"Waste Is Out of Fashion"

'Waste is Out of Fashion' Europe's Waste Reduction Week, the largest campaign aimed at raising awareness on waste prevention, is being held this year from 19-27 November 2022 under the theme "Waste is Out of Fashion," according to Prof. Dr. Filiz Karaosmanoğlu, faculty member at Istanbul Technical University and Chair of the Association for Sustainable Production and Consumption (SÜT-D). The textile and apparel sector, particularly textiles and clothing, has significant environmental impacts at every stage of its life cycle, including climate change. For this reason, sustainable production and consumption are essential for both the sector and citizens. When purchasing, using, and at the end of their useful life, we should pay careful attention to our garments and home textiles, and embrace the new trend of creating value with discarded clothing in the circular economy—creating our own fashion in the process.

Textile and apparel sector and human-nature interaction

Prof. Dr. Filiz Karaosmanoğlu stated: "Clothing is a basic necessity, and fashion is one of the ways people express themselves and demonstrate their style. While the textile and apparel sector is a massive industry in terms of employment and added value it creates, the fashion sector drives both producers and consumers. Home textile products, our garments, and accessories have vibrant, shimmering beauty. However, the textile and apparel sector is critical for human and environmental health throughout its life cycle, with impacts on the three urgent problems of our time: environmental pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change. For this reason, both producer and consumer responsibility are important, and sustainable production and consumption are necessary through best waste management practices," he emphasized.  

There is no new without the old

Home textile products, our garments, and accessories can tear, fade, lose their properties, or we may say they have reached the end of their life for us, or even gone out of style. This is where we need to be careful. First, we must be conscious when purchasing. We should select products from brands that we have decided are necessary, have long lifespans, good properties, and prioritize sustainability management. Repair and renovation are very important during use. Changing collars, hemming, or creating smaller or different products from larger ones is also possible. For example, remaking patchwork rugs. If we cannot do it at home, we should go to a tailor or alterations shop. This profession, which is becoming increasingly rare, is regaining importance. There are also menders who repair damaged garments without using a sewing machine. Both the economic aspect and the need to be a conscious consumer make having tailors and menders in our lives necessary. Because, as Dr. Karaosmanoğlu says, there is no new without the old, explaining that waste textiles whose useful life has ended should be introduced into the circular economy for processing.  

Waste is out of fashion, let's embrace the new trend

Prof. Karaosmanoğlu stated: "Waste home textile products, garments, and accessories that have completed their useful life are raw materials for new production—in other words, our national wealth. We should deliver all of them to waste collection bins in our neighborhoods, collection centers run by our municipalities, or to the place where we purchased them, if they collect them. In this way, our waste is processed through recycling, creating added value and employment in the circular economy. Most importantly, we use our world's resources more efficiently. Waste is out of fashion. This is the new trend." he said.

Let's create our own fashion

We should all consciously purchase home textile products, garments, and accessories according to waste hierarchy, use them for long periods, extend their lifespan through repairs when necessary, minimize the waste we generate, then evaluate our reuse options for waste, and finally send it for recycling. This process is an indicator of a person's sustainable lifestyle, their own fashion, said Dr. Karaosmanoğlu, calling on everyone to manage our waste properly and create our own fashion.