Repairing our clothes, building our community, looking after our environment
Our first repair cafe, delivered in partnership with our friends at Regen Braunton, had a really positive reception and we’re excited to be bringing more of these events to our local community. And our next Repair Cafe will see our superstar sewing volunteers returning to the Museum of British Surfing in Braunton to share their expertise on Saturday 16th October 10am-1pm, teaching us all how to give our textiles a new lease of life.
At that first cafe in August, we sewed buttons and rips, darned socks, and gave some much loved teddy bears a new lease of life.
In numbers on the day we…
🧵Took up 11 pairs of trousers
🧵Darned 5 x holey socks and 3 x pieces of knitwear
🧵Patched up a very well loved pair of trousers and 2 x pairs of leggings
🧵Replaced a broken zip on a pair of trousers
🧵Sewed up a fray on a skirt
🧵Sewed buttons on shirts
🧵Re-embroidered the mouth and replaced footpads on one very old teddy bear
The trickier jobs below we took away to be fixed and return at a later date...
2 x frayed sofa cushion covers
2 x very old bears in need of some love that would take time and the materials needed to be sourced.
1 x coat that needed a large zip replacing
We can’t wait to see what you bring us this time (but our volunteers have requested no wedding dresses please!)
So why is this so important to us, and what does it have to do with plastic?
Plastic
A lot of modern clothing is made using plastics like acrylic, polyester and nylon rather than natural fibres like wool or cotton. Every time we wash or tumble dry these clothes, they shed plastic microfibres into the wastewater that then washes into our drains and ultimately into our rivers and seas. They are even released into the air around us as we wear them. Textiles are one of the biggest sources of microplastics in our environment, accounting for 35% of the microplastics in the oceans and one third of the dust in our houses.
The newer a synthetic garment is, the more microfibres it is going to be shedding as we wear, wash, and dry it. Even natural fibres are often coated in chemicals to make them last longer, ie making them slower to biodegrade than they would otherwise be. By keeping our clothes for longer, and washing them less and at lower temperatures, we are reducing the negative impact that each garment has. You can also buy special filters to catch the microfibres (although they will then most likely end up in landfill, so still not an ideal solution).
Climate
Microplastics are not the only way that the textile industry impacts on our environment. According to the European Parliament, the manufacture of textiles is responsible for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. And let’s not forget that transporting clothes is responsible for some of that international flights and maritime shipping total. Chemicals and dyes used in manufacture can also pollute local air and waterways.
The other major impact is the resources that go into producing the raw materials. It takes 2,700 litres of water to grow the cotton needed to make one t-shirt, which is equivalent to two and a half year’s worth of drinking water for one human being.
Put all of that together, and not throwing away and replacing a pair of jeans because of a broken zip can actually have a huge impact.
Community
It is important to us to run these cafes as community events, giving people the opportunity to learn new skills that they can pass on to family and friends instead of just fixing things for them. We also wanted to provide a space where we could open up conversations, especially after the social isolation of the last eighteen months. Effective change happens when communities work together and people feel supported and heard. We also wanted to shine a spotlight onto our wider communities, highlighting the work and skill that goes into making our clothes in the first place - fast fashion is not only bad for the environment but is also associated with poor working conditions and unreasonable targets that contribute to poverty and poor health.
How can we make a difference in our day to day?
Embrace slow style over fast fashion, and look after our environment by looking after our clothes. Changing our fashion habits can have a significant impact on our carbon footprint and the plastics in our environment.
Here are a couple of simple ideas to try:
Host a clothes swap with your friends/ community group
Pass on children's clothing to younger siblings/ school friends/ parent group
Buy second hand or buy from companies that are transparent in their manufacturing processes, with sustainable materials/ processes (and that pay and treat their workers fairly)
Email or use social media to let your favourite brands know how much this matters to you and ask what they’re doing to help
Repair small tears/ rips/ replace lost buttons/ fix zips - come along to our Repair Cafe if you need a little helping hand with this
Wash clothes only when they need it, on the lowest temperature and shortest cycle that you can
Air dry rather than tumble dry
Upcycle or accessorise your old clothes to update your style rather than buying a whole new outfit
Want to learn more?
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/reduce-laundry-microfiber-pollution/