If we're going to keep up buying tops for £3 and wearing them once, we're going to need to find better ways of recycling our clothing.

Five billion pounds of clothes go to landfill through the returns process alone, therefore it's vital we start chucking out our old clothes in a more ethical way.

Here's just some of the ways you can recycle your clothes without harming the planet:

Make a Depop account

Not only is Depop a great way to send clothes to a new owner, you can also make a bit of dolla doing so.

If you don't know, it's basically the love child of Instagram and Ebay. You post photos of clothes you want to sell on your insta style feed, set a price, then wait for the offers to come in.

You follow other accounts and there are even options to swap clothes with other users. It's entirely free to use and you can find some epic bargains on there.

Upcycle things you don't like anymore

Before getting rid of something you don't want anymore, think about whether you might be able to upcycle it into something new.

Adding patches to a denim jacket, cutting a t-shirt into a crop top, making a bandeau out of an old top, you could end up with a totally new piece of clothing for free.

There's loads of upcycling inspo online, so even if you're not a creative person it's totally within your reach.

Get the reGAIN app

Brands like Pretty Little Thing, Missguided and Boohoo have recently been promoting the reGAIN app.

You pack a minimum of 10 unwanted clothing items into a box, drop it off at a drop off point, it'll get picked up for free and you can unlock codes and discounts on selected websites.

It's super simple, you're saving money and your clothes are being responsibly repurposed. A winner.

Take unwanted clothes to H&M

H&M have been on the clothing recycling trend since all the way back in 2013 with their garment collecting service.

You can bring a bag of unwanted clothing to any store across the country in exchange for a £5 voucher to use in store or online.

They accept clothing of any brand, condition and material. Their website also promises that zero per cent of the clothes end up in a landfill, they will all be fully reused, reworn or recycled.

Hit up some charity shops

I feel like charity shops have become cool when it comes to shopping, but I don't know many people beyond my mum who drops things off there.

There are multiple charity shops on every street up and down the country, and every one of them always welcomes donations.

When you're on your way to the shops or the supermarket, pop in to drop off your unwanted clothes and have a browse for bargains while you're there. Channel your inner Poppy Moore.

Look for local clothing banks

Using the Recycle Now website, you can find out where your nearest clothing banks and other clothes recycling services are.

If you live in and around London, Love Not Landfill are a group who aim to reduce the number of clothes being sent to landfills. They have various clothing banks around the city, they look pretty swanky too.

Follow their insta for information about upcoming events and pop-ups around the city.

Get swapping with friends

Pal complimented your dress, not going to wear it again? Give it to them!

Plan a dual wardrobe clear out, then bring all your unwanted clothes together and swap to your heart's content. When you're done, you'll have a buddy to help you recycle the leftover clothes economically.

Make an evening of it, get all your mates together so there's more swapping options, and add wine. Everything is more fun with wine. You'll end the night with a new wardrobe for free.

The post Here’s how to recycle your old clothes without harming the planet appeared first on reGAIN app.

Picture this. You’ve got 10 minutes before you have to leave for work and all you need to do is pull on your favourite work top, step into your shoes and give the cat a final goodbye nuzzle.

But, horror of horrors, as you slip the top over your head and give yourself a last once-over in the mirror, there’s a stain glaring back at you; a stain that’s slap bang in the middle of your chest. What’s more, you instinctively know it’s the sort of mark that won’t disappear no matter how long you soak it for or how hard you scrub, let alone be fixed by a quick dab with a damp washer (which is all you’ve got time for). Favourite top no more. It’s destined for the bin – and you’re destined to be late.

It’s the same when you realise the extra ventilation you’ve been feeling around your foot is thanks to a hole in your sock so large that not even your nanna would bother darning it, or that the rips in your jeans are way too big to be considered fashionable.

Destined for landfill

They’re not good enough to give to Vinnies or the Salvos so items in your wardrobe that have reached the end of their natural life end up in landfill. Trouble is, you’re not the only one chucking clothing in the bin.

Australians throw an incredible 6000kg of clothing away every 10 minutes.
That’s more than a third of a million tonnes a year, the equivalent of three Sydney Opera Houses.
Australia is the second biggest consumer of textiles per capita in the world.

ClubQT’s clients join forces to help the planet

Now, in a bid to raise awareness of the issue and make sure more unwanted clothes are recycled, all of ClubQT’s British clients are backing an innovative scheme that will hopefully boost the current paltry figure of 15 per cent of old clothing that is given new life.

Boohoo, Pretty Little Thing and Charles Tyrwhitt have joined reGAIN, an app that benefits retailers, shoppers and, most importantly, the planet.

