Gloucestershire Recycles is encouraging people to reduce the amount of textiles wasted by reusing and rewearing clothes.
Gloucestershire Recycles is a partnership, which includes Gloucestershire County Council and the six district councils, has launched a new textiles campaign this September called ‘Wear Not Waste’.
The campaign aims to reduce textile waste and tackle the carbon emissions created by the fashion industry. Globally, the industry creates 10% of the world’s carbon emissions and creates 92 million tonnes of waste every year – equivalent to a truck full of clothing waste every second.
Textiles accounted for 5,776 tonnes and 5% of Gloucestershire’s residual waste in 2019.
One way to reduce the amount of waste produced by the industry is to reuse and rewear old clothes.
Two-thirds of people in the UK wear second-hand clothing and the vintage market is booming nationally. By 2030 sales in the second-hand clothing market will overtake fast fashion.
As part of the campaign, the partnership has teamed up with the Inclusive Employment team at the county council. Throughout September rails of high-quality second-hand smart interview clothing, donated by council staff, will be available for anyone looking for a new interview outfit at the Employment and Skills Hub in Gloucester and the Hester’s Way Library in Cheltenham. Find out more about the Hub on the council’s website, at https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/employment-and-skills-hub/
Staff have donated bags of clothes, ranging from shirts and ties to handbags and shoes, in order to reuse the clothes and prevent them being wasted.
Cllr David Gray, Cabinet member responsible for the environment at Gloucestershire County Council, said: “This campaign is a great way of raising awareness of the waste generated from textiles and clothing, which otherwise may not be considered when trying to reduce your impact on the environment
“This council is committed to tackling the climate emergency and making the county carbon net-zero by 2045.
“I would encourage residents to get behind this fantastic initiative and reduce textile waste by reducing and rewearing.”
Subscribe to the Gloucestershire Recycles Recycling and Waste Minimisation e-newsletter by following this link https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKGLOUCESTERSHIRE/subscriber/new.
To find out more about the campaign, visit our website https://www.gloucestershirerecycles.com/textiles/.
