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Recycle, Reuse, Repair
We only believe that we have to continually have new things all of the time, because it has been in the interests of somebody else to create and propagate the myth that this is so.
Products of all kinds that we use daily or very often could and should last much longer than they do. In fact, they could even be repaired or renewed, if the companies that produce them didn’t have regular repeat sales – and therefore profits always first in their minds.
The process behind this is called Planned Obsolescence.
Planned Obsolescence is one of the most cynical, exploitative and unnecessary processes that industry and big business has ever designed. All with making money in mind. It’s not green or in any way environmentally friendly, and the knock-on effects over decades have been massive amounts of production that we didn’t need, that we have had to pay for and that has used inestimable levels of resources around the world, for no genuine cause.
Clothing: What we need
The basic standard for personal clothing provision would be to be able to maintain 2/3 sets of clothing for general use. To have 1 set of all-weather clothing and to have 1 set of clothing for special events.
Beyond this, all communities should have their own lending library or service for clothes.
Clothing Libraries
For those occasions when a special outfit is required, we will need to develop clothing libraries, lending or rental services that work to support the cultural shift to making the very best use of everything that everyone has already got.
Single use clothing purchases are out.
Make do and Mend
Fashion is of course a commercially driven concept that promotes the perception that it is important to obtain and use the latest versions of goods. We buy fashion that we envy in the possession of others or buy it to make others envious of us.
Buying clothes purely for the purpose of how they look is not a sustainable practice. The types of clothing that have made fashion possible in the very extensive way that it has reached will not be available to the few who may be able to afford it, without compromising the requirement to always address everyone’s needs too.
Rationing of the materials to make clothing is a clear possibility. Just as our forebears did during the Second World War, we are going to have to embrace a culture of Make do and Mend, where we are literally making the best of the clothing that we already possess through repair, reuse and recycling, enjoying the prospect of upcycling as we do.