clothes you don’t wear anymore. They will then be sort through and those that are in good condition will be donated to charity shops, and the damaged ones will be recycled.

Fashion and the Arts

Consumers recycle clothes less than manufacturers– only 15% of consumer-used clothing is recycled, while manufacturers recycle 75%

Host a clothing swap or exchange-If you want new clothes but still have lots of unworn ones in your closet, host a swap or exchange event instead of buying new ones. This is an excellent way to get new clothing while responsibly getting rid of the items you don’t want anymore.

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Rent instead of buying- For those special occasions that you feel require a new outfit, like a job interview, an important business meeting, a dinner, wedding, etc. consider renting one instead of buying.

Recycle- Check if your city has textile collection bins where you can dump the clothes you don’t wear anymore. They will then be sort through and those that are in good condition will be donated to charity shops, and the damaged ones will be recycled.