Sustainable Fashion
Have
you ever wondered what happens to the clothes that get donated to Oxfam? Or,
thought that your old t-shirt wasn’t good enough to be donated?
Oxfam
were the first charity to have a scheme that ensures every piece of clothing
donated is used in some way, whether it be re-used and circulated or recycled
into something new. So, let us walk you through what happens to your donated
clothes and how they’re processed.
When
you donate clothes to one of our stores, they are sorted out by our lovely
volunteers and the sellable clothing will then get priced and displayed by
volunteers on our shop floor. However, some of our ‘luxury’ items that may
raise more money being sold online, will then be listed to be sold on our Oxfam
Online Shop (https://www.oxfam.org.uk/shop). Here you can see
clothing (and other items) for sale from various stores across the UK, if
you’re wanting to still stay local and see what the Magdalen Street store has
to offer online visit:
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| (When clicking the link, you should be met with this / Oxfam Online) |
But,
it doesn’t just end there. If items of clothing cannot be sold, or are
unsaleable in the store, they will then be sent to Oxfam’s Wastesaver plant,
located in Milton Keynes. Here clothes get resorted and can end up in a number
of places and items spotted with the greatest value will be sent to one of our
specialist retail channels such as:
-
Pop-up Oxfam Festival Shops
-
Specialist Vintage Shops and Oxfam Boutiques (e.g. Bridal
Shops)
Wastesaver
sells around 30% of its clothing to Frip Ethique, a social
enterprise in Senegal – helping to fund livelihood programmes here and in other
places in West Africa. Further to this, some of the other clothing is exported
through our trade partners across Europe and Asia (keeping in line with our
ethical supply policy).
Why Choose Donated?
As
party season is fast approaching it is usual to find that we as a population
buy new garments to wear to parties and festivities, and end up never wearing
them again. Oxfam found in a survey they conducted that the demographic of
25-34 year olds are the biggest consumers of ‘Fast Fashion’ and of that group, 92%
of them will buy at least one item of clothing over Christmas, averaging a
spend of £183. It was also found that this group are the most wasteful, having
an average of 51 items that are unworn and throwing an average of 52 items a
year away.
This
is not something we want to encourage; we want you to DONATE!
Famous
faces such as Kate Moss, Ellie Goulding and
designer Stella McCartney are backing Oxfam’s sustainable partywear campaign by
donating clothes to Oxfam. It’s a campaign hopeful to challenge the
‘fast-fashion’ culture, in an attempt to inspire more people to shop for
second-hand clothes, instead of always buying new.
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| Ellie Goulding / Credit: FAMOUS |
Ellie Goulding said: “I’m donating pieces from my wardrobe and
hoping to pick up something amazing in their place! Follow Oxfam’s lead and
when you fall out of love with an outfit, let someone else fall in love with
it. Source your new look from Oxfam too, and you’re showing maximum respect for
clothes, the planet and style. With Oxfam's expertise at re-circulating our
fashion, you will never fear the re-wear!”
As
Ellie Goulding explains, the campaign is also hoping to inspire more people to
donate, because if you really can’t be seen wearing the same outfit again 12
months later – why not donate the outfit so someone else can enjoy it?
If
the fun of treasure-hunting online and in our stores wasn’t enough
encouragement for you to donate and buy second hand, maybe knowing that the
fashion industry is reportedly responsible for 92m tonnes of waste dumped in
landfill every year will. So, by finding your seasonal outfit at Oxfam you will
be doing your part in helping the environment.
But,
let’s not forget that by donating and buying from Oxfam, you are doing your
part in helping the fight against poverty, as all the money raised by our Oxfam
Magdalen Street store goes towards Oxfam’s work. Say yes to ‘sustainable fashion’,
and no to ‘fast fashion’.
Written by: Cerys Rees
Written by: Cerys Rees
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