Clothing is an inextricable part of a person's life. It is however, built on a foundation of waste. It happens at every step of the supply chain, from manufacturing to customer usage through end-of-life disposal. The basic idea of 'being in or out of fashion' — instilling the notion that it's permissible to discard a clothing regardless of whether it's still operationally usable – underpins this physical journey of waste. Consumers currently buy 60% more apparel than they did in 2000, but they keep each item for half as long as they did in 2000 because they reject goods more quickly. These purchasing habits contribute to the worldwide production of 39 million tonnes of post-consumer textile waste (at a minimum) per year, mostly in the shape of clothes. 57 percent of all clothing that is discarded ends up in landfills.
via caloirg.org
To minimise the amount of this waste being sent to landfills, Miranda House students have started a project "Best from Waste - A Miranda House Initiative" under WWF India ECHO Project 2021-22. The project sees this waste as an opportunity to create new products. The project includes:
Upcycling and Environment Conservation
Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new products perceived to be of greater quality (artistic value or environmental value).
via Image Label Systems
Upcycling has grown in popularity in recent years as people have become more environmentally conscious. Today, from small entrepreneurs to big fashion industries, such as H&M upcycle their products. For a better future, we must follow the three R's: reduce, reuse, and recycle. However, when it comes to clothing, the reduce component of the three R's is very tough to implement in real life, however the reuse component is quite intriguing to adopt. The environmental benefits of upcycling include:
1. Minimises the amount of discarded clothes-based waste being sent to landfills.
2. Reduces the need for production using new raw materials, thus reducing air pollution, water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and conserving natural resources. For example, eliminating the need of production of cotton to make a single t-shirt, will save around 2,700 litres of water.
Supporting and empowering underprivileged women
Underprivileged women tailors would be assigned the task of making cloth products from the clothing collected. Many women, belonging to economically weaker sections of certain localities, such as Shahpur Jaat, have received sewing machines under the "Free Sewing Machine Scheme" inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi in December 2021. The project attempts to reach out to such women in order to give them a stable job opportunity. The project also aims to appreciate the craftsmanship of workers behind upcycled products.
via Jagran Josh
The goal of the initiative is to upcycle unwanted clothing into usable cloth products that are affordable to the general public. Cloth bags, table mats, and aprons are among the items we are producing. Where life looks to be constrained by the toxic polybags, the project offers reusable cloth bags as an alternative.
To be a success and achieve the desired result, the project needs your support. Instead of tossing away unusable clothing, we invite people to donate it to us. We urge you to adopt an eco-friendly lifestyle and try our products and contribute to environmental conservation and women empowerment.
very good initiative 💚
Very informative