USE

WEAR WITH CARE

The journey doesn’t stop once you buy something. How you care for your clothes is just as important. From being mindful about how you wash your clothes to picking up a needle and thread to mend a tear, extending the life of your clothes helps to reduce their environmental impact.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Wash clothes with cold water in a quick cycle. This uses ~1/2 the energy of washing warm. By doing one cold load per week for a year, you can save the carbon equivalent of driving 123km.

Only wash full loads of laundry. The average household does almost 400 loads of laundry each year. By waiting until you have a full load, you can save over 19,000 litres of water each year, the same as taking 237 baths!

Filter out microfibres. An estimated 500,000 tonnes of plastic microfibres shed during textiles washing, ending up in oceans and waterways. Explore some of the laundry bag and filter solutions on the market.

Air dry your clothes. By letting the sun do its work, you can skip both the dryer and iron. Air drying saves an average of 360 kWh of energy per year — the same as powering your laptop 8 hours/day for 750 days.

Dry clean consciously. Most dry cleaners use harmful chemicals. Find a dry cleaner that uses environmentally friendly processes — or think about whether that “dry clean only” garment can be cleaned another way.

Learn to fix your clothes. Invest in a sewing kit and repair clothes that need care. Not only can this help your clothes last longer, which reduces their impact, but it can also save you money.

 

MORE RESOURCES

  • Love Your Clothes [Resource] — This website from non-profit WRAP provides tips for caring, repairing, refashioning, upcycling and finding a good home for unwanted clothes.
  • 8 Eco-Friendly Laundry Tips [Article] — We love this round-up from Real Simple, which shares other ways to green your laundry routine.
  • How to Remove Pretty Much Any Stain from Your Clothes [Article] — This Marie Claire article can help you fight stains and extend the life of your clothes.
  • 4 Green Alternatives to Dry Cleaning [Article] — If your clothes or bedding is labeled as “dry clean only,” what else can you do? This article shares other ways to care for dry clean only products.
  • The Story of Microfibers [Video] — In this animated video short, The Story of Stuff explains in clear, simple terms what microfibres are and why they are threatening the planet.
  • The Definitive Guide to Denim Care [Article] – Levi’s experts offer advices on how to to keep your jeans lasting a lifetime.

 

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