circular fashion

Behind the Seams: Weaving Circularity into the Fashion Industry through RFID threads by Nina Gbor

RFID threads, Alison Jose, Eco Styles Nina Gbor 1

Image source: Global Circular Network 

Only 1% of clothing is recycled into new garments per year—a shockingly low figure given the fashion industry's bold sustainability promises. This leads to over 300,000 tonnes of clothing being sent to landfill or exported from Australia every year. Even more troubling is that 86% of fashion brands still lack clear, measurable targets to phase out coal, while 95% of major fashion companies remain silent on the types of fuel powering their supply chains

This lack of transparency is not necessarily deliberate deception, as current legislation, particularly in Australia, does not require disclosure of such information. However, it highlights a critical gap in accountability, especially when compared to the European Union’s progressive legislative frameworks, such as the Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), which mandates that brands take responsibility for emissions across their manufacturing and transportation processes.

Instead of addressing these issues, the Australian government is giving Seamless Industry Awards, which, when compared to the ESPR, highlight a failure to implement meaningful change. Seamless must also require brands to set targets and deadlines to mitigate emissions from manufacturing and transport, as well as offset through sequestration. These are crucial questions, given that emissions from these areas, along with manufacturing and transport, are the two biggest hotspots for pollution. Without enforcing such measures, the Minister for the Environment will struggle to meet government targets. This situation shows that real change is urgently needed to stop the fashion industry from continually exploiting the planet unchecked. But how can we achieve this?

Alison Jose, founder and CEO of the Global Circular Network, believes that the future of transparency in fashion hinges on brands pivoting to circular economy business models using smart tools to connect all stakeholders. 

The one tool that can achieve this is the world's first washable RFID that’s housed in a single thread. This cutting-edge technology integrates a single 15 centimetre thin metallic thread embedded with a chip into garments during the labelling process, or slipped into quality recovered products to also engage the second hand and rental markets now. Washable, discreet, and flexible, RFiD THREADS® are connected to a cloud app to hold vital information about material specifications and can be updated in real-time. 

They are washable - up to 200 degrees and this includes carpets. The RFiD THREADS® is a digital passport that stays with products throughout their entire lifecycle to gather comprehensive circular product data in real-time. Using long-lasting DPPs means we can collect unprecedented full circular product data which is the key to creating financially sustainable local and global circular economies.

Their main function is to connect businesses to enhance the identification, sorting, and categorisation of both desirable and undesirable products, facilitating product life extension and reuse all before recycling simply by reading one or bulk products simultaneously with RFiD handheld or fixed system readers. With RFiD THREADS®, the fashion industry will finally have a smart tool to unlock a fully interconnected circular economy at scale.

To delve deeper into this promising solution, insights from a recent interview with Alison Jose reveal how RFiD Threads can not only transform the fashion industry but also address the pressing challenges of transparency and sustainability. We spoke with her and captured her thoughts on the potential of RFiD Threads to reshape the industry’s future while highlighting the hurdles that may lie ahead.

Daphne: “What sparked your passion for making a difference in the fashion industry?”

Alison: “I came to the circular economy from being a sustainable textile wholesaler, manufacturer, and developer working with mills in India, Indonesia, and China. In 2020, I developed CircStretch, a new bio-stretch textile aimed at reducing plastic in performance stretch garments like activewear using specialty yarns from Lenzing Group and Asahi Kasei, who developed the world’s first Cradle to Cradle Gold Standard elastane. 

Once I understood the complexity of textile fibers and the production limitations at the beginning of the supply chain, I shifted my focus to how we can recover these resources and support what's called the reverse logistics value chain to make products more circular. I also recognized the need for shared responsibility across the entire fashion waste ecosystem, rather than placing the burden solely on the resource recovery sector to solve the ‘waste’ crisis. Additionally, we need to actively integrate the incredible reuse creative sector, which is at the heart of circularity.

Additionally, my background as an art curator and PR consultant has always influenced my approach to sustainability. When people ask how we can transition to more sustainable textiles, my answer is simple: through beauty. By harnessing creativity and aesthetic appeal, we can engage consumers emotionally, helping to shift them away from the take-make-waste model and towards more conscious choices. Combining smart technology with creativity, human-centered design, and strong regulations can make sustainable options both attractive and accessible. This approach encourages consumers to make informed and easy choices that are better for the planet.

It is especially important to connect people with local communities to create jobs and boost local economies, while also making it easy for them to experience that 'warm, gooey feeling' that helps change habits of overconsumption, wish-cycling, or simply throwing things away. By providing easier access to circular options and educating people on how to use the planet's resources wisely—from transport to textiles—and incorporating reward systems, we can unlock significant opportunities to redirect the revenue that currently ends up in landfills."

Daphne: “Can you share the origin story behind the idea of establishing the Global Circular Network and using RFiD technology along with QR codes?”

Alison: "In 2020, I received a grant from the NSW EPA to create Australia’s first Circular Textile Waste Service, and I began collaborating with a disability enterprise to sort and dismantle textile waste. During this sorting process, I realized that almost 99% of the products were untraceable, highlighting the urgent need to reconnect them with their originators to encourage their engagement. Additionally, at least 80% of the textiles were technically unidentifiable. Currently, the responsibility for managing fashion waste primarily falls on local councils and recyclers, which isn’t fair. Both brands and consumers must share this responsibility. To address this issue, I reached out to a colleague at Deakin University, who connected me with Dr. Anura Rathnayake, an expert in RFiD thread technology. Our collaboration began in 2022, and I have since built the cloud app and circular solution from there.

Daphne: “What specific information can this thread store and transmit?”

Alison: “The threads themselves do not store data; instead, they are connected to a cloud app that allows us to store infinite product data and delete this data when the product is recycled, helping to prevent unnecessary data storage and energy waste.

