Fashion-conscious shoppers are being urged to help reduce the £140 million pound worth of clothes that are being binned every year. To improve the impact that the clothing industry has on the environment, #LoveYourClothes, which is a Zero Waste Scotland initiative have teamed up with John Lewis for a series of sustainable fashion events in Scotland.
The initiative encourages Scots to value clothes more and waste less, aiming to help reduce the impact our clothing wastage has on the environment through a call to buy clothes to last, look after them, upcycle old items and recycle or pass on what you no longer want to keep.
As part of this exciting, fashion-forward initiative, #LoveYourClothes is calling on Scots to join their Spring Clean Your Wardrobe Weekend on Saturday 31st May and Sunday 1st June. Retailer John Lewis will be running up-cycling workshops in each of their Scottish stores over the weekend. The events are part of celebrations for John Lewis’ anniversary, who opened their first store 150 years ago on 03 May. John Lewis is a signatory of the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan which aims to reduce the impact of clothing on the environment, and will be running half hourly demonstrations, showing just how to keep loving your old, tired clothing and give them a new lease of life. These demonstrations will be taken be three leading Scottish textile designers, Angharad McLaren, Mairi Brown and Shirley McLaughlin author of ‘Girls get Stitching’.
Martyn White, Sustainable Living Manager at John Lewis said “John Lewis are committed to SCAP and are really pleased to host these events in support of the Love Your Clothes initiative. We have already run a clothes collection trial via our Scottish branches and these upcycling workshops demonstrate a different course of action that can be taken to keep clothes in play longer and reduce their impact on the environment. Through our dedicated sustainability programme ‘Bringing Quality to Life’ – we are encouraging customers to lead more sustainable lives by helping them make informed choices and providing clear and better advice, and these workshops fit really well with that cause. I’m sure it will attract lots of attention which is great as the Haberdashery department is part of our heritage and this weekend is the celebration of our 150th anniversary”.
A pre-launch event is being held on 24th May at the inaugural Highland Wool Festival in Dingwall. Fashion and textile designer Angharad McLaren will be there spending the day promoting Love Your Clothes and giving up-cycling and darning demonstrations throughout the day.
As a nation, the UK has a staggering £30 billion worth of clothes and clothing which is still worth £140 million gets binned. The #LoveYourClothes initiative aims to show that there’s plenty you can do to access those wardrobe billions for yourself and share your tips with others and the ‘Spring Clean Your Wardrobe Weekend’ is the perfect time to get on board.
Zero Waste Scotland Director Iain Gulland commented: “We are delighted to be working with John Lewis to take the Love Your Clothes initiative directly to shoppers on Scottish high streets. In the UK we have over £1 billion worth of clothes in our wardrobes that haven’t been worn in over a year, and these workshops are a great way to find out how to use simple tips, like sewing buttons back on or customising something that’s a bit tired, that can help prevent clothes from ending up in landfill.”
The Love Your Clothes website is your go-to tool to be part of Spring Clean Your Wardrobe Weekend, with advice on choosing clothing designed to last longer, buying pre-owned clothes, using laundry methods that require less energy and keep your clothes looking good longer, repairing and altering your clothes, and donating, swapping or selling on unwanted garments. The site also explains how clothes that are too damaged or worn for re-use can still be donated for textile recycling rather than ending up in the bin. Go to www.loveyourclothes.org.uk
Whether you get to John Lewis or Spring Clean Your Wardrobe from home, everyone can get involved with this eco-friendly weekend.
Image here
