Wardrobes across the country are heaving with clothes as Australians purchase more new and secondhand items than ever before.<\/p>\n
About 1.5bn items of new clothing were bought nationally last year \u2013 equivalent to 55 new garments per person \u2013 a report by Seamless<\/a>, Australia\u2019s clothing stewardship scheme, found.<\/p>\n Nationally, about half of unwanted clothes end up in landfill (53%), another 38% are reused locally or exported and 9% are recycled.<\/p>\n Reuse and secondhand sales are increasing, but not fast enough enough to stem the tide sent to landfill, equivalent to 229,000 tonnes annually.<\/p>\n According to Ainsley Simpson, the chief executive officer of Seamless, \u201cnormalised\u201d overconsumption of clothing is already locking in a climate and water footprint that is out-of-step with a sustainable, circular future \u2013 contributing to about 14.5m tonnes of carbon emissions and consuming the equivalent of 1.8bn tonnes of water.<\/p>\n How best can we clear closet clutter without adding to landfill?<\/p>\n Eat your clothes?<\/p>\n It\u2019s a complex problem that one New Zealand label has been unpicking and solving piece by piece.<\/p>\n Kowtow has spent years eliminating plastic and petrochemicals from its garments \u2013 not just fabric, but trims too, including zips, buttons and polycotton thread. They either remove them in design or have switched to recyclable or natural alternatives.<\/p>\n Now the ethical label is addressing what happens to its clothes at the end of their life.<\/p>\n \u201cWe made a really bold decision to go entirely plastic free with every single part of our production,\u201d the label\u2019s founder, Gosia Piatek, says. There are already repair and resale services that extend the life of each item. \u201cThe final step is to regenerate.\u201d<\/p>\n A first for the fashion industry, Kowtow is turning its textile waste into biochar, a process that converts organic waste into charcoal which can be used to enrich soils.<\/p>\n It relies on the clothes being organic and free from plastic; when items are returned, any trims are removed and reused as part of the repair program. So far the scheme has turned a tonne of textile \u201cwaste\u201d into a useful resource.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our workroom, we mix it with soil to grow tomatoes. This idea that we can now eat our clothes is pretty revolutionary,\u201d Piatek says.<\/p>\n \u201cBy unmaking what we\u2019ve made, we give back. This isn\u2019t the end of a garment\u2019s life. It\u2019s the start of something bigger \u2013 a future where fashion becomes a force that restores, not extracts,\u201d Kowtow\u2019s head of sustainability, Tessa Bradley, says.<\/p>\n Re-wear, repair and share<\/p>\n Many people remain confused about what to do with their unwanted clothes.<\/p>\n According to Seamless\u2019s stats, about 5.27bn items of clothing are stockpiled in people\u2019s wardrobes, which equates to 193 items for every Australian. Another survey<\/a>, led by RMIT, found most Australians owned clothes they had not worn for a year and a third hadn\u2019t touched half of their wardrobe.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst, choose to re\u2011wear, repair and share where possible,\u201d Simpson says. \u201cThis includes donating good-quality items to established charity and resale networks to extend the life of garments and reduce the demand for new clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n Charity stores are grateful for generous donations that help to raise funds for people in need, provided the clothes are clean and in good nick.<\/p>\n Matt McMahon, a specialist manager of customer experience at Salvos Stores, says: \u201cA helpful guide is that if something is good enough to give to a friend then it\u2019s probably good enough to donate.\u201d<\/p>\n Where can I recycle?<\/p>\n Textiles have the lowest recycling rate of any waste material at 5% \u2013 mainly carpet recycling \u2013 the latest federal government data reveals<\/a>. Australians produced an estimated 33kg per person in textile waste, with clothing making up the largest component.<\/p>\n Tailored recycling schemes remain relatively niche.<\/p>\n In South Australia, a collaboration between state and local governments as well as charity partners led to a series of statewide \u201cset your clothes free\u201d collection drives<\/a> for unwanted clothing, footwear<\/a> and linens in any condition. Almost 20 tonnes of unwanted textiles were recovered for resale and recycling at a single event.<\/p>\n Increasingly, Australians can also access pilots funded by Seamless, including postal return satchels (being led by Australia Post<\/a> and R.M. Williams), workplace collections, charitable collaborations and local textile recycling hubs.<\/p>\n