By integrating RFiD THREADS® into garments, businesses can effectively communicate and report on their circular design strategies, especially regarding material types and traceability. For instance, current recycling technologies face significant challenges with blended materials. It is crucial for recyclers to know which chemicals were used during textile manufacturing. Activewear and uniforms often contain 'forever chemicals,' which can complicate recycling. By identifying and diverting these harmful substances during the sorting stage, we can support a cleaner recycling process, improve product safety, and tackle the issue at scale.

Embedding an RFID thread from the outset simplifies the recycling process, allowing recyclers to efficiently identify, recycle, remanufacture, or repurpose materials, ultimately creating safer feedstocks. Additionally, it employs smart technology to engage and support the R-cyclers, who are vital for extending a product's life through repair, resale, rental, redesign, and remaking. This approach puts the “economy into circularity," keeping products in circulation longer before recycling and redirecting valuable resources to the second creative heart of circularity.”

Daphne: “What are the biggest challenges that the Global Circular Network is facing, and how are you planning to overcome them?”

Alison: “Well the answer to both questions is: collaboration; it's the biggest challenge and it's the solution. Thankfully, the EU Commission is stepping up, leading the global shift toward a circular economy with groundbreaking legislation. Through Cirpass-2, the commission has mandated the use of Digital Product Passports (DPPs) to enforce the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR). This will guide all industry stakeholders toward circularity and it’s profoundly exciting to be part of the teams who are driving circularity through collaboration and inclusivity but understand that smart tech and regulations are the only way to pivot this industry and reduce emissions at-scale.

Yes, the scope of this transition is vast and daunting, but it also presents an extraordinary opportunity for positive change. This shift has the potential to impact local and global supply chains, encouraging brands to work more closely with their suppliers but also employ EPR strategies and engage with the resource recovery sector. With this collaboration and direction, brands can opt for better materials, increase revenue, uphold the Modern Slavery Act, pay Living Wages, and leverage real-world data to identify environmental hotspots, creating a more immediate and meaningful impact that is reportable.

A critical part is that our RFID thread technology can withstand wear and tear, enable unprecedented data collection for Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) plus instant unfakeable product authentication which is an enormous bonus to customers, brands and resellers. Combined with a connected QR code and/or NFC ring, brands can use this technology not just to track the product’s journey but to reveal their circular journey to customers, fostering brand loyalty and consumer education.

Consumers today are hungry for information on how and where to repair, resell, rent, or donate products. Brands have the opportunity to connect customers with local networks, encouraging them to donate, swap, or connect with creative redesigners who upcycle items. This extends the product's life and builds emotional attachment to possessions, while guiding consumers to proper recycling options, reducing the issue of “wishcycling”  that ultimately goes to landfill or simply throwing things away.

By supporting their customers, brands can increase profits and redirect resources. Our washable RFID DPPs can also turn “resource recovery” businesses into network partners, as each scan provides verifiable data on a product’s circular journey. This data will assist in compliance reporting and potentially reduce taxes or levies for proving circularity.

The EU’s crackdown on greenwashing and offshore dumping is another significant step forward. For R-cycler stakeholders, this legislation opens doors for using RFID readers to access our open-source app for free which in turn offers brands solutions that help capture their required circularity data. All businesses can unlock untapped revenue currently being lost to landfills in addition to brands meeting their reporting requirements.

In September the USA state of California passed legislation on a Responsible Textile Recovery Act, also known as SB 707, requiring manufacturers and distributors to participate in an extended producer responsibility (EPR) program for apparel and certain textile products. The hope is that EPR legislation will spread to other countries including Australia as we know that government intervention is the only way to push brands toward implementing full circularity required to meet our local and global environmental targets. 

While we need to start with "circular-ish" efforts, the goal must be a faster transition to a fully circular economy, where brands adopt circular business models plus include a financial shared responsibility alongside a socioeconomic lens such as the Doughnut Economics framework. Simple measures like using second-hand or recycled textiles or offering take-backs and repairs are a basic start but full systems need to be integrated at scale as they aren’t enough to meet our collaborative environmental goals.

Unfortunately, Australia has yet to take regulatory action. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation has warned against diluted versions of circular economy models that won’t deliver the needed results. After years of trying, I’ve received no feedback from Australian industry or government, and brands are unlikely to be able to pivot to full circularity voluntarily. 

The industry won’t change without government regulations as they help determine best-case metrics and Standards, utilise bulk manufacturing initiatives to lower costs and increase equitable participation, plus to avoid the imbalance that is straining the resource recovery sector trying to ‘solve the waste problem’ on behalf of brands and consumers but without their participation. 

The Global Circular Network helps create shared responsibility. After all, we all wear clothes, and their negative environmental impact affects us all. As a member of several Cirpass-2 Expert Working Groups under the EU Commission, I’ve seen the incredible support for micro-businesses and Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) which is why we’ve also launched the 100 MILLION THREADS PROJECT. 

Collaboration and regulation are essential to create inclusive, equitable solutions and ensure all businesses transition to circularity in time to meet climate targets.

While QR codes and NFC rings are useful for customer engagement they aren’t full digital passports and won’t solve business-to-business communication and data needs at scale. QR codes and NFC are more like smart swing tags but they also raise concerns about personal data collection which is why we’ve separated them to use RFiD THREADS® to only capture product data through a commercial reader, without involving consumer information.

By adopting these tools, brands can foster greater transparency, which today’s consumers increasingly demand. And by mimicking the strategies of fast fashion—leveraging smart tech and social media—brands can build a more circular industry. This approach offers consumers an eco-friendly “dopamine hit” while advancing holistic goals to reduce landfill, emissions, and pollution, creating a cleaner plus fairer, more supportive industry for all.

