Saving The Planet, One Clothing Swap At A Time

Madeline Kizer of Wallingford hosts clothing swaps to promote second-hand shopping, aiming to raise awareness of fast fashion’s impact on the environment. A documentary on the fashion industry sparked Kizer’s interest to learn more about fast fashion. So, she decided to do her own research. Fast fashion is based on a low-cost, high-volume business model that has come under fire in recent years for its impact on the environment and workers in the supply chain, Quartz Magazine reports. The mass production of clothing contributes water pollution and emits large quantities of greenhouse gases, and according to a Vogue Magazine report “20% of global water waste is caused by the fashion industry.”

According to a study by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, “The textiles system
operates in an almost completely linear way: large amounts of non-renewable
resources are extracted to produce clothes that are often used for only a
short time, after which the materials are mostly sent to landfill or incinerated,” under-utilizing recycling.