DESIGNED TO BE RUBBISH

 

It's time to rein in our insatiable fashion addiction

By Daniel Briggs .... June 3 2024 - 12:35pm

Like many addictions, the one involving fashion - the urge to be constantly wearing something new - is hard to explain to those not in its grip.

WATCH: Rae Knopik is the founder of fashion brand Gren. According to her, real ethical fashion is when the person making the clothes is paid a living wage and works in safe humane conditions. 16-year-old Siobhan Hall is a Depop seller and has made over $2000 in her fashion side hustle gig.

And, also like many addictions, those who are susceptible to the lure of fast fashion are many and varied. It's not just young people, or poor people, or privileged people, or those with other difficult circumstances. And it doesn't have direct health implications to the individual, unless you count financial health.

But the fact remains Australia's shopping addiction is fuelling a fast fashion waste crisis.

But it's difficult to convince people buying lots of cheap clothing is, in fact, harmful to the environment. As reported earlier this week, more than 200,000 tonnes of clothing end up in Australian landfills each year, equal in weight to almost four Sydney Harbour Bridges.

There was a time in living memory when most people bought only a few items a year, and wore them for many years.

Nowadays, research from the Australia Institute shows the average Australian buys 56 new clothing items a year. This number seems preposterous, but it's undeniable that fashion has never been more accessible and easy to consume - and throw away.

In this time of plenty, when owning multiple pairs of trousers or jackets or dresses isn't considered extravagant, we like to comfort ourselves in the knowledge that at least we are donating our unwanted clothes to charities, like Vinnies or the Salvos.

Clothes are too easily discarded in Australia. It's time for a change. Picture Shutterstock

But the sentiment doesn't translate to the other end of the equation, where volunteer workers have to discard so much unusable clothing, leading to all that landfill.

And Canberrans, with our higher than average incomes, would seem to be among the worst offenders.

We like to think of ourselves as progressive, enlightened, and more in tune with sustainability and environmental considerations than other capitals, but when it comes to fashion, we are not living up to this idealised version.

Shops like Zara and H&M used to be the culprits for wasteful fast fashion, but the rise of online brands like Temu and Shein have left these brands in the shade.

Spending $10 on jeans and $3 on a T-shirt has become the norm, and no one seems to mind that said T-shirt barely lasts one spin in the wash.

The irony used to be that cheap clothes were unaffordable when the price was calculated on a cost-per-wear basis, but the comically low prices have made even this equation ridiculous.

How have we got to this place, and when did such consumer behaviour become normalised?