Changing our 'habits' this Easter

CHARITY LAUNCHES 'THE GREAT FASHION FAST'

The Christian charity Tearfund, known for its support of those in poverty and providing disaster relief for disadvantaged communities, have taken a new look at Lent this year with the launch of a 'fast' fashion initiative. To really make us think about our clothing 'habits' and the impact of fashion on climate change, biodiversity and justice, they have launched 'The Great Fashion Fast'.

Participants are asked to pick ten items of clothing and then request that their families and friends sponsor them to wear only those things for a month (underwear, sports gear and uniforms are not included). The money you raised will help support life-saving projects such as building flood-resistant homes; training communities in how to respond and recover when disaster hits; and planting trees to provide a barrier that will help prevent homes and crops from being washed away.

According to Tearfund, 100 billion items of clothes are made each year, 30% of which ends up in landfill and only 1% of garment workers in Vietnam and Bangladesh earn a wage that they can live off. The fashion industry also currently generates more harmful CO2 emissions than all international flights and shipping combined, making extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and storms more frequent and more severe with those already living in poverty suffering the most. Their survey about our relationship with fast fashion, also showed that more than half of us (57%) have new clothes in our wardrobes that we've never worn and in the UK we buy more clothes per person than any other country in Europe!

Joining 'The Great Fashion Fast' gives us an easy way to open the conversation about the damage to our planet, caused by fast fashion and to rethink our own traditional behaviours. For more information click HERE.