Daphne: “What is your long-term vision for the Global Circular Network?”

Alison: "My long-term vision aligns with our short-term goal: to engage as many stakeholders in the circular economy as possible and to connect them all. 

Offering equitable accessibility is crucial for SMEs in the EU, where 99.8% of fashion brands fall into this category. It’s been said that approximately 40% of these businesses may struggle to add DPPs and meet ESPR compliance requirements. 

By launching the 100 MILLION THREADS PROJECT, we aim to include SMEs, Not for Profit Enterprises, charities etc and offer them an efficient DPP at the same equitable price as the big brands who can access via low-cost bulk manufacturing orders.

We want to add RFiD THREADS® into 100 million pieces of clothing. Just imagine if we added 100 million threads to both new and recovered jeans, we then take immediate action to stop emissions being added to the environment the equivalent of 300,000 cars or 2 million hours of domestic flights, 5 million refrigerators, or 70 million smartphones. This is just a start as there's some 15.3 billion pairs of jeans causing emissions as they rot in landfill globally each year.

A key focus is ensuring equitable access for SMEs, especially in the EU, where 99.8% of fashion brands fall under this category. It's estimated that around 40% of these businesses could face challenges in implementing DPPs and meeting the compliance standards to be outlined in the ESPR.

To address this, the 100 MILLION THREADS PROJECT aims to include not only SMEs but also nonprofits, charities, and other organisations. Our goal is to provide them with an affordable DPP solution, on par with what larger brands can access through low-cost bulk manufacturing.

The plan is to manufacture 100 million RFiD THREADS® to add to 100 million pieces of clothing. Now imagine the impact if we added these threads to both new and recovered denim jeans: we could prevent emissions equivalent to 300,000 cars, 2 million hours of domestic flights, 5 million refrigerators, or 70 million smartphones. And that’s just the beginning because we’ve not even calculated their EPR—each year, 15.3 billion pairs of jeans rot in landfills, contributing significantly to global emissions.

Any sized brand can join by pre-ordering via an Expression of Interest and jump onto a bulk manufacturing order to purchase affordable, efficient DPPs at the same low bulk buying price as the big brands. 

We need to support these businesses so that we don’t forever change the landscape into one that’s dominated by fast fashion and large global brands. SMEs are the backbone of our society; they are where creativity flourishes, which is at the core of why I started this project. By supporting these smaller businesses, we can ensure that innovation and creativity helps to drive a circular economy."

Daphne: “What message would you like to share with young people and sustainability advocates?”

Alison:  “My message to young eco-entrepreneurs striving to pivot to circularity is to stay connected to your purpose. For me, that purpose centers around the environment and ensuring a better future for my son and the generations to come. It breaks my heart to see the urgency of our climate crisis and realize that we can't afford to wait as the 2030 targets are now obsolete.

Also to learn more about the people who are connected to both your supply chain and the resource recovery providers. This is where the gold is, the storytelling that connects us all, seeing the differences and the similarities but especially the gifted ‘makers’ who create, decommission and then recreate our products and materials.

Together, we can transform this industry into one that prioritises the planet and future generations."

Daphne: “Is there anything you believe every fashion consumer should be aware of when purchasing clothing?”

Alison: “Manufacturing and transport are the two biggest contributors to emissions in an industry ranked among the top three driving the climate crisis.

By learning more, every fashion consumer can consider the full impact of their purchasing decisions and acknowledge the true cost of producing their clothes and our role in over consumption. Just recently, the Australian Institute reported that Australia has the highest fashion consumption rate in the world, which is alarming. On the same day, temperatures soared to 52.2 degrees in Delhi, where one of my recyclers operates. There, women wearing saris made with 5 metres of plastic polyester sit amidst piles of wool garmentsunder metal roofs without air conditioning in that heat, as they decommission our discarded clothes for recycling.

It’s the people in the Global South who bear the brunt of our waste crisis, and it's crucial that we engage them as active participants in a circular economy. With RFiD THREADS® this is now possible and easy. 

Daphne: “What are some real-world impacts we can see by using RFiD THREADS®?”

Alison: “I’m excited to divert funds from the 100 Million Thread Project, which aims to make a significant difference in these communities. Funds will go towards renewable energy solutions aligned with Project Drawdown’s Distributed Solar Photovoltaics energy initiative, benefiting both garment production factories and decommissioning businesses in the Global South. 

Our goal is to support factories that lack the financial resources to transition to renewable energy, improving working conditions while providing brands with a dual advantage. Not only will this reduce energy consumption in key production areas, but it will also enhance their ESPR reporting by addressing critical energy hotspots.

We can also use our data to build LLM AI to determine the best-case choices based on geography plus which materials and solutions to choose to help brands shift faster to better solutions based on real-world LCA metrics.

Brands can choose to connect their Supply Chain Management and LCA software platforms with ours via a “digital bridge”. Connectivity to SCM is disconnected at Point-of-Sale or by request and is then open-source to be all-inclusive and offered for free to the resource recovery sector.

SCM connectivity automatically solves one of the industries biggest waste problems; returns. Implementing RFiD THREADS® means returns can be bulk scanned and put ‘back onto the shelves” instantly to fix the enormous problems caused by manual re-entry leading to out-dated clothing being dumped. Many brands build these financial losses into their linear models so this loss of revenue is now an easy fix . 

The concept of shared responsibility extends to encouraging brands to help consumers take accountability for their choices. By educating customers that even the transport involved in online shopping returns carries a “cost” to the planet, we can foster a deeper awareness. Encouraging consumers to pay a small fee to ‘draw down’ the associated emissions will lead to meaningful habit changes and phenomenal sequestration opportunities as awareness grows.

