News on Surrey's Greener Future

This blog is part of a new series written by Surrey residents who will be sharing their personal experiences of making changes to reduce their carbon footprint. We hope the blogs will provide other people with inspiration and guidance to make changes of their own. If you think you would like to contribute, please submit an expression of interest via this form.

Louise from North Surrey shares her experience of reducing the carbon footprint of her wardrobe.

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A couple of years ago I finally admitted to myself that I had a bit of a shopping problem. I like shopping. I enjoy browsing the shops, trying things on, finding a bargain and coming home with lovely bags and boxes of new things to enjoy!

But, we all know by now that the f ashion industry is one of the most polluting and unsustainable industries . In the western world we own far too many clothes, we don’t look after them and we wear them too infrequently before ditching them. In short, we treat clothes as disposable items. In the UK, an estimated £140m worth of clothing is sent to landfill every year . That’s 350,000 tonnes of wearable clothes being thrown away.

And this is despite the enormous environmental impact of producing the materials (whether that’s water usage to grow cotton or fossil fuels extracted to produce new synthetic fibres), the pollution from dyes and fabric treatments, and the transportation impact of shipping items around the world.

I recognised that my enjoyment of shopping did not sit well with my ethics and the need to reduce our carbon footprint as a society, so I set out to change that.

At first, I spent time researching more ethical companies – and there are some good ones out there. Companies that manufacture in the UK, or use specific fabrics that are more eco, or are making efforts to reduce their carbon consumption. But I avoided buying second-hand, not through any snobbery of second-hand clothing, purely because I’ve never enjoyed the pot luck nature of searching through charity shops in the hope of finding something I like that’s in my size. Especially if I’m looking for something specific – feels too much like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

And here’s where technology comes to the rescue! It’s now far easier to buy second-hand clothing online, and it’s brilliant! Oxfam have had an online presence for a while, but they’ve recently been joined by Re-fashion and Thrift+ . Both are online shops for second-hand clothing, but not affiliated to specific charities. Thrift+, in particular, focuses on high-end brands, which have often been well looked after by previous owners, so are in good condition but at a bargain price.

You can search by brand, type of clothing, colour and size, making it far easier to find what you’re looking for. You can also return items, taking the risk out of buying second-hand online in case the fit or condition is not what you were expecting. In the case of Thrift+, you can send off your old, unwanted items and choose the charity you want to benefit, and you get a cut of the proceeds too!

I’ve also found a number of Facebook groups dedicated to buying and selling specific clothing brands. The groups tend to be friendly places and they make it easy to find items that suit my style, and I know what the sizing is like. And, of course, there’s always Ebay.

Since starting out on my quest to reduce the carbon footprint of my wardrobe, I think I’ve made significant improvements. I’d estimate a good 70% of items bought this year have been second-hand. My bank account is also very happy about this! And when I do buy new, I try to buy from companies with a good track record on sustainability, which sometimes costs a bit more, but with all the money I’ve saved buying second-hand, it’s much more affordable.