Repair, reuse, recycle — these are mantras the world is beginning to wake up to. These principles, I am sure, must have evolved with humankind from the time we learnt to cover our body but gradually forgotten as advancement set in.
But as earth chokes on the air, land, water pollution wreaked on it by various industry segments, including fashion, it is time we hark back to those practices. Across the globe, policies are being developed or brought out to support this, with the responsibility also being heaped not just on the consumer but also on the manufacturer – to make goods that last, can be repaired, reused and recycled.
As consumers we need to do our bit. A just-released survey on the fashion choices of the youth reveals a shift in buying patterns and a gradual drift away from culturally embedded sustainable practices. For instance, as individuality gains precedence, the practice of hand-me-downs within family has slowed down. While repair, reuse and recycle still continue, it has ceased to be the norm. Youth is more inclined to discard clothing if it does not quite fit into their scheme of wears, be it in terms of size, quality or any other factor. The use-and-throw-away culture has crept in, much to the detriment of all things sustainable.
Look within. The once ubiquitous sewing machine has all but disappeared from Indian households. Younger grandparents know not how to wield the knitting needles.
Do you know that we now have an International Right to Repair Day!? Policymakers are urging consumers, businesses and governments to come together to make repairs possible either through the way a product is designed, and this includes fashion, or ensuring that repairing is a given.
Our country has the wherewithal for all of this. While you may not darn or repair yourself, make use of the roadside tailor or the woman who stitches and repairs from home. One step at a time, but faster than the speed at which we throw away our wears, we need to relook our closet, and step up on the road to leave a cleaner planet.
The heat is on. It must be made fashionable, think fashionable to repair and reuse. Discards for the heck of it must be made oh-so-dated.
Each time you witness the ‘cruelest’ whims of nature, each time you drive across wastelands piled high with fashion discards, let it remind you of your responsibility to minimise your contribution to that dump.
