The recent approval of the Single-Use Item Reduction Bylaw in Edmonton got us thinking about single-use plastics in the fashion industry. This topic certainly applies to textiles, from the little plastic on garment hang tags, plastic packaging of items bought online, to garments thrown out after one use.
That’s right – even our clothing can be considered single-use. A report from Censuswide stated that UK residents bought an estimated 50 million clothing items for one-time use at festivals, holidays, and weddings in summer 2019 [1]. While this may not mean that the item was sent to landfill after one wear, many fast fashion items are of such poor quality that they aren’t meant to withstand multiple wears or laundering cycles.
In addition, Fibre2Fashion states on their website that plastic packaging used in shipping garments from manufacturers to retailers is sometimes forgotten when talking about sustainable fashion [2]. Considering over 100 billion garments are made annually, we can assume that billions of plastic bags are being used to transport these items, often individually wrapped, from factory to store.
Fortunately, some brands are turning to plastic free garment tags and packaging to reduce the amount of plastic waste going to landfill after purchasing an item in store or online. As Good On You explains on their website [3], options such as compostable, recyclable or returnable packaging are being used at companies like Maggie Marilyn, Lanius, and Mud Jeans, respectively.
We look forward to seeing how future bylaws in Edmonton and beyond can address the single-use mindset of the fashion industry.
