Taking eco-friendly initiative
Throughout the pandemic, upcycled clothing has made an appearancein social media. Upcycling clothing is another term of ‘reusing’ or ‘repurposing’ used clothes.
The benefits of upcycled clothing include less resource waste, increased efficiency involving unused material, allowance of creativity, support of small businesses, and reduction of air and water pollution.
Downsides to upcycling involve creating a “waste” biproduct from the project, like tools, glue, decorative materials, etc.
As repurposed clothing is making a surge, creators are advertising their “new” clothes on social media like Tik Tok and Instagram. Upcycled items can be found on websites such as Depop and Etsy, and other websites that support sustainable, reliable choices.
As environmental consciousness sweeps the globe, citizens of all ages are being called to take action. Mae Fischer, 12, found her niche in experimenting with sustainable alternatives to everyday activities and advocating for change among her peers.
Mae’s first exposure to the need for environmental change struck her at a young age, gardening with her grandma.
This past summer, Mae began allocating her time to becoming environmentally conscious. Her passion has led her to all sorts of lengths: from becoming vegetarian, to ridding her house of paper napkins, to expanding upon her sewing skills as a way to upcycle clothes. Mae sees not only the importance of eco-friendliness, but also the ease of life once the switch is made.
Through her composting, she’s able to make her own fertilizer while repurposing unused food. She owns a Leaf razor, which will last her the rest of her life—all she has to do is replace the three blades every few weeks, and ship the old blades back to be recycled. Her dryer balls, in place for dryer sheets, reduce drying time, and last much longer than regular drying sheets. She finds that being conscious of her clothes-shopping habits helps her not over-consume and encourages her to reinvision what she already has.
“It’s a lot easier to be eco-friendly than people think,” she said.
Through her research, Mae found that even common ways of consumer recycling aren’t efficient enough to make a difference.
“Consumers are so bad at recycling. We think ‘oh we dropped it off at Goodwill, it’ll get somewhere else.’ But most of the clothes we bring to Goodwill actually end up in a landfill,” Mae shared.
Instead, she’s found new ways to recycle—and upcycle—clothes. One clothing brand she buys from encourages consumers to send their clothes back once they have become too worn out, as to be recycled again. Mae also purchases clothes and fabrics from thrift stores to renew old clothes. Shopping on sites like Depop, she continues the life of pre-existing clothing rather than adding to the demand for more consumer products.
She encourages students to attempt a sustainable lifestyle, however understands that as both a teenager, and a human in general, you can’t be perfect.
“It’s also important to note that no sustainable person is perfect. I still have a big plastic bottle of my facial cleanser, but I buy it in a big bottle because buying in bulk is better than buying a bunch of small bottles,” she said. “Even if you’re just reducing your plastic waste that way, you’re still making an effort to create less waste.”