Love Island, the popular dating reality show, will return this summer with new eco-friendly practices in mind.
Yes. Contestants this year are ditching fast fashion and will use second-hand clothing for a summer of sustainability!
In the sizzling summer series where men and women go to an island with one goal in mind – to find the love of their life – contestants usually share a wardrobe, and new clothes are sent through partnerships with fashion brands. However, for the eighth season, ITV2 (creators of the series) announced a partnership with eBay to create an eco-friendly wardrobe for the islanders.
This is in a bid to inspire viewers to shop second-hand and for the show to embrace a more eco-friendly production with more focus on ways in which they can visibly show the eco-friendliness on TV.
To encourage sustainable shopping, viewers will be able to shop the islanders’ outfits through the show’s app, which will have links to eBay’s fashion pieces.
Fast fashion and the environment
The fashion industry is pumping out and selling more clothes than ever before. As fashion brands introduce new items online and in-store every week, the chances of you owning something that could be described as “fast fashion” are high. But why does it matter?
The term fast fashion is used as a catchy way to describe the ultra-quick and cheap processes employed by the fashion industry that can have harmful effects on the environment. Trending styles are designed, manufactured, transported, and sold by retail stores just in time for a new trend to come along to repeat the cycle.
Now, here’s the sad part – a great portion of clothes end up in landfills and become a key source of greenhouse gas emissions, all thanks to fast fashion! To fully drive home the point on how damaging this is, let’s take a look at polyester.
Polyester, which is the most commonly used fiber in clothing, is made from plastic and will never fully decompose. Instead, it acts like other forms of plastic, which are rarely recycled and will break down into microplastics for years to come, harming wildlife and emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
We can see exactly how damaging the fashion industry is to the environment due to the prevalence of fast fashion. This means change needs to happen soon and it begins with us.
For us to save the planet, we need to ensure that when our t-shirt wears thin or the knees of our pants wear out or our socks get holes, we can still make good use of the material that’s left or offer them up to be recycled instead of just stuffing them in the garbage (and they end up in landfills!)
So, when cleaning out the closet, it’s pertinent to make at least two piles – one for stuff that’s still wearable, free of holes, and without serious stains, and one for done and dusted. The clothes that are in good condition should be donated to charity. Then, they can be sold inexpensively, used by someone else, and provide money to a good cause.
Many people shop second-hand as much to reduce their footprint as to save money, so this allows those willing to do that access to quality clothing. And, others simply can’t afford the styles and quality they’d like, so thrift stores give them access to what they’d like. For those into cutting-edge fashion, changing up the wardrobe annually, and donating to thrift stores allows the changeover to be a little more environmentally friendly.
That said, for soiled, torn, and stained clothing that isn’t suitable to be worn by anyone anymore, it’s time to consider whether or not they can be reused at home. There are lots of crafty projects to upcycle old clothes: pillow covers, shopping bags, rugs, and so on.
Little pockets of action also go as far as big steps. Let’s play our part in saving the planet.
