For real. It’s such an unsustainable level of consumption and high level of waste. Polyester could be a great material to manufacture textiles with if we actually used those products for decades at a time. That’s very possible with clothes, especially because the material’s pretty resilient. But instead the secondhand market is absolutely flooded with clothes to the point where only 20% of what’s donated to thrift stores is ever sold and most shelters actively refuse clothes outside of winter jackets and unused socks. The rag houses are overflowing and what they can’t sell to vintage pickers or make into industrial rags gets thrown in a landfill. And yet people are still buying more clothes per person every year.
I get so mad at people who think degrowth is inherently a neoliberal project. Like, really? Yeah, the hollowing out of society performed by neoliberalism means that even the imperial core could use some growth in the healthcare industry. But clothing? That shit could shrink exponentially and none of us are gonna go without. It’s absolute capitalist brain to think otherwise.
Unfortunately, high-plastic fibers are often the ones that last a long time. Or maybe that’s fortunate if you enjoy wearing your clothes until they’re falling off your body, which I do. Cotton, meanwhile can start to degrade through regular use in just a couple years. But it’s really common with modern designs to see high-plastic stretch fibers woven into the fabric, which also degrades really quickly. So it’s kinda the worst of both worlds.
I’ve been shopping on eBay, just going to Buy It Now and sorting low to high. Shit’s pretty cheap, it’s not contributing to fast fashion, and it’s more accessible for me than thrifting because I’m big in several senses of the word. And a lot of 70’s and 80’s polyester is still in great condition and just sitting in people’s closets.
For real. It’s such an unsustainable level of consumption and high level of waste. Polyester could be a great material to manufacture textiles with if we actually used those products for decades at a time. That’s very possible with clothes, especially because the material’s pretty resilient. But instead the secondhand market is absolutely flooded with clothes to the point where only 20% of what’s donated to thrift stores is ever sold and most shelters actively refuse clothes outside of winter jackets and unused socks. The rag houses are overflowing and what they can’t sell to vintage pickers or make into industrial rags gets thrown in a landfill. And yet people are still buying more clothes per person every year.
I get so mad at people who think degrowth is inherently a neoliberal project. Like, really? Yeah, the hollowing out of society performed by neoliberalism means that even the imperial core could use some growth in the healthcare industry. But clothing? That shit could shrink exponentially and none of us are gonna go without. It’s absolute capitalist brain to think otherwise.
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Unfortunately, high-plastic fibers are often the ones that last a long time. Or maybe that’s fortunate if you enjoy wearing your clothes until they’re falling off your body, which I do. Cotton, meanwhile can start to degrade through regular use in just a couple years. But it’s really common with modern designs to see high-plastic stretch fibers woven into the fabric, which also degrades really quickly. So it’s kinda the worst of both worlds.
I’ve been shopping on eBay, just going to Buy It Now and sorting low to high. Shit’s pretty cheap, it’s not contributing to fast fashion, and it’s more accessible for me than thrifting because I’m big in several senses of the word. And a lot of 70’s and 80’s polyester is still in great condition and just sitting in people’s closets.
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