Clothes are everywhere— they are sold in the malls, streets, sidewalks, and even at events. These days, our lives are inextricably linked to apparel and accessories. And amidst that, a challenging thing that can occur is when our favorite piece of clothing gets damaged or torn. It leaves us with the decision of whether to repair the damaged item or purchase a new one.
Once upon a time, fashion trends stuck around for at least a decade. Clothing was produced with a purpose, and humans invested in wardrobe staples that lasted. The price of clothing matched its worth, and durability was at heart. However, as a result of excessive fast fashion production, increased consumption, and a short clothing life cycle, our bond with clothes is now dysfunctional.
The widespread availability of cheap clothing has made fashion disposable, wasteful, and polluting. The modern world consumes around 80 billion new garments globally in a year. The fast-fashion business concept stimulates continuous trend shifts resulting in the rampant consumerism of inexpensive, low-quality clothing. It is making the buy-use-throw-away cycle more convenient than repairing and mending. While today's clothing has lost touch with durability, consumers are also hesitant to mend- owing to either a lack of skills or fast fashion awareness- easy and cheap replacement purchase is just a click away. According to a research survey, around 60% of the world population is yet to pick up the art of sewing. A study by the University of Missouri-Columbia also reveals that many youngsters are foreign to basic sewing due to budget cuts and other educational priorities by the schools.
We can extend the useability cycle of our clothing by bringing the golden practice of mending, redesigning, and altering clothes back to modern societies. This will not only extend the life of the items but also reduce the amount we consume and prevent the textile from going into landfill.
In an industry where fast fashion dominates and profits from mindless consumption, repairing is inherently a profound altruistic act. Here are
5 reasons mending is Necessary in the world filled with fast fashion
- Helps your finances
It costs to have your clothing altered at a shop. Regardless of the brand, in most cases, repairing is less expensive than purchasing a new one. Using and learning mending skills to save the clothing item is more lucrative than paying money for a minor patch or tear. It is also more practical and advantageous for the wallet because self-mending is free.
- Pick up a life skill
Sewing is an important life skill that can help develop creativity and create art. Whether hemming, patching or sewing a tear, the majority of mending methods call for hand stitching. This is also a great way to increase productivity and keep our hands off the smartphones that seduce us all day long. Mastering sewing skills also comes with the upside of starting a side business. 1 in 2 people discards repairable clothing, resulting in 65% of 32 billion garments produced yearly being dumped in landfills. This is mostly due to a lack of repairing skill and well, plain inconvenience. Such individuals can use your service, and it may even serve as an inspiration for them to learn how to mend clothes.
- Eco-Friendly wardrobe collection
Purchasing fewer clothes and putting mending into practice can help build a more sustainable wardrobe. It supports slow fashion and emphasizes conscious caring for clothes. Repairing old clothes also neutralizes fast fashion's impacts, as extending clothes' lifespan can help cut their carbon footprints by 20-30%.
- Favorites last longer
While every clothing item eventually faces wear and tear, there are particular favorites we are not ready to let go of. Using your repair prowess can save your favorite staples, allowing you to have them longer. One will also be avoiding the inconvenience of having to check out if the same piece is in stock. Or if it's even the same price. Repairing instantly will give you the pleasure of flaunting your body in the clothes you like, and help save time that you'd be wasting searching for a similar piece.
- Do it for the environment
10,000 pieces of clothing are disposed of in landfills every five minutes, thanks to fast fashion and its mountains of textile waste. Given that fast fashion uses materials that are not eco-friendly, they pollute the environment while decomposing in landfills. Then, there is the issue of the unbelievable amount of water waste. If one pair of jeans consumes 1,800 gallons of water and almost 700 gallons for a t-shirt, we are wasting millions of gallons of water simply by throwing away our old jeans and tees. Considering all of these repercussions, the best course of action automatically points towards repairing used clothing and purchasing only the utmost necessities.
By choosing to fix our repairable clothes, we save money, and resources and contribute to overall sustainability! #repairdontreplace
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At Terra Thread, we are working to offer repair kits so you can mend your favorite products such as sustainable backpacks from Terra Thread when you need to.