These small financial contributions add up, helping to infuse the ‘economy’ into circularity. Brands stand to benefit by increasing profits, offsetting eco-related expenses, and supporting essential waste management efforts, as well as driving advancements in textile technology. This approach helps brands, consumers and the resource recovery sector to collaborate in creating a more circular future.”


Article by Daphne Vryghem is passionate about the circular economy and dedicated to advancing innovative strategies for sustainable environmental preservation. 




















How to reduce your fashion waste and environmental impact by Nina Gbor

Eco Styles Talisa Sharma Circular Fashion 1

Photo by Tamara Bellis

Over recent years the fashion industry has changed drastically; fast-fashion is now leading the growth in clothing consumption with clothing production doubling between 2000 and 2015 whilst the lifetime of the garments is decreasing. Mass produced clothing focusing on fast inventory turnarounds to capture everchanging trends. Let’s talk about figuring out the carbon footprint of your clothing consumption and a few tips for lowering it.  

The circular economy model stems from the idea of keeping resources in a loop to optimise their use and value. The clothing industry is globally one of the most dominant industries and highest value industries due to its product value, employment and market size, and it has doubled in production size in the last two decades. Each year, 150 billion fashion items are produced globally, making the textile sector a considerable polluter with a detrimentally significant carbon footprint that many consumers are unaware of. The carbon footprint of the clothing industry is something that must not be ignored and with the increase in fashion overproduction and overconsumption, it’s necessary to stay informed on ways to curate a sustainable wardrobe that can also be very stylish. Something as simple as "extending the life of clothes by an extra nine months of active use would reduce carbon, water, and waste footprints by around 20-30% each".

What makes up the clothing carbon footprint?

Eco Styles Talisa Sharma fashion carbon footprint 1

Photo by George Evans

Extraction and manufacturing 

The most significant contributor to the clothing carbon footprint is from the production of clothing fibres, their production requires a substantial amount of water, energy, fertilisers, and land use. As well as this, there is the manufacturing process; consisting of the weaving, dyeing, cutting, and sewing which all use large amounts of energy, chemicals, and also the disposal of the fabric offcuts. With many companies having a global presence and reach, another significant contributor is transportation - the raw materials and the final clothing products often travel extensive distances all around the world. Packaging of the products also contributes to the industry's carbon emissions. 

Consumption impacts

Once the consumer has received their items there is then the energy usage of washing, drying and ironing the clothes. Lastly, when people eventually dispose of the clothing that they no longer want, around 87% globally, goes into landfills despite the clothing still having 70% of its useful life left. Clothing made from synthetics such as Polyester “accumulate in landfills because conventional PET is non biodegradable” which can release harmful additives and microfibres which pollute the land, water and air.

Calculating your carbon footprint 

This might seem daunting but there are many ways you can mitigate your impact and reduce your clothing footprint. To make a start there are many online resources that you can use to calculate your clothing carbon footprint, I would recommend Thredup. It asks you various questions about your clothing consumption and habits and then provides you with tailored suggestions on ways you can reduce your fashion footprint. 

What else can you do?  

  • Upcycle your clothes - this includes repurposing clothes such as transforming unwanted clothes into something else and clothes customisation. 

  • Support circular fashion - utilise brands that offer schemes where they accept old clothes back and buy second hand items to keep existing clothes in circulation. Ensure that brands with take back schemes are reusing or recycling the clothing in the right ways and not burning them or sending the clothes to landfill. 

  • Donate or sell your unwanted clothes - donating and selling your clothes gives them a second life and reduces the demand for brand new items.

  • Buy less clothes - when you are wanting to buy a new item question how much you need this or how often you will wear it.

  • Trade clothes - swap clothes with friends and family and host and attend clothes swaps. Clothes Swap & Style have free monthly clothes swap events in Sydney, Australia. You can get free tips from them on how to host your own clothes swap.

  • Repair your clothes - rather than replacing damaged clothes with minor problems, you can repair them, this extends the life of your garments.

  • Rent or borrow clothes - instead of buying new clothes for one off special events you can rent them, it is a fraction of the cost and helps optimise the usage of an item of clothing.

  • Educate yourself and others - share your knowledge with friends and family and stay connected with developments in circular fashion. Support sustainable brands - when you need new clothing, support the companies that prioritise sustainability and are making clothes designed for long term wear. You can know if a brand is not greenwashing when they are not transparent about how many garments they manufacture each year and refuse to disclose their information about their supply chain. 

  • Avoid fast fashion - Instead you could try shopping for preloved clothing. Fast fashion produces clothing at artificially low costs using unsustainable factors such as modern slavery, planned obsolescence and poor-quality materials. Their low quality encourages short-term wear. These clothing items have also been proven to have toxic chemicals such as pesticides and flame retardants in the manufacturing process which can seriously impact your health as prolonged contact with the skin can absorb the chemicals into your body.

  • Restyle your clothes - this is using your creativity to wear one item of clothing in a variety of different ways through layering and accessorising, for different types of occasions which is demonstrated in this article.

Eco Styles Restyling Circular fashion Talisa Sharma 1

Photo by Tamara Bellis


Article by Talisa Sharma. Talisa has a passion for business and enjoys educating and promoting sustainability and carbon friendly initiatives.

The fashion TRENDmill explained by Nina Gbor

Nina Gbor wearing a secondhand ensemble with items from an op shop and consignment store acquired in 2017 and 2019. Image credit: Pepper Street Photography

I've been into sustainable fashion since I was 15 years old - wearing, promoting, styling and living the preloved lifestyle. This was long before sustainable fashion was a global movement and long before the term ‘sustainable fashion’ was a buzz word for nearly every brand and flocks of influencers. I abhorred fashion trends from a young age. I couldn’t understand why so many people clung tenaciously to a made-up reality where everyone is expected to wear the same trending styles of clothing until the dictators of fashion decided it was time to decree the next short-lived trend. This is fashion’s Jedi mind trick.

