What a brilliant Second Hand September 💚🌎💚
…but can we commit to doing this every month, I hope I can try and persuade you! 😊
I love clothes, but I also love the planet, so when I was asked to take part in Second Hand September (SHS), originally started by Oxfam a few years ago and now thankfully mainstream with Sienna Miller as the face of their campaign, of course, I said ‘Hell yes”!
I committed to not buying anything new all month, tried to learn as much as possible, and took part in an event to promote SHS. I’m writing about what I learned in the hope I may inspire some of you to think before you buy and try to improve the prospects of our precious planet Earth. 🌎
I’m happy to say that I was true to my commitment and didn’t buy a single new item all month. No click-happy ‘adding to basket’ before engaging my brain. I managed to avoid the dreaded guilt of putting something in my wardrobe I will never wear. I avoided the always lengthy Post Office queue to return items that I bought on a whim and I didn’t complete a single online return. It felt great.
Did you know that online returns contribute 15 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere each year!
Earlier this month, I was lucky enough to be included on an amazing panel (photo above) organised by the fab team at SignoftheTimes. I jumped at the chance, excited by the prospect of talking about one of my biggest personal passions in the company of some amazing women: Vanessa Jacobs — founder of The Restory, the world’s first aftercare platform journalist, and author of How to Break Up With Fast Fashion, Lauren Bravo -fashion editor turned mindful consumption activist (if you haven’t read her book, please do!), Hannah Rasekh -sustainable fashion advisor and TV Presenter Sabrina Grant #girlpower
So what did we discuss? The clothing catastrophe.
Ready for some more shocking stats? We buy more clothes in the UK than anywhere in Europe and over 30% of our unwanted clothing ends up in landfill. To put that into perspective, that’s over 10 million items going to landfill each week! According to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the fashion industry consumes more energy than aviation and shipping combined, accounting for 10% of global carbon emissions and 8–10% of greenhouse gas emissions. Online clothing returns contribute 15 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere each year 🤯🤯🤯 #readthatagain
So how can we make real, lasting change?
Extending the lifecycle of fashion
A key issue is the growth of the circular economy, which is about keeping clothes, shoes, and bags in circulation for as long as possible through the three R’s — recycling, reselling, repairing. My mantra when anyone asks me about sustainable fashion is “The most sustainable clothes we will ever wear are the ones we already own.”
Can your coat last another winter? If clothes stayed in active use for an extra nine months it would reduce their carbon, water, and waste footprints by up to 30%. Can you imagine the impact if we all hang onto things a little longer?
When I was growing up, we didn’t have much. School blazers always had someone else’s name tag in them and we lived in hand-me-downs. But then fast fashion came along and suddenly clothes became almost disposable. How much stuff is in your wardrobe that you never wear? How much space does it take up, and how much money have you wasted? It’s not too late to change bad habits. So, what can we do?
Choose second hand, choose style.
I love to buy ‘preloved’ clothes because I get excited by the thrill of finding unique pieces and knowing that the world is doing a little happy dance. Now I am lucky enough to (occasionally) buy amazing bags both new (I am not a saint) and preloved, I am also a regular seller too. I love the idea of being the custodian of that bag and then when I have finished with it, giving lots of other women the chance to adore it in its lifetime. 💚
Shop savvy, shop kind, and don’t beat yourself up.
We know we should be doing more, and we try, but we’re not perfect. No one expects us to be ‘sustainable nuns’ walking around in hessian sacks BUT, think about it, the world will be better if millions of us just make small changes.
If we want to actually save the planet, let’s face facts — our habits are not ok.
Making real change in business.
It’s not just an individual responsibility. The corporate world must sit up and take notice. I became an impact investor a few years ago, which means putting a stake into companies with a measurable social or environmental impact, alongside a financial return (otherwise known as just doing the right thing, ha!). To me, this is a non-negotiable practice. We have become obsessed with convenience but it’s time to admit that profits cannot be delivered by sacrificing the health of the planet.
My top tips to be more sustainable and save your wardrobe:
· Rip or tear? Mend it. Button fallen off? Sew it back on. Come on, how many ‘Brownie/Scout’ sewing badges do we have between us? Check out The Restory for some truly amazing fixes for your old bags, clothes & shoes without having to throw them away. Heard good things about Sojo too.
· Rent and share. Fed up of what you have in your wardrobe or going to a one-off event. Swap or rent! Check out, ByRotation, founded by the fabulous Eshita Kabra or try Cocoon Club to subscribe to that bag.
· Buy second hand. Someone else may be bored of their gear but it could look stunning on you. Check out SignoftheTimes of course 😉 for designer fashion, or Depop for everything else. Don’t forget your local charity shop, you will be amazed at what you find, I promise you!
· Buy only what you need. In some countries, 40% of all purchased clothing is never used. Think twice at the till. Will you really wear it? If not, put it back.
· Bored of that dress? Sell it and make money from your wardrobe, recycle it or turn into something else, give it away, it feels good 💚
· Quality over quantity. Buying cheap clothing that doesn’t survive the wash is a false economy & can give you a dozen reasons why its bad for humanity and the planet. #stopfastfashion
Please join me in my mission to make second hand cool by supporting this mission beyond this month. Stop the stress of online returns, be a social media cheerleader and together let’s take small steps. If millions do just that we will make a huge difference, thank you 💚💚💚 #sustainablefashion #secondhandseptember #recycle #repair #resell #savetheplanet #foundermusings #impactinvestor #thoughtpiece #slowfashion #wearesott #therestory #oxfam #secondisbest