Running across the UK, it works like this: Collect 10 unwanted clothing items, put them in a box or bag and take to one of 25,000 drop off points across the UK. Do this and participating customers are given a barcode which opens up a range of discount vouchers for the brands involved. Simple, eh?

Bringing fashion sustainability to Australia

Here in Australia, many of the fashion retailers ClubQT works closely with have implemented similar plans to increase fashion sustainability.

King Cotton was one such very early pioneer of the concept. Since 1980, the brand has been ahead of the curve by collecting over 200,000 tonnes of clothing that was destined for landfill, and nearly all of it has ended up being reused in third world countries. Click here to find the nearest King Cotton collection point to you.

And, of course, if your clothing is still in good condition, it can be donated to an op shop to raise money for charity or even be collected from your door by Clothing Cleanup, a company that distributes unwanted clothing, shoes, accessories and manchester overseas and across Australia.

Admittedly, we have a long way to go to catch up with some other countries’ clothes recycling efforts, but there are signs that the obscene amounts of textiles clogging up landfill sites is finally being addressed by both brands and individuals – a movement that ClubQT is proud to be associated with.

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1. Giki – Sustainable Shopping App
By scanning barcodes, Giki provides a wealth of information regarding the sustainability of your food shop. Once scanning the item, you’re presented with a badge rating that ranks the product based on various factors such as health, animal welfare and whether ingredients have been responsibly sourced. The app even suggests more ethical and healthy alternatives.

2. Too Good To Go – The fighting food waste app
From YoSushi to independent bakeries, this app connects customers with food businesses who want to reduce their surplus waste at the end of the day. The food you buy is pre-packed by the restaurant and sometimes you can’t choose what you buy. However, food is priced with a generous discount and provides an ethical and cheap alternative to getting a takeaway. I am based in London so options are in good supply however for those who live outside of the main cities, I’m not sure whether the use of this service is as widespread.

3. Ecosia – The Eco-Conscious Web Browser
Think of a green Google. This is Ecosia. The creators of this carbon-neutral search engine promise to plant trees for every web search completed on their browsers. They provide tree planting receipts and operate a transparent financial policy so users can see for themselves that trees are being planted. You can monitor how many trees you have planted along with keeping up to date with the company’s latest global projects. It’s a really easy way to give back to the planet whilst completing everyday tasks.

4. reGAIN and Not My Style – Ethical Fashion Apps
Both of these apps encourage an ethical approach to retail therapy. reGain accepts your old clothing donations and in return, you are rewarded with discount coupons for various online and high-street retailers. It is very similar to taking your clothes to the charity shop however, you are given coupons as payment for your donation. I do feel somewhat conflicted with this approach as essentially the discounts encourage the user to go out and buy more goods and in the long run may not reduce the carbon footprint of the consumer.Not My Style is fighting the repercussions of ‘fast fashion’. The app informs the buyer of how ethical brands are in terms of the treatment of their workers and their environmental impact. From here, the consumer can make an informed decision before making their purchase. For more insight into ‘fast fashion’, check out my previous post, What Could You Live Without?

5. Tap – The water bottle refill app
This app provides the user with a map of the nearest water refill points. It encourages using your reusable bottle as opposed to buying plastic bottled water by suggesting local businesses that will re-fill your water for free. I like this app because it encourages a community feel in the bid to reduce plastic waste. Not to mention the potential for small businesses to gain exposure with a wider audience. 

Of all these apps, I feel that Ecosia and Giki will be the ones that I use the most. It’s useful to have tools at your disposal to help us make better-informed decisions about the food we eat, the clothes we wear and our general lifestyle. Hopefully, by increasing public awareness, this might put pressure on brands to assume a more ethical approach while consumers avoid products that are irresponsibly produced.

The post The 5 Best Apps for Sustainable Living appeared first on reGAIN app.

PrettyLittleThing has also followed in the footsteps of its sister brands Boohoo and Missguided in partnering with the reGAIN app to incentivise customers recycling their used apparel rather than sending it to landfill.

Having been one of the brands and retailers challenged by the Environmental Audit Committee for issues including alleged “illegally low wages” in its supply chain, PrettyLittleThing appears to have acknowledged a need to bring about a shift, no matter how slight, towards lowering its impacts - both social and environmental. 

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The e-tailer, owned by Boohoo Group, was one of several fast-fashion brands criticised by MPs over their role in the high street's throwaway clothes culture, which is generating excessive waste in the UK.

Last year, PrettyLittleThing, Asos, Boohoo, Missguided and Amazon UK were invited to give evidence as part of the Environmental Audit Committee’s sustainability of the fashion industry inquiry.