The fashion industry

In 2019, the size of the global apparel and footwear market was $1.9 trillion USD. It’s been projected to reach $3.3 trillion dollars by 2030. Several reasons exist as to why this industry is so lucrative. There’s the craftmanship, art, design, creativity, skills, beauty, artisanry and of course practicality that leads to the production of items that we love and find useful. In many instances, most or perhaps even all of these talents deserve to garner significant profits. But then there’s the dark side of the industry that has been inducing tremendous profits through atrocious practices. This side has been thriving on extreme capitalism with no concern for humans, animals nor the planet. The sole purpose is to amass huge profits at all costs. This is why we currently have 100 – 150 billion garments being manufactured each year, with only an estimated 8 billion humans to use them. It’s unsurprising that about 87% of items manufactured each year end up in landfill or incinerated.  

Where fashion trends went wrong

This unchecked, environmentally degrading side of fashion has been able to grow and thrive so expeditiously in part due to the use of fashion trends. For probably about a century, following fashion trends was a significant part of social culture and clothing. It was portrayed in different forms. Fashion collections produced by brands have traditionally been designed and manufactured based on the four western weather seasons of Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. The trends generally adhered to this as well. Fast fashion hijacked and exacerbated the idea of trends and took it from about 4 trend cycle collections a year, to about 110 trend and microtrend collections a year. Naturally the time from one trend to the next decreased in the process. This is one of the factors that lead to over 100 billion garments being manufactured each year. Not to mention the tsunami of environmental and social justice issues from this overproduction and overconsumption.

Fashion’s environmental and social injustice issues

For too many decades, the grody side of the fashion industry has been using clever big-budget advertising, marketing, influencers and celebrities, to successfully manipulate people into feeling that they’re not enough unless they’re wearing the latest fashion trends. They’ve been able to control this aspect of social culture and use it to catapult their profits by somehow coercing many people to consistently buy apparel they don’t need. This is all in the name of aspiring to fit into this warped system that requires allegiance to whatever is trending in the moment.

With more trends being put out each year, planned obsolescence by clothing brands has become rampant. This means clothes are being designed for limited use with shorter life spans so that consumers are forced or encouraged to repeat purchases because the initially purchased items are not durable. The garments made by many fashion brands are increasingly being made from cheaper, poorer quality materials such as polyester. When something is damaged, it’s often less costly to buy a new one than to repair it. Products made in this manner very often end up in landfill in relatively short periods of time. In other words, these clothes are made to be disposable. This is the take-make-waste system that exists in fashion and several other industries.

The cost of the trends

The environmental damage from this excessive oversupply occurs at scale through deforestation, ocean and freshwater pollution, destruction of ecosystems and animal habitats, desertification, toxic chemical loading in soil and water bodies, etc. UN Climate Change states that annually, 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases are emitted from textiles production. By some calculations, sector emissions are projected to increase by more than 60% by 2030. In addition to that, there’s the devastating problem of modern slavery where garment workers are exploited, abused and drastically underpaid so that brands can make extreme profits. According to the 2022 Ethical Fashion Report conducted by The World Baptist Aid, 60 million people work in the global fashion industry. To give context to the general nature of social injustice and inequality in the industry, only 10% of companies surveyed in the report could show evidence of paying liveable wages to garment workers.

The personal style con

In the last few years, mainstream fashion began to drop the habit and promotion of following fashion trends. Embracing one’s own personal style became the thing to do. At the outset this shift appeared very positive for the environment and consumers alike. However, it didn't take long for fast fashion to find a way to also capitalise on the personal style wave by getting people to 'find or express their personal style' through constantly buying lots of fast fashion.

The shocking and sad truth is that following fashion trends never stopped. It simply changed form. OVERCONSUMPTION HAS BECOME THE LONGSTANDING TREND. In fact, overconsumption is our modern cultural trend. We’re consuming 400% more clothing than we did 20 years ago, while the length of time we use the garments has fallen by almost 40%. It’s no longer only about buying trends and microtrends to fit in with everyone else and the culture. Now the normal thing is to just buy stuff period because it’s easy, cheap or convenient to do so, then throw it away when you’re bored with it. And then buy other brand new stuff again and repeat the cycle. Fast fashion has made clothes more affordable than ever before.

The fashion TRENDmill explained

The fashion TRENDmill (or fashion treadmill) is a phrase I came up with in 2016 to describe this modern culture of mindless overproduction and overconsumption of clothing that has become too common and normalised in our world. With these factors being the trend, this conveyor belt system is fuelled by the continuous take-make-waste linear cycle on steroids.   

We take (extract raw materials or virgin resources from the environment at enormous rates far beyond what we need). Then make (manufacture far more garments than is necessary or will be used). Followed by waste (majority of clothes end up in landfill relatively quickly). Disposability of clothes is embedded and expected in this cycle either through the culture of it or through planned obsolescence. There’s little or no consideration for reusing or prolonging the life of the textiles or the damage the TRENDmill system inflicts on the planet and its inhabitants.  

The TRENDmill and general overconsumption

There’s a very strong throughline of the fashion trendmill concept with other waste streams such as food, furniture, electronics, automobiles, the built environment and hospitality.

