SEE Change WasteLess convenor Peter LeCornu (right) has issued a clothing challenge to all Canberrans this spring. Photo: SEE Change.
A local environmental group has challenged Canberrans to do their bit to fight fast fashion and clothing waste this spring by not buying any new clothes for three months.
The Buy No Clothes Challenge, which runs from the first day of September through to 1 December, is based on a simple equation. Buying less clothes equals less clothing waste.
Volunteer-led group WasteLess, one of 14 groups affiliated with local sustainability-focused organisation SEE (Society, Environment and Economy) Change, is behind the campaign.
The waste-busting volunteer group has mainly focused on reducing food and plastic waste since it began six years ago, but founding member and group convenor Peter LeCornu says the time is right to tackle the issue of clothing waste in the Territory. He pointed to the popular ABC War on Waste program highlighting the issue in its latest season as proof the subject is gaining momentum.
“The challenge is a way of prompting people to think about their wardrobe and what’s in there,” he says. “Our real goal is just having a discussion around how we can reduce clothing waste.”
Recent reports by a parliamentary standing committee and the Australian Fashion Council estimate each Australian buys between 14.8 and 27 kilograms of clothing each year, equalling an annual consumption of 383,000 tonnes, based on the lower estimate. The committee report also found the average Australian disposed of about 23 kilograms of clothing to landfill every year.
“A couple in our group said, ‘that’s not possible,'” Peter recalls. “And I said, ‘well, that’s the statistics on what people buy and that’s a heck of a lot of stuff that goes to waste.'”
While the committee report found more than half of Australia’s total waste was recovered, textile waste had the lowest recovery rate with 87.5 per cent of it going to landfill.
“I just cry when I hear people say, ‘I went and bought a piece of clothing, wore it once and then threw it away,'” Peter says. “What a waste. We’ve got to do better.”
The campaign is trying to encourage people to do just that.
Peter says while participants should still aim to buy no clothes at all during the challenge period, he doesn’t expect everyone to achieve the goal. He wants people to think of it as a personal learning journey. “At least they have a go and have a try and then reflect on what they learned from the experience,” he says.
Canberrans can sign up to the WasteLess challenge on the SEE Change website. Participants will receive two to three emails a month with ideas to guide them through the period.
“What we want to particularly contribute is positive ideas,” Peter says. “We don’t want to be all negative. We want to encourage people to adopt new habits to reduce waste.”
He says by refraining from buying new clothes for the challenge period, people will already be taking one of the most powerful actions to reduce clothing waste – buying less.
For those who need “new” clothes, WasteLess suggests buying second-hand, swapping clothes with friends, renting for special one-off events and upcycling existing clothes.
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