PrettyLittleThing said ReGain will allow shoppers to donate unwanted clothes at hundreds of pick-up points in return for discount codes that can be used with any of the app’s retail partners.

Brands including Missguided, New Look, Oliver Bonas, Little Mistress, New Balance, Asics and Superdry are amongst ReGain’s retail partners.

“By partnering with reGAIN, we encourage you to send back your used clothes for some amazing PrettyLittleThing discounts. Let us together make a difference to protect our planet,” PrettyLittleThing co founder Umar Kamani said.

Based in Manchester, PrettyLittleThing targets the 16-34 age group with clothing, footwear and accessories inspired by celebrity fashion, streetstyle, and social media trends.

In the four months until 31 December 2018, the brand posted revenue of £144.2m, up 95% on the previous year. The increase was higher than that of Boohoo Group’s namesake brand, up 14% during the same period, as well as Nasty Gal, which saw a 74% increase in revenue.

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Savvy consumers are starting to demand a more ecological approach to fashion, and companies are taking note, disrupting the fashion industry in some innovative ways that even surprise us seasoned eco-fashionistas here at Eluxe!

It’s a given with consumers who care that they’ll only purchase clothing brand that are using sustainable fabrics and dyes in clothes that are ethically made – or perhaps they’ll thrift or hit up the vintage stores as an alternative. But these companies below are thinking even further outside the box, offering solutions to the pollution problems caused by our lust for style.

Meet six companies that are disrupting the fashion industry with some great new ideas. Do you know of even more? Tell us in the comments section!

6 Sustainable Companies Disrupting the Fashion Industry

1. Find Rent Wear

The sharing economy is making a big difference on the planet. Fewer people need to buy a car thanks to the likes of Lyft and Uber, and is there really a need to buy an expensive, fancy dress for an event like a wedding or gala evening when you can just rent one?

Companies like Find Rent Wear make it easier than ever to rent designer handbags, shoes, accessories and of course, clothing. They carry top brands that everyone loves, including Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood and Saint Laurent, and you can borrow the items for a fraction of the cost currently available in the market. This is a huge difference when compared to other sites, such as Rent the Runway, whose prices start much higher as they are not a true peer-to-peer platform.  

Simply find what you want, wear it for up to a week, and return it for free. But this service works the other way, too! Got a fashion item you don’t really wear much, but don’t want to part with it forever, either? Why not rent it out and earn money? FRW is especially encouraging women of all shapes and sizes to rent out their best clothing so others with the same body types will have a more extensive ‘clothes bank’ to choose from.

Or if you are a boutique owner or fashion designer, you can use Find Rent Wear to rent your stock or promote your designs. Find Rent Wear is where individuals, designers and boutiques can come together to offer you an unlimited wardrobe.

Set up your profile as as either an individual, designer or store. Click on ‘List your Items’ and start adding details and photos of your items, choose a rental price, and submit. Once your products have been approved, you can start receiving rental requests. Your items will be collected and delivered to the renter and returned to you at the end of the rental period. Easy money!

If you’d like to try this service as a renter, you can get 20% off your first purchase with the code FRWD20 at checkout, too.

2. ReGain App

Not sure what to do with that top that’s a little too worn for your liking, or that pair of pants that look a bit ‘2008’? You might want to think twice before you throw them away.

ReGain is a popular app designed to encourage shoppers to take a more sustainable approach when discarding old clothes. As an incentive to never throw your old garments in the trash, ReGain will allow shoppers who donate unwanted clothes (a minimum of 10 items) at hundreds of specified pick-up points around the country to earn discount codes that can be used with any of the app’s retail partners in return.

The popular e-tailor PrettyLittleThing has recently teamed up with ReGain, as have Superdry, Asics and MissGuided. Want to know more about how it works? Just watch this little video, below!

3. Fashionphile

Most of us have a few designer handbags or accessories that we stuck in the back of our closets and just forgot about. Even the most gorgeous bag sometimes gets replaced with a new one that you favour, but at the same time, you’re not sure what to do with the old one, am I right? It’s still lovely, and you might use it again, someday. Maybe?

The retail giant Neiman Marcus just made deciding what to do with unused designer goods a little bit easier, thanks to their partnership with the fashion resale e-commerce company Fashionphile.

For almost 20 years, Fashionphile has become synonymous with trust, competitive value, and unparalleled customer service in the area of pre-loved designer handbags. They offer the largest selection of pre-owned vintage, rare, and limited edition handbags from the most coveted luxury designers.