We’re consuming more products than we ever have in human history. Nearly A$66 trillion worth of stuff is being purchased every year globally which is the equivalent of an estimated A$2 million per second. These purchases include the gamut of material stuff and possibly services. The world’s use of material resources has increased ten-fold since 1900 and is projected to double again by 2030. It’s been projected that the consumer class will reach 5 billion people by the year 2030, meaning 1.4 billion more people will have discretionary spending power which explains why consumption rates are expected to double unless we get off the TRENDmill.  

We’re consuming our way into our own extinction

With these enormous levels of manufacturing and consumption, environmental degradation is at an all time high. This comes with things like toxic chemical loading on soil and water and extreme plastics pollution. These and other factors have been known to have fatal impacts on human health. As production keeps increasing, it looks as if we’re consuming our way into our own extinction.

A drastic reduction of natural resource use is critical. We need cultures and systems based on environmental sustainability and circular economy principles. There are colossal opportunities for us to stop the rapid flow of materials to landfill and reuse or repurpose these materials instead. And in the process, only take what we need from the earth. It will make our lives healthier, save the lives of animal species, reduce biodiversity loss, give us cleaner water, a healthier planet amongst other benefits.

How to get off the fashion trendmill

We currently have enough clothing on the planet to cater for the next 6 generations of humans. From the start of my sustainable fashion career, I've always talked about ignoring trends in favour of finding and expressing your personal style for the long term through secondhand garments (and not fast fashion). Secondhand clothing includes contemporary styles and clothes from nearly every fashion era dating back almost a century. One of the coolest ways to curate a sustainable wardrobe is to mix and match styles from one or multiple fashion eras to create your own individual style. It’s likely that this one-of-a-kind wardrobe tailored to your preferences will have any or all of these outcomes:

 1. keeping your clothes for longer periods of time because you always look great even with very little effort

2. saving financial resources because you’re buying less brand new stuff

3. evolving to the best or desired version of yourself using secondhand clothes.

Getting off the fashion trendmill helps reduce clothing waste because in a sustainably curated wardrobe, the outfits suit your body, lifestyle and personality. With these aspects fulfilled, hopefully the temptation to consistently buy new clothes or fast fashion all the time can begin to fade or get eliminated altogether.

Getting off the trendmill on a systemic level

Ultimately, we need to implement circular economy principles into textiles and other industries. Things will shift when we change our relationship with clothing and the culture surrounding consumption of other material things. Here's how:

Reuse - restyle, repair, resell, repurpose, buy secondhand, redesign, swap, hire, rent, borrow, upcycle

Buy new from ethical & sustainable brands - (Not brands that greenwash). Patronise brands that are transparent about how many garments they manufacture, their entire supply chain and their manufacturing processes. Also buy from small, local and emerging designers

Advocate for system change - simply by living an authentic sustainable lifestyle when and where you’re able even if you don't proclaim it publicly. You can also gently and kindly nudge your immediate circles and communities into sustainable habits or run community events like clothes or other item swaps that inspire people to action. You can even push for policy and legislation change through your local and federal political representatives.

*Perhaps the most imperative option is for us to shift our focus away from filling our lives with material stuff and ascribing such extreme value to material things. Placing higher value on experiences and more positive developments could be the new and hopefully permanent wave.

Halloween waste is frightening! How to have a sustainable Halloween by Nina Gbor

Halloween waste Nina Gbor Eco Styles pumpkin waste 1

Photo by Gene Gallin on Unsplash

Halloween makes the month of October the perfect face card of what intense food, clothing and plastic overconsumption and waste can look like.

Halloween is a holiday themed around the supernatural and occurs every year on October 31st. It’s celebrated with pumpkins being carved and hollowed to make jack-o-lanterns that sit on people’s porches, decorate their homes and Halloween parties. Halloween cannot be the holiday that it is without costumes. People dress up for the holiday as any character, person or thing. Then there’s the trick-or-treat rituals where children dressed in costumes knock on people’s doors in neighbourhoods on Halloween night to collect candy / sweets.

halloween waste halloween 2023 trick or treat Eco Styles

With food and fashion being the stuff on Instagram legend, these Halloween rituals are classic social media fodder including TikTok. They help increase the holiday reach and spread across the world. As much as the holiday is immensely fun for its patrons, it’s incredibly scary how much waste is generated during Halloween season particularly with costumes, plastics and food. It appears a circular economy system to eliminate waste should creep into Halloween rituals while keeping the fun parts alive.  

Even though it’s rooted in Irish history over 2,000 years ago, Halloween has been a long-standing tradition in the U.S. circa 1840s. The holiday has grown in popularity around the world in the last couple of decades and so too have its waste-ridden customs. Many countries have been gradually making the holiday part of their social culture across the globe with Australia being one of them.  

In Australia, one in four (5 million) Australians now celebrate Halloween according to the Australian Retail Association (ARA). They found that Halloween retail spending was set to hit A$430 million or an average of $86 per person in 2022. A joint research report by Roy Morgan and ARA posits that in 2023 this figure will rise to A$490 million spent on Halloween. With over 5.3 million Australians celebrating Halloween this year, there’s a 14% increase of $A60 million.  

Shop Photo by Nithin Shetty on Unsplash

And each year in the month of October and the lead up to the 31st, retail, e-commerce sites and grocery stores cast spells over customers to make them buy mass-produced Halloween food, candy, costumes, decorations and other paraphernalia. Most of this stuff ends up in landfill shortly after the holiday is over. This annual consumerist ritual is incredibly fun for some people, but it has an economic and environmental cost to the planet. 

In an article I wrote in 2021 called Christmas is the greatest annual environmental disaster, I shared that,

“Black Friday marks the annual initiation into the season’s global overconsumption ritual. It usually starts with Black Friday, goes into Christmas, gets hotter on Boxing Day then New Year’s and all throughout January. Our modern culture has set up this period as the festival of superfluous overconsumption. So it’s primed for voracious use of material things far beyond any other time of the year.”

