The most recent EPA report on the ‘Nature and Extent of Post- Consumer Textiles in Ireland’ finds that we import a colossal 292,000 tonnes of new textiles each year, which equates to about 35kg per person. The report also shows that only a small proportion of these, just over 30%, find their way to textiles banks and second hand shops, what's happening to the rest of them?
To reduce our waste, we need to look at how and where we consume. Buying cheap, poor quality clothing and textiles from popular high street stores and online [you know who they are] is ultimately a false economy as many of these items don’t survive their first wear or wash, if they even make it that far.
Many times, in fact far too many times, what you have been sold is very different from what you receive in the post. We’ve all seen the hauls and memes on social media highlighting expectations vs reality, which can be hilarious, but this has now become the norm when buying from these brands. By default, we factor in that a certain percentage of what we get will not be what we purchased.
