Your favourite T-shirt gets stretched out, do you throw it away? I’m sure most of us still cling onto the memories of that shirt, unwilling to just throw it out. All these sentimental feelings we attach to the old clothing are one of the main reasons that lead to hoarding. We also hoard because we believe that an item will be useful or valuable in the future, unique and irreplaceable, or too big a bargain to throw away. Here are 3 tips on how we can overcome these feelings and get rid of all the old clothing we don’t wear anymore.
1. Upcycle For ‘New’ Pieces
Why upcycle?
First off, it is a fun and easy way to get almost ‘new’ pieces of clothing and accessories at a low cost. Choosing to repurpose old items is a great way to extend their lifespan! We can make something really interesting and unique, totally up to how creative we are feeling. The best part – upcycling clothing is very environmentally friendly. This is especially when we consider that more than 156,000 tonnes of textile and leather waste was thrown away by Singaporeans last year, and only 8 percent of such waste is recycled. Reusing and repurposing old clothing materials keeps clothing waste out of landfills. It also reduces the demand to produce more clothing, accessories and other products that require environmentally-demanding processes.
Try it out!
Firstly, to overcome the sentimental feelings, try upcycling old clothes. I’ve seen ripped clothes being used as rags for cleaning. Cut ripped stockings into strips, and we will create instant hair elastics that don’t damage our hair. Pretty fabrics can be upcycled into hairbands, quilts, or rag rugs. Torn jeans can even be transformed into trendy denim bags or purses. These are still items you can wear and keep close to you!
Here are some of my favourite upcycling projects:
a. Reusable grocery bag from an old T-shirt
This takes 10 minutes, and won’t cost a cent! Furthermore, it is surprisingly aesthetic. All we need is an old t-shirt, sewing supplies, and a pair of scissors. Hang on, I might just go make one now!
b. Dog Toy from Old T-shirts
Dogs chew up toys at the speed of lightning, why not DIY our own? This project calls for only 2 supplies: 2 old t-shirts, and a pair of fabric scissors. Honestly, it can’t get much simpler than that. I promise they love this more than store-bought ones. Instagram pages that support upcycling include @altnative.co, where they remake people’s old pieces of clothing to new ones! Their pieces are also super trendy, go check them out.
2. Recycle To Save The Earth
Why recycle?
Recycling clothes reduces landfill. Unlike food waste and other goods designed to biodegrade, our clothing could stick around in these trash heaps for hundreds of years. Usually, if they’re not buried, it’s off to the landfill’s giant incinerator, which releases tons of greenhouse gases. This contributes to our already deteriorating climate and exacerbates global warming.
In addition, the whole manufacturing process is complex and uses a very unhealthy amount of chemicals, water, electricity and labour. For example, to dye a single pair of jeans the mix of toxic chemicals with 380 litres of water. Cotton production is also a huge water guzzler. According to non-governmental organisation World Wide Fund, 20,000 litres of water are needed to produce just 1kg of cotton, equivalent to a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. Simply, by recycling our unwanted clothes we can instantly prevent all that energy from going to waste.
Now, how can I start?
a. H&M Recycling Project
In Singapore, there are 12 recycling bins spread across 10 H&M outlets in Singapore. They collected 64 tonnes of unwanted garments last year – about three- fifths the weight of a blue whale. The remainder is processed, chopped up into fabric shreds which are used as insulation material. They are also grounded into finer fibres and made into cardboard and plastic tarp sheets, or spun with virgin cotton to create recycled yarn.
In their recycling project, all textiles are welcome (any brand, any condition) even odd socks, worn-out T-shirts and old sheets. The textiles are then sent to the nearest recycling plant, where they’re sorted by hand. For every bag of textiles you drop off, you’ll receive a voucher towards your next exciting purchase. Find out more here!
b. UNIQLO recycling programme
The All-Product Recycling Initiative is a key activity being implemented by UNIQLO globally. They want to maximize the use of clothing that customers no longer wear. UNIQLO collects clothing from customers at UNIQLO stores, and distributes them to people in need such as refugees and underprivileged people.
You can donate used UNIQLO clothing at any UNIQLO store during store operating hours, by approaching any of their staff or counter. Find your closest store and operating hours here.
3. Donate or Sell For A New Lease Of Life
Why donate or sell?
Even though we don’t need our old clothes anymore, it’s almost guaranteed that someone else will. There are many people in need of usable clothing. Even if not in Singapore, overseas, there are disaster victims, underprivileged people, and children in need of clothing. No matter big or small, our donations can help. Think about it – if we just throw away clothes, it has no chance of reaching people who need them the most. Hence, donations let us do a part in contributing back to the community. Getting rid of the clutter at home while helping others? Sounds like a win-win situation to me.
Where can I go?
a. The Salvation Army
On average, the Salvation Army receives about 10 tonnes of donated items per day, about 60 percent of which is clothing. The amount can go up to about 30 tonnes a day during peak periods like the month leading up to Christmas. Just drop the clothes off at any Salvation Army Donation In Kind booths. The charity’s social enterprise arm, Red Shield Industries, will then process them and retail those in good condition at their Family Stores located all over the island. All proceeds will go to the charity.
It is comforting to hear that the clothes on sale at the charity’s thrift stores have passed two rounds of quality checks – first at the charity’s central processing centre, and again at the shop. Whatever does not make the cut will be returned to the processing centre for export to Malaysia and Indonesia. So fret not, show your support by shopping at any of these thrift stores too!
b. Refash
At Refash, everything for sale on the racks is second-hand, and going for a fraction of its original price. With shortening trends and fast-fashion brands producing new designs faster than ever, that also means that consumers are consuming fast-fashion faster than ever. Refash makes it extremely simple for ladies to clean out their wardrobe, by just stuffing all their unwanted clothes in a bag, passing it to them. The rest of the processes are managed by the staff.
They feature mostly fast-fashion brands like H&M, Uniqlo, Topshop and Zara, and local Over the last nine months, Refash has processed more than 80,000 pieces of clothing and made about half a million dollars in sales revenue. This shows how receptive Singpaporeans are to such initiatives. Here is how to start selling with Refash!
c. Telegram
In addition, on Telegram, there are tons of communities that allow us to sell our old clothes. Compared to popular consumer marketplace Carousell, these Telegram groups let you sell something quicker and give you a more relevant target audience. Our favourites are @thethriftmarketco, @thefleurboutique, @theclosetaffair, @vestimentum, and @thecherubboutique.
Bonus Style Tips
Here are some different ways to style your old clothes on Shopform’s tiktok so you can re-use them and switch them up. Just in case you’re already getting bored of styling pieces the same way everytime!
The Extra Boost We Need
Upcycling, reusing, donating, and selling clothes are some of the most effective ways to get rid of unwanted clothing. With less clutter at home, our moods will get uplifted too. Getting your stuff organized do good for our body, mind, and the world at large. This could just be the extra boost you need, so don’t be lazy, and start getting rid of unwanted clothing! Share with us below on which of the ways above spark joy for you.