Is "zero waste" fashion's enemy?

First of all, let’s explain what “zero waste” is: according to the Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA) it is a goal that is ethical, economical, efficient and visionary, to guide people in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use. This eco-friendly movement is often viewed as the antithesis of fashion.Fashion nowadays is fast, trends come and goes: refreshing, new, exciting... This is what describes a good collection in today's fashion.

This looks like a problem for the zero waste lifestyle, right? Well it can be if the whole industry doesn’t make any changes, but with a new focus on environment fashion could introduce zero waste. So it’s not like it is an utopian idea, we can still have a strong and important Fashion industry without creating tons of trash (let’s face it, it is going to take a while until we create a full zero waste life).

Each year more than 11 million tons of clothes are thrown in the US alone, 11 million tons of clothes that simply did not make the cut. All of that material is completely good to create new collections, re-inventing clothes. For example Christian Lacroix made a fashion show with students from Jules-Le-Cesne where all the garments from the collection were made out of recycled fabrics.

Another material we could use is plastic: 300 tons of plastic were produced in 2013 with an increase of 4% from 2012; only 6,5% of it is recycled. All of that plastic plus the tons that had already been used and thrown away would be great to use in order to create clothes (instead of making more and more plastic, which is harming our planet and our health). All of these materials are (or at least should be) the future of Fashion. But this is in regard to the big Fashion industry and what they could do to help.

On a smaller scale: ourselves. It’s much easier for zero waste and fashion to coexist.

Let’s take a trip to our wardrobe, which is obviously fair market, sweatshop free and cruelty free, right? Anyways, everything at his due time. When you look at your wardrobe there are three categories: the clothes you definitely want to keep, those that do not fit you (lifestyle, size, personal style), and the ones that are not wearable anymore (because they are too dirty or are falling apart). The first category is great, you don’t need to do anything: they’re great and are here to stay. The second category can also be fun; the garments you don’t want anymore can be donated to your friends or charities. Or you can even sell them if they are really expensive and high-quality garment. This way you are sure you are not throwing away anything. Finally, the third pile of items has multiple choices:

- you can arrange it and then sell them (or keep them),

- if you’re good at sewing you can use the materials to make your own garments, or have someone else make them for you,

- you can also use them as cleaning rags,

There are many ideas... But, what do we do once we emptied out our closet and want to restock it? What you can do when you go shopping is:

- first of all bring your own reusable bags, which by the way don’t have to be ugly there are some really cool ones out there

- be careful where you shop! Do your research before going anywhere, you would be quite surprised some of the things our favorite brands do in order to lower their prices.

- also, there are some awesome thrift shops that offer unique pieces for reasonable prices.

But don’t worry if this looks a bit overwhelming at first, the zero waste lifestyle is not an easy one, but definitely worth it. Don’t try to do everything at once or you’ll get frustrated and give up. These are just some ideas that i am giving in order for you to get started. I hope this motivated you or at least educated you on zero waste, a really important environmental movement.

(The images bellow are from the Jules-Le-Cesne's students)