Hi,

Today, the majority of our clothes – 87% – end up in landfills or incinerators. Those that are left over are sent to foreign countries and 40% of those clothes will end up in a landfill. In short, almost all clothing is wasted. 

What many people are unaware of, however, is the enormous waste generated by the industry itself in manufacturing processes. According to Reverse Resources, a tracking and trading platform for textile fabric, of the 37 million tons of fiber used by the industry, 25% of it is recyclable waste – about 9 million tons of waste globally. Some of this waste does find its way into other uses – but not all. About 30% of this “post-industrial” still recyclable, useable waste is destroyed.

Just like pre-used clothing, leftover "post-industrial" materials from garment manufacturing is a resource to be tapped. To disrupt fashion's take-make-waste business model, we need to find as many ways as possible to keep resources alive and part of a circular world. 

For the next Earth Day Live, EARTHDAY.ORG’s Fashion for the Earth interviews designer Daniel Silverstein, the founder and creator of the amazing fashion brand Zero Waste Daniel that makes beautiful clothing out of scraps! All of the Zero Waste Daniel garments are made from 100% pre-consumer cutting room scraps, design room leftovers and discarded materials. This means unused fabric that would normally be sent to landfill or incinerated before ever turning into clothing. Fabrics never previously used, washed or worn become beautiful, chic, well-made clothes for everyday wear or special occasion wear, and are in every case – unique! 

Meet designer for the Earth, Daniel Silverstein, Wednesday December 14th at 12:00pm Eastern for Fashion Talks.

The event will be approximately 1 hour and hosted on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and on our webpage. By RSVP'ing, you'll receive a reminder on the day with a link to view the event.

Fashion for the Earth is spreading awareness of the perils of fast fashion, and actions you as individuals can take to make a difference. 

See you tomorrow,

Shelley Rogers
Fashion for the Earth Coordinator