With Halloween on the rise around the globe, in my opinion it has now joined the ranks of Black Friday and Christmas as the commencement into the season of cultural hyper waste that’s exacerbated during Christmas.   

Halloween has infiltered a portion of Australian mainstream culture and there’s evidence that it’s going to continue growing in popularity. Let’s look at how much waste is generated in the US and the UK during the holiday to get a glimpse of what’s in store for countries like Australia with regards to waste. And significantly, how we can have more sustainable Halloween celebrations from now on and into the future.    

 The OG: Halloween in the U.S.

Holiday spending peaked at $10.6 billion in 2022, according to the U.S. National Retail Federation.

Food Waste - Every year almost 2 billion pounds (907,000 tonnes) of pumpkins are grown in the US and over 1 billion pounds (590,000 tonnes) of pumpkins are wasted and end up in landfill. 40% of consumers in the US buy pumpkins to carve out jack-o-lanterns. 60% of this demographic throw out the pumpkin flesh and seeds afterwards. This contributes to about 30.3 million tonnes of food waste in the U.S every year. Pumpkins (and other food) decomposing in landfill produce methane, which is a greenhouse gas twenty times more potent than CO2 to the planet.  

Candy waste – With sweets (candy) being a fundamental part of Halloween, Americans buy almost 600 million pounds (about 272,000 tonnes) the equivalent of 6 titanic ships of candy each year according to Forbes and the National Retail Federation. This equates to $3 billion in candy sales. Next Gen Personal Finance claims that Americans throw away about $400 million worth of uneaten Halloween candy. There’s also the issue with candy wrappers and plastic packaging that goes straight to landfill or worse - the ocean! 

Plastics waste - Plastic candy packaging is a good segway into the topic of Halloween plastic waste. Most candy wrappers are made of plastic and are not recyclable because they are made of mixed materials such as aluminum, which means they’re considered to be contaminated. And therefore, more difficult to recycle.  

Some of the major candy companies in the US have taken baby steps towards recycling candy wrappers with promises to have recyclable packaging by 2030 (Hershey) or 2050 (Cadbury). Terra Cycle has a Zero Waste Box for $96 where people can purchase and fill with candy wrappers then post back to the company with prepaid shipping. This is not cost -effective especially when it’s so much easier and more affordable for customers to throw wrappers in the trash.

Costumes – Nothing conjures up Halloween feels like a good costume. However, the problem is that 83% of Halloween costumes are made from petroleum-based plastic like polyester, PVC, acrylic, or spandex that cannot be easily recycled. And with about 35 million costumes being thrown away in the US each year, almost 2,000 tonnes of plastic waste goes to landfill. It takes hundreds of years for plastic to decompose. 

Halloween in the UK

Photo by Dan Smedley on Unsplash

Halloween has become quite popular in the UK to the point where its been estimated that people in the UK spent over £600 million (about A$1.2 billion) on Halloween festivities in 2021.

Food waste – Hubbub, a British environmental organisation did a study on the country’s environmental waste. They posit that out of an estimated 39.9 million pumpkins purchased in the UK every Halloween, 22.2 million will go to waste. About 24% – 50% of perfectly edible pumpkins are discarded because of cosmetic standards which is higher than any other vegetable in the UK according to Sustainable Food Trust. Not only is this at a disadvantage to the environment but it adds to the £15 billion (A$29 billion) of food waste in UK homes every year. The financial loss of this pumpkin waste is a shocking £32.6 million (A$63 million).   

Costumes - Considering Halloween costumes are often designed for single use, the planned obsolescence of Halloween costumes fuels the disposable, throwaway culture with clothing, synthetic textiles and other materials. The outcome is an estimated 2,000 tonnes of plastic waste (equivalent to 83m bottles) being generated from Halloween attire sold by major UK retailers. Hubbub reported that around 7 million costumes are thrown away every year in the UK.  This year, 94% of families plan on buying costumes for Halloween according to Waste Managed, UK. A ghoulish fact about these costumes is that 4 out of 10 are usually only worn once!

Photo by Lance Reis on Unsplash

 

How to have a zero waste Halloween

Halloween is haunted by waste that seems to get worse globally each year and we can’t ignore this fact any longer. We need to make Halloween sustainable by embedding circular economy principles into Halloween. This means keeping materials in use and out of landfill for as long as possible by composting, recycling, repurposing, eliminating planned obsolescence, reselling and designing products for reuse. We want to create a circular Halloween system(s) where everything is reused or regenerated in some shape or form from now on. Here’s a few ideas to get started, however, feel free to keep building upon them so that we have a shift in the waste culture with healthier systems that can thrive.  

1.Costumes

Extending the life of clothes by just nine extra months of active use reduces carbon, water and waste footprints by around 20-30% each. Reusing costumes instead of buying brand new costumes reduces the amount of virgin resources and materials extracted from the earth. This curtails the negative impact on the environment and lessens the use of petroleum-derived fabrics like polyester and scales down deforestation to grow cotton and other textile crops. The result of diminishing production activities like these is that it slows down biodiversity loss. Reusing costumes also lessens clothing waste by keeping them out of landfill for longer.

Thrift / Goodwill - We want to quit the throwaway, disposable culture of fast fashion costumes to landfill. So, reusing costumes is definitely where to begin. However, reusing the same costume as the same character every year will be boring and not ideal for most people. In that case, you can find costumes from thrift stores at different times of the year and not just in October.

Make your own costume - You put together or make your own costume by restyling or upcycling using repurposed materials. Find inspiration from Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram or TikTok.

