Sustainability is an important word these days as we move into the middle part of the 21st century. Not only do we have to cultivate more sustainable lifestyle practices as a matter of urgency, but we need to pass these habits on to our children and grandchildren in the future.
One of the best ways to change society’s habits is to change our personal habits and influence people by example. Creating a more sustainable wardrobe helps you live more ethically and save money, but it also influences your friends, family, neighbors, and the wider community.
Avoid Fast Fashion
Like fast food, fast fashion is cheap, harmful, and ultimately unsustainable. Fast fashion comes from the most popular high street brands, including Nike, Adidas, Walmart, and Primark. Often, the clothing items have a cookie-cutter style and are made from materials that deteriorate fast.
The trouble is that fast fashion is appealing; not only is it on-trend, but it’s usually cheaper than sustainable alternatives. That said, sustainable clothing lasts a lot longer and has a more ethical manufacturing process, so they are worth the investment in you want a sustainable wardrobe.
Buy Second Hand
Want to avoid fast fashion but still want new and interesting pieces for your life? It’s time to dive into the secondhand market. Secondhand clothing is not only cheaper than fast fashion, but it’s also part of the circular economy. The circular economy is a system for planet regeneration.
In the linear model, materials are taken from the planet and transformed into materials; these materials are used and then discarded, creating waste and pollution in the process. The circular economy aims to take the waste out of the cycle, and one way is to buy secondhand clothing.
The Five Rs
The five are a popular framework for establishing a more ethical approach to fashion and sustainability; they stand for Refuse, Reuse, Reduce, Repurpose, Recycle. Following this process with regard to your wardrobe is the best way to create a more sustainable lifestyle.
Start with refusing new items based on necessity. Fast fashion follows trends, but you don’t have to ask yourself whether you need or want a new item and avoid bringing new things into the cycle. But if you do buy new things, you can keep in the circular economy using the fice Rs.
Boutique Shopping
Following the five Rs is an excellent framework for creating a sustainable wardrobe because it makes us think about our lifestyle habits and the circular economy on a daily basis. Whatever clothing item we buy becomes part of the cycle, so it trains us to choose our clothing carefully.
Boutique shopping can be part of your new sustainable lifestyle because boutiques offer high-quality, stylish clothing at affordable prices. When it comes to creating a sustainable wardrobe, you have two choices, buy secondhand or buy from a Paisley Grace Boutique.
Lifestyle Patterns
Create a more sustainable wardrobe by changing your lifestyle patterns, so they are more sustainable. For instance, reduce the number of clothing items you buy in general, and choose to repair and reuse rather than replace. It’s a good idea to take a methodological approach.
If you want to change your lifestyle habits, start by observing the habits you have at the current time. Use a conventional notebook diary or an app diary to track your lifestyle patterns. As you do this, make some small changes to the things your wear and buy, and maintain some control.
Quality Pieces
Before the advent of fast fashion, the items people wore and used on a daily basis were quality pieces. Before the industrial revolution, products were made to last because it made more sense to reduce the workload; but consumer society values quantity over quality to support jobs.
However, there’s nothing to stop you from returning to the good old days and buying quality pieces that last. You might find that these pieces are more expensive to buy, but they last forever and can be passed on to someone else. Pay attention to any item you choose to buy.
Final Thoughts
When was the last time you thought about the quality and condition of your wardrobe? If it’s not been for some time, you could be missing an opportunity to make your wardrobe more sustainable and ethical – not to mention more stylish and budget-friendly at the same time.
A sustainable wardrobe is minimal and part of the circular economy. When you have a sustainable wardrobe, there is little need to buy new items, and when you do, you know exactly where to go for replacements and how to dispose of waste products, important habits nowadays.