They’ve partnered with Neiman Marcus to make them the first major luxury retailer in America to directly invest in the pre-owned market. Those who wish to sell vintage designer goods will be able to receive a quote for their items from Fashionphile at select Neiman Marcus stores, and in exchange for their bags, they’ll receive immediate payment in the form of store credit. 

4. PlanetCare

You know how there’s a problem with microplastic pollution coming from petrol based fabrics, such as acrylic, nylon and polyester? Tiny particles of plastics (because yep – those fabrics are considered to be forms of plastic) get into our waterways every time we wash synthetic fabrics.

That means we (and all other animals) end up drinking microplastic particles every time we gulp down some water, because these particles are too small for most municipal water filtration services to filter out.

Luckily, one of our top sustainable companies disrupting the fashion industry has come up with a great solution!

PlanetCare has developed an innovative microfiber filter that can be easily integrated into any model of washing machine. It works to capture all those nasty little microplastic particles that are polluting our oceans and entering the bodies of fish – and us!

The system functions by using microfiltration based on electrically charged fibers and membrane nanotechnology to ensure even the tiniest of microplastic particles don’t escape into the waterways.

But of course the best solution to this problem is: stop buying clothing made from synthetic fabrics, of course!

5. Teemill

The ‘sustainable T-shirt’ has become something of a cliche, but this concept by Teemill is truly unique – they’re making tees from….other tees! Worn out organic ones, to be more specific.

Customers can buy products or even start their own brand selling their own custom-printed tees using Teemill’s systems. This is the first-ever such recycling system, and Teemill hopes that open source and circularity will lead to rapid change in the fashion industry.

According to Teemill, over 100 billion items of clothing are made per year, and yet a truck full of textiles is burned or buried in landfill every second. Despite a growing interest around the world for sustainable fashion, current projections indicate that the mainstream clothing industry will more than triple its output by 2050.

But by using modern technologies like AI to maximise the efficiency of the supply chain, products made by Teemill are printed in a renewable energy-powered factory in real time just seconds after they are ordered. There is no unsold stock.

This is how it works: customers scan the label inside their tees with their phone to activate a free post returns coupon when the product is worn out. Teemill recover and remanufacture the materials into new t-shirts and give the customer £5 off a new item.

Customers are incentivised to keep the material flowing with money off their next purchase, Teemill benefits from lower material costs and the model is truly sustainable. It’s a circular fashion economy where everybody wins!

6. Scalable Garment Technologies Inc.

Who made your clothes? A robot! Well, that is if your garment was created by SGTI. The company has created a robot-powered knitting machine linked with 3D modelling software to make seamless knit garments for the mass market. This innovative technology digitizes the entire fashion production process and allows for on-demand manufacturing of custom-made, zero-waste knit clothing.

The only problem? Of all the companies disrupting the fashion industry, this is the one that may have the most negative consequences. Human workers become essentially obsolete, creating unemployment for those most in need of low-skilled fashion production jobs. But at least you can rest assured your garment wasn’t made in a sweatshop!

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Fashion etailer Femme Luxe has partnered with recycling app Regain to encourage customers to recycle their unwanted clothing.

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The app, whose partners include Boohoo, Missguided, New Balance and Superdry, allows users to unlock discount codes by donating unwanted clothes at local pick-up points.

Announcing the partnership on Instagram, PrettyLittleThing co-founder Umar Kamani said: “UK we’ve partnered with [Regain] to encourage you to send back your old clothes in return for some amazing PLT discounts … let’s start making a difference together to protect our amazing planet.”

PrettyLittleThing was among several fast fashion retailers called upon to give evidence before the environmental audit committee last year.

Chair of the committee Mary Creagh wrote letters to Asos, Amazon, Boohoo, PrettyLittleThing and Missguided requesting information on staff wages, lifecycle of garments sold, and their strategies for the reduction of the environmental and social impact of their businesses.

PrettyLittleThing did not appear before the committee.

The retailer recently submitted plans to convert an abandoned warehouse into a new, 65,000 sq ft headquarters at Ancoats Works in Manchester.

The submitted details include plans for a conference and theatre facility, restaurant and gym in addition to open-plan offices, meeting rooms and social spaces. It is thought that the building will house 250 employees if the plans get the green light.

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Yet Goring-by-Sea is home to World of Books, a second-hand bookseller that ships to more than 190 countries — including Vatican City — and is on track to make sales of £78m this year. The business buys unwanted books by the ton from charity shops, uses a cutting-edge scanning system to work out whether they can be resold, then lists them online. It sells a book every 1.5 seconds — mostly through eBay and its own website — and this year will…

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