landfill waste

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. 




















Resolving the waste crisis by Nina Gbor

Eco Styles Nina Gbor CharityBay Sidewalk furniture 1

Image credit: Chantel Bann

I was out on a walk the other day and spotted a ‘FREE’ sign in front of someone’s house above a couple of art frames, a lamp, clothes rack, mirror, a chair and some books. It’s pretty common to see household items on the sidewalk, free for passers-by to take. I’ve come across everything from sofas to tvs, suitcases, washing machines, clothes, printers, desks, electronics and even fresh fruit.

I found out about a community Facebook group called Street Bounty Inner West where locals in a suburb can post reusable items they see in the street for anyone to pick up. The group aims to “promote the recycling and reuse of materials, keeping kerbs cleaner, landfill emptier and wallets fuller.” Movements like this divert so much stuff from going to landfills. However, sometimes these items can get damaged on the sidewalk by exposure to weather conditions: rain, extreme sun and wind. And/or eventually still end up in landfill if nobody takes it.

Images credit top row L to R: Kimberly Scott, Fi Paskulich, Anna Bailey, Obaydah Vetter. Second row L to R: Nicky Lewis, Sarah Bea, Carolyn Veg Ienna and Vanessa Jimenez.

The world’s waste

According to The World Counts, the world dumps 2.12 billion tonnes of waste each year. If it were all put on trucks, it would stretch around the earth 24 times! Part of the reason why this figure is so high is that 99% of the stuff we purchase is trashed within 6 months. According to the World Bank, global waste is expected to grow to 3.40 billion tonnes by 2050. A huge majority of the world’s waste is generated by countries in the global North like Australia, the US, the UK, and Canada.

According to Australia’s National Waste Report 2020, Australians generated around  74.1 million tonnes of waste in 2018-19 (this includes household waste, organics, masonry materials and ash). Community efforts like Street Bounty that salvage household waste from landfills by donating to random strangers are a noble act. Many movements like this are doing fantastic work in tackling the waste problem but they can only capture a tiny fraction of the overall waste that exists.

Planned obsolescence

It’s fair to say that planned obsolescence is probably the biggest factor behind the tremendously high amount of waste. It’s a modern capitalist trend that’s been a massive catalyst for manifesting more waste in the last few decades than humanity has ever witnessed. Planned obsolescence is a strategy during manufacture that ensures products are deliberately designed with an artificially limited useful life or designed to eventually slow down or become obsolete. This guarantees that consumers will regularly want to replace these products in the future. The purpose of this strategy is for corporations to gain stable and increased profits. The outcome is a massive increase in waste to landfills and huge greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change and environmental degradation.  

Image credit: How-To Geek

Common waste streams

E-waste

Electronic waste (e-waste) is the quickest growing domestic waste stream. On a global scale, we generate over 50 million tonnes of e-waste each year. Only 20% of this is formally recycled. That comes to about 7.3 kilograms per person and the equivalent in weight to 350 cruise ships. The e-waste produced annually is worth over $62.5 billion. A lot of e-waste is toxic and gets exported to poorer countries in the global South where they end up polluting the environment in these countries and also in their landfills. 

The average Australian household produces about 73 kg of e-waste a year. With a projection of a global total e-waste increase to 74.7 million tonnes (almost twice the amount of new e-waste in just 16 years). Planned obsolescence is a big feature in the electronics industry.  

In 2018, Italy fined Samsung and Apple for purposely slowing down older models of their phones. Their plan was for people to get annoyed with the slowness of their phones to the point where they were forced to buy the newest and much more expensive models.

Image credit: Carolyn Veg Ienna

Furniture waste

With the popularity of flatpack furniture over the last few decades, there’s been a boom in furniture waste. When people are relocating, it can be more convenient to throw away old or damaged furniture instead of repairing or paying to move them to the new location.

Each year, Americans throw out more than 12 million tons of furniture and furnishings, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Only a small percentage is recycled. And in Australia, households dispose of around 24 kg of wooden furniture each year.

Image credit: Blake Milne

Images credit: Bee Yolanda, Clare Marshall, Jobi-Zane Pixus and Tom.

Waste from fashion & textiles

We’re producing about 150 billion garments a year with only 7.8 billion humans. It’s not surprising that 84% of all new clothing produced ends up in landfills each year. Fast fashion is to blame for these alarming figures.

