Yellow raincoat, a worn hoodie and braids. This is probably how most people know the world’s most influential climate activist. 19-year-old Greta Thunberg attracted attention when she appeared as a cover model on Vogue Scandinavia’s first magazine, wearing clothes made from recycled materials. The youth icon used the interview to reach out to the fashion industry, which is often called one of the world’s most polluting industries. If you look at the climate impact alone, our ever-increasing consumption of clothing accounts for 10 percent of the world’s CO2 emissions – more than the total international air traffic and the shipping industry. If development does not stop, emissions may increase by a third in 2030. Several brands have therefore been concerned with launching collections with organic cotton or partially recycled materials. But that does not impress Thunberg. She continued her criticism after the magazine was published, on both Twitter and Instagram where she has millions of followers: – Many make it look as if the fashion industry takes responsibility by spending large sums on campaigns where they present themselves as “sustainable »,« Ethical »,« green »,« climate neutral »and« fair ». But let’s be honest. It is almost never anything other than “greenwashing”. You can not mass produce fashion or consume sustainably, as the world is today. This is one of the many reasons why we need a system change. In the interview, Thunberg says that she herself has not bought new clothes in three years. Although the textile industry and the major fast fashion players such as H&M are working hard to break the code of how to transform old textiles into new ones, there is still a long way to go in a circular fashion industry where clothing is part of a sustainable cycle. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that less than one percent of clothing materials are recycled for new use. Especially because it is still too difficult and not least expensive to separate cheap, but very environmentally harmful polyester from cotton. Used clothes are good news for the climate If you want to take care of the climate when you buy clothes, the best thing you can do for the planet in 2022 is an old solution in new clothes: Recycled clothes or so-called preloved fashion. Recycling and resale of clothing has experienced a huge increase in recent years. New concepts and online solutions are constantly emerging that make it easier to sell and buy used fashion for both consumers, fashion companies and clothing retailers. The trend has grown under the corona. Many had the closet cleaned up and at the same time have had less money to buy new for. According to a report from ThredUp, the world’s largest online platform for resale clothing, 33 million consumers bought used for the first time in 2020. 76 percent of them say they plan to buy more used clothing in the years to come. Every third responds that they prefer sustainable clothing more than before the pandemic. The second-hand market has the potential to double over the next five years. If you are particularly interested in the resale of clothing, it is expected to grow 11 times more than the rest of the clothing retail by 2025. It has great potential for the climate. According to a report by McKinsey & Company and Global Fashion Agenda, circular business models, including resale, could cut 143 million tonnes of the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. If we are to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of a maximum 1.5 degree temperature rise, the world must agree that one in five clothing will be traded through circular models such as used clothing in 2030, the report shows. Skeptics, however, point out that cheap clothes often have poor quality that are quickly washed out of shape or damaged. In this way, fast fashion has a built-in obstacle to being able to be part of a sustainable business model, where the clothes last a long time with several owners. Here we are back to the structural changes that Greta Thunberg is calling for. Nevertheless, ThredUp’s latest report predicts that the incipient recycling revolution, for which young consumers in particular are the standard bearers, will mean that sales of second-hand clothes will be twice as large as fast fashion by 2030.
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Analysis: Reuse wins over fast fashion
