A STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RECYCLING AND FASHION

Source: Grazia Daily

This time, we would like to give the story of the article from the very beginning: recycling in the textile industry is of course a necessary and useful solution ; However, for a radical transformation, we need to significantly reduce production and consumption. If the fashion industry's progress continues like this, it will cause the world to warm up by 2 degrees more as a sector alone by 2050 . The reason is the resulting greenhouse gas emissions. Bringing clothes back into the production cycle can play an important role in changing this trend. If you are ready, let's take a closer look at the relationship between fashion and recycling .

Every year, 92 million tons are thrown away in the world. Try to visualize this amount: 92 million tons of textile products, some dumped on land, some burned. Now try to imagine what processes each one goes through while being produced: the amount of water and chemicals used, the energy spent, the labor force… It is obvious that today's fast fashion industry, which is flooded with clothes produced using non-renewable resources such as oil for a short life, has a destructive relationship with nature and Recycling is one of the only solutions that can improve this relationship.

Let's start by defining textile waste because, contrary to what most of us think, textile waste is not just waste from consumers. There are two main headings: waste produced by artificial yarn factories and waste from textile manufacturing. So, when we say textile waste, we are talking about the waste that occurs after both consumer use and production processes.

Source: AccuWeather

So where does the impact of recycling come into play? Let's give an example on a single pair of jeans: An average of 8 tons of water is consumed to produce a pair of jeans. Large amounts of chemicals and energy are used to assemble fabrics. When recycling is done, it is possible to recover this excess amount of water and energy used. Trousers that are no longer used are added to the reproduction cycle and the carbon footprint released into nature decreases. Consider that reintroducing a single pair of jeans into production means preventing 32 kg of carbon from being released back into the air and 400 MJ of energy being consumed again.

So, why is the prevalence of recycling in the fashion industry still not at the desired levels? The answer to this question is hidden in the materials from which the clothes are produced . Most clothes produced today; It consists of complex combinations of fibers, fixed dyes and accessories . This means that even if a pair of jeans is made of cotton, it becomes difficult to separate them due to the elastane mixed into them, the dye they contain and accessories such as buttons or zippers.

At this point, just as it remains important for us consumers to make conscious choices, fashion designers also have a big responsibility. If we talk about some of the new news that inspired us: Coach 's wallets and bags made of recycled plastic from the 70s, Miu Miu 's special capsule collection called 'Upcycled', which was released in October by reinterpreting old clothes selected from different vintage stores, JW Anderson's We found the "Made in Britain" collection, created from fabric remnants from previous seasons, very inspiring.

Source: Pop + Sandy

As Pop + Sandy, we created an upcycling project in which we brought together our unique scarf selection and Gaios' impeccable handcraftsmanship. We transformed very special vintage and pre-loved silk scarves, which can no longer be used, into unique accessories ; so we gave them a chance to be reevaluated. On this path that we have embarked on, believing in the power of recycling and re-evaluation, remembering that vintage products are not only a real contribution to sustainability, but also unique and original, increases our motivation.

The fashion industry should first aim to reduce the amount of waste by making an effective reduction in the production of clothes; In addition, the necessary practices for recycling existing clothes should be disseminated; We wish that we, as a society, slow down and make value-oriented choices by remembering the stories of the pieces we carry until they reach us, and we continue our work and blog posts with a sense of responsibility for the importance of this. We thank you for taking the time to take a step and read this article to raise your awareness on this issue.