Fast fashion brands through clever marketing amongst other things manipulate consumers into buying new clothes every few days or every week. These clothes usually get thrown out very quickly as trash and a huge portion is exported to countries in the global South where they eventually pollute those environments. Overconsumption is a modern cultural trend that’s detrimental to people and the planet. Fashion trends are one of the things that fuel fashion waste.

Image credit: CALPIRG

Solving the waste crisis

Australia has a national target of recovering 80% of waste by 2030. To make ambitious goals like this in Australia and other countries a reality, we’ll have to do a lot more than sidewalk donations. It’s so necessary to break the planet-destroying linear cycle of stuff that goes from retail to buyer then landfill in less than a year. In spite of planned obsolescence and our behaviours around consumption, many items are still useful and can be repurposed. A couple of ideas:

1. Make profits for yourself and charities

Reselling has always been a phenomenal way to divert waste from landfills and make a profit. However, CharityBay is next level! On this platform, you can do both of these things and help charities at the same time. People can sell items and donate some or all profits to a chosen charity. Imagine if all the stuff abandoned on the street and the useable stuff sent to landfill were resold for charity.  

2. Rescue, Reuse, Repair, Repurpose

There are many community groups like the Street Bounty Inner West group that support waste reduction. You might find similar groups through a search on social media platforms. If you can’t find one for your local community then create one.

With a little love, imagination and a makeover, many items have the potential for a magical transformation into something ‘new’, useful and maybe even beautiful. Imagine what our societies would be like if repairing and upcycling were as much a cultural habit as overconsumption?

Image credit: Imran Zainal © Imran’s Ark via iProperty

3. Legislation and policy change

Local community action is very powerful but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. We have to have laws in effect that ban planned obsolescence. And

  • hold corporations accountable for ensuring durability and lifelong repair guarantee in the products they make

  •  limit the number of goods manufactured to a reasonable number in harmony with planetary resources and product demand / usage

  •  hold corporations accountable if they do not comply with these laws.

 ♥ Nina Gbor

Insta: @eco.styles

 

 

Secondhand September by Nina Gbor

Secondhand monochrome outfit.

Secondhand monochrome outfit.

I chose these monochrome secondhand looks to herald the start of Spring here in the merry land of Oz (Australia) and to also mark the beginning of this year’s annual Second Hand September campaign by Oxfam, UK. I’ve been shopping secondhand since I was a kid, long before sustainable fashion was a movement and before it was seen as cool to shop secondhand. I started my career in sustainable fashion career years ago by styling glamourous secondhand pieces on Instagram to inspire people to take out the stigma of wearing used clothes. It thrills me that the mainstreams world has finally embraced it and campaigns like this one help further normalise wearing used clothes.  

Monochrome outfit restyled to look casual using a t-shirt, white sneakers and crossbody bag.

Monochrome outfit restyled to look casual using a t-shirt, white sneakers and crossbody bag.

The purpose is to give clothes a longer life by promoting the use of secondhand shopping and donating. The goal is to promote clothing waste reduction to landfill, reduce fashion’s impact on the climate crisis.  87% of all unwanted textiles are sent to landfill or incinerated while 12% is recycled mechanically by being broken down into fibre, rags or material for insulation. Only about 1% is chemically recycled back to reusable raw materials. The fashion industry is partially responsible for the climate crisis. 95% of textile waste can be reused or recycled. Buying and donating secondhand clothes gives them a longer life by delaying or stopping them from ending up in landfill. This slows down the consumption of fast fashion which contributes to protecting the planet, its people and reducing fashion’s contribution to climate change. 

And by shopping secondhand, we’re reinvesting money into vital work of charity shops like reducing poverty and other worthy causes like inequality and illnesses. 

How Secondhand September works? Throughout September, buy only secondhand clothes online (if you need to shop) or in your local op shop. And also donate clean, quality items to op shops/thrift stores. And then share your one-of-a-kind finds in your socials with the hashtag #SecondHandSeptember.

Smart casual look using square pattern monochrome jacket.

Smart casual look using square pattern monochrome jacket.

STYLING

About 99% of my large wardrobe is secondhand. I chose these monochrome, Audrey Hepburn-60s inspired ensembles with a kind of 'je ne sais quoi' vibe to them. I’ve used a monochrome rah-rah skirt, vintage hat and tan belt to create a glamourous and sophisticated, the reused the 3 pieces to create a casual look with sneakers, a t-shirt and a few more pieces. 

Restyling interchangeable pieces in your closet to create different outfits makes your wardrobe far more versatile which can minimise your temptation to buy more clothes and lead to less fashion waste going to landfill.

 ♥ Nina Gbor

Instagram: @eco.styles