Costume clothes swap - Host or attend a costume clothes swap or general clothes swap to donate and acquire costumes. Here’s an article with swap ideas and a page with resources on how to run a clothes swap. Also remember to donate costumes when you’re done with them.

Borrow, rent or hire your costume - There are shops online and in-person that offer costume hire services. Borrowing from friends can also be an option.

Cancel planned obsolescence culture - Making the Halloween costume culture sustainable for all future Halloween holidays is absolutely critical. Everyone can contribute to making this happen by contacting major retailers and companies that make or sell costumes intended for single use. Hit them up on social media and send emails insisting they end planned obsolescence and implement circular design, use natural textiles and better-quality materials in all aspects of their costumes. This means the costumes will be higher quality and can be reused or repurposed instead of going into landfill after Halloween.

2. What do about pumpkin and other food waste

Remember that food waste releases the greenhouse gas, methane which contributes to the climate crisis.  

Use the pumpkin carvings for food - 18,000 tonnes of pumpkins in the UK are thrown away each year which is roughly 360 million pieces of pumpkin pie! If you’re carving pumpkins to make jack-0-lanterns, use the flesh and seeds for food instead of throwing it away. Search for pumpkin recipes like pumpkin pie, soups, wine, roasted pumpkin gratin, muffins, cakes, dips, breads, sauces, etc. It can also be fed to animals.

Freeze or preserve leftover pumpkin to use at a later date if that’s preferable. You can also freeze leftover foods in general, including Halloween candy.

Composting - When Halloween is over, your jack-o-lanterns can go into the compost bin instead of the trash. If you don’t have a place to compost, try the ShareWaste app in Australia to find a place to compost in your local community. The Pumpkin Smash by SCARCE is the U.S. equivalent for pumpkin composting. Otherwise consider creating a community compost for your neighbourhood if there’s available space and resources.  

3. Halloween Decorations

If you’re putting up Halloween decorations, be aware that fake cobwebs are a death trap for animals like birds because they can get tangled up in them and die.  

Like costumes, it’s best to acquire secondhand decorations, make your own decorations, reuse decorations from previous years. You can also swap decorations with friends and neighbours or buy sustainable ones that are made sustainably, and can easily be reused, repurposed or recycled. Make sure the standard is good enough that you can use again.

If you’re trick-or-treating, decorate household items like buckets, pillowcases and old bags to use for collecting candy instead of buying plastic trick-or-treat buckets you find in department and grocery stores.

4. Sweets and treats

If you’re having a Halloween party, consider making your own sweets and treats instead of buying plastic-wrapped ones. Or opt for candy with minimal or recyclable packaging.  

Photo by Sonya Pix on Unsplash

Use your voice. Mars, Hershey, Mondelez (Cadbury), Nestle and TerraCycle have made efforts and in some cases, promises to have recyclable candy packaging by 2025 or 2030 but it’s not enough. Packaging that’s compostable or recyclable also needs to be easy and convenient for customers to recycle and compost. If you’d like to see an end to the candy packaging waste, contact major candy brands to insist on more circular design of packaging before products are made. Meaning these candy manufacturers or retailers will need to create a transparent plan for what will happen to every candy wrapper after it’s used so that it’s either repurposed, recycled at high quality or composted with ease.

5. Halloween parties

Quit using single use disposable plates, cups and cutlery for Halloween and other parties. Wooden single use disposables are still not okay to use because a lot of energy and raw materials go into making these products. And when we use them once and then dispose of them, it’s a tremendous waste of resources. For instance millions of trees are cut down to make wooden products. This deforestation destroys ecosystems and contributes to biodiversity loss where more animal and plant species become extinct. Opt for reusable metal utensils, aluminum, glass or ceramic plates and pans instead.

 

Photo by Carol Lee on Unsplash

♥ Nina Gbor

@eco.styles


Secondhand September: the co-dependency of fast fashion and secondhand fashion by Nina Gbor

It's Secondhand September again this year which feels a little redundant for me because almost everyday has been a "secondhand September" day for me since I was a kid! As a matter of fact, about 99% of my extensive, eclectic wardrobe is secondhand.

Nevermind though because now that the world is finally catching on to the glory of preloved clothing, we have to keep the momentum going! Secondhand September gets bigger every year. So here's my all secondhand and thrifted ensemble: a colourful long coat, a pink dress, a pink bag, red sunglasses and ivory-coloured boots!

According to thredUP's 2022 Resale Report:

  • 70% of consumers say it’s easier to shop secondhand now than it was 5 years ago.

  • Resale is expected to grow 16 times faster than the broader retail clothing sector by 2026.

  • The global secondhand apparel market will grow 127% by 2026 – 3X faster than the global apparel market overall!

On paper this is great news because secondhand is more 'sustainable' than new (fast) fashion. However for something to be secondhand, it has to be new first. Over 100 billion garments are still being manufactured each year and approximately 84% of it is still going to landfill in spite of the rise in secondhand fashion sales.

It's so cool to see so many people who would never wear preloved hoping onto this wagon. However, it's not sustainable, even for a thriving 'sustainable' secondhand market if over 100 billion garments are still being manufactured to cater for the secondhand market.

Retail brands being aware of the popularity of preloved, use the secondhand selling trend to justify their overproduction. As in, they can keep over producing because their customers will resell.

We have to get off this (secondhand) fashion TRENDmill (a phrase I made up) by quitting overconsumption of retail fashion in the first place. There's already an abundance of clothes on the planet including vintage! But we need to remember the garment workers who make these garments and insist that brands pay garment workers liveable wages with decent quality of work life, so that workers are not left out in the cold when we stop overconsuming fashion.

The first step is demanding full transparency of brands' supply chain through laws. Then adding laws that ensure liveable wages, equity, redundancy packages and additional support for workers. Big brands can afford it.