Life Hacks: Zero Waste fashion and reducing your impact

We all want to become more sustainable in our fashion choices and on October 3rd, we talked about just that when we teamed up with Zero Waste London.

Here is our follow up blog post with ideas and tips to approach fashion from a zero-waste perspective (and keeping away from alternatives with a hefty price tag attached)

You can join the Zero Waste London meet-up group here.

The Wardrobe Challenge

At the start of the month, turn all your hangers one way.

Each time you wear a piece flip the hanger the other way.

By the end of the month you’ll be able to clearly see what pieces you get the most wear out of and what pieces you never wear.

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Think about why you wear certain pieces.

Is it because the colour suits you? It’s a good fit or flattering shape? Maybe the material is good quality or it’s simply your favourite piece?

Take a note of what this might be and get to know your personal style. This will make your next shopping trip better informed and you won’t fall prey to quick-changing trends!

With that in mind…. On to our next tip


30 Wears Challenge

Before you buy a piece of clothing ask yourself, ‘Will I wear this 30 times?’

If the answer is ‘no’ it might be time to reconsider or think about what you’ll do with the piece after you’ve worn it a couple of times.

You could share it on The Nu Wardrobe (more about us later), swap it or give it to friends or family. The important thing is for this piece not to end up in landfill after just a couple of wears.

Don’t Wash Your Denims

Don’t believe us? Believe the CEO of Levi’s!

His argument is based around the fact that washing a good pair of Levis actually causes damage to the material, and is a waste of water.

Mr Bergh isn’t the only denim expert to come out with this advice. Hiut Denim’s website says: "Raw denim is best given a good six months before washing. The longer you can leave it, the better your jeans will look.

"The reason for this is that the indigo will have worn off in places where you make natural creases. Just by sitting down, putting your phone in and out of your pockets, your hands in your pockets. All these daily little things will make your jeans look great.

*Source, Independent Newspaper

Join The Nu Wardrobe
That’s us!

We are The Nu Wardrobe a community of women in East-London, Dublin and Cork sharing our clothes. We enjoy fashion while reducing our impact on the planet. Why buy brand new when you can share? Borrow amazing outfits, get to know people in your community, save money and reduce waste.

How does it work?

Simply join, create a profile and upload 3 pieces. You’re then free to borrow as much as you like from your fellow members.

You can join here today and start sharing!

Fashion Revolution

Join the Fashion Revolution each year on April 24th, the anniversary of Rana plaza. The Rana Plaza disaster happened on April 24th, 2013 when an 8 story garment factory collapsed in Bangladesh killing 1,113 people.

After this disaster, Fashion Revolution created a global campaign calling for transparency in the fashion industry something like this never happens again. Join the campaign and ask you favourite brands, ‘Who Made My Clothes?’

Use a Guppy Bag

Unknown to many, our clothes are full of plastic, mainly in the form of polyester, or recycled plastic materials. This rings alarm bells for microfibres.

When washing clothes containing plastic we release millions of microfibres into our water systems. These microfibres (tiny pieces of plastic invisible to the naked eye) seep into our oceans, into marine life and eventually into our food system.

Enter - the Guppy Bag.

You can wash your clothes in a Guppy Bag which traps the microfibres and stops them getting into the water system. You then empty out your guppy bag into general plastic recycling.

Looking for some sustainable and ethical brands?

Birdsong.London

This unreal ‘no sweatshop, no photoshop’ ethical and sustainable brand is run by the most inspiring women and feminists in East-London. With all their pieces made locally by skilled women’s community groups you’ve simply got to check them out!

Veja

Looking for sustainable sneakers? Look no further than Veja. They use only sustainable materials, pay all of their workers a fair wage and still sell these shoes at much the same price as Nikes.

Emma Watson is a super fan…. Need we say more

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Any questions for us?

Let us know at info@thenuwardrobe.com