Tag: sustainable fashion

WhoSki.com supporting Secondhand September

WhoSki.com is all about making best use of secondhand clothing, so naturally we are 100% supporting Oxfam’s Secondhand September campaign.

The campaign – now in its fourth year – encourages us all to buy secondhand before we consider buying new. Do it properly and you will buy NOTHING NEW all month. Find out more about the Secondhand September campaign here.

LIST YOUR SECONDHAND SKI COTHING NOW

September is good timing for skiers and snowboarders, as it’s the perfect time to sort out your ski clothing into what still fits and you want to keep, versus what doesn’t fit or you are tired of and is good enough quality to sell on.

Listing it for sale NOW on WhoSki.com gives you the best chance of getting no longer needed ski clothing out of your wardrobe and into circulation. Selling it via our peer-to-peer marketplace has (at least) three benefits:

Click here to visit the WhoSki.com shop where you can list your clothing for sale – registration is free. We donate to teen mental health charity stem4 on every sale.

Are you taking part in Secondhand September? Let us know via social media: @WeWhoSki on Twitter and Instagram / https://www.facebook.com/whoskiLLP at Facebook.

What happens to our unwanted clothing?

According to Greenpeace, as little as 10% of donated clothing, for example to charity shops, is sold on for re-use in the country where it was collected. The rest is likely to be broken down and used as rags – aka ‘down-cycled’ – with more than half exported to an overseas market. That usually means Africa or Eastern Europe.

What happens to secondhand clothing once exported?

Some is sold at markets. This is not necessarily a good outcome. For example, the scale of imports of unwanted clothing from Europe and the US has decimated the indigenous textiles and tailoring industries in many African countries. To counteract this problem, Rwanda imposed high tariffs on used clothing imports followed by a total ban on their importation in 2018.

Increasing amounts of fast fashion find their way into the clothing markets of the Global South, but only around 10% re-sells there. Much is poor quality or unsuitable for local needs and is therefore unusable.

What happens to unsold secondhand clothing in the Global South?

With limited or non-existent recycling facilities or infrastructure in the Global South, our unwanted clothing rarely comes to a sustainable end.

Incineration: The rising cost of gas and oil raises the danger that textile waste will increasingly be burned to generate power. Garment factories in Cambodia were found recently to be incinerating off-cuts including tags, labels, footwear, fabric and garment scraps.

The result? Burning acrylic garments releases plastic microfibres and other toxic chemicals with knock-on impacts on human health in both the short- and long-term. Incinerating unwanted textiles also increases the carbon footprint of clothing made in foreign factories for the European and US markets. It is also a massive waste of resources.

Landfill: The Global South is the principal destination for secondhand – and new – clothing that cannot be re-sold or recycled. A recent report from The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) claims up to 40% of used clothing exported to African countries such as Kenya and Tanzania has no market value and is basically just textile waste.

The result? Piles of dumped clothing in locations like the coast of Ghana, the Atacama Desert in Chile and river banks in East Africa. Unwanted ski clothing is now also turning up in the textile dumps of the Global South.

What can we all do to reduce textile waste?

The obvious answer is buy less and throw away less. If every item of clothing was worn for longer, its carbon footprint would reduce considerably and the demand for new clothing would fall. There would be less wastage and fewer used textiles would be exported.

Buying and selling secondhand clothing such as ski and snowboard wear is a way to extend its life and prevent it from being shredded, incinerated or ending up in the Global South where it pollutes the environment.

Do your bit for sustainability: make this the season you choose pre-loved ski wear.

How to ski greener in 2020/21

Much of the ski industry has been slow to deliver greener options for skiers and snowboarders, but there are resorts, organisations and businesses which are starting to make a mark and lead the way for change.

Co-founders of Wimbledon-based WhoSki.com Sally Warren and Nicola Davenport were invited by Sustainable Merton to discuss the circular economy, how the wintersports clothing we purchase impacts on the environment, some of the moves forward in the industry, and how a few changes can make your ski habits greener.

The eye-watering facts:

  • the PFC chemicals in outdoor clothing are harmful to wildlife
  • it can take up to 200 years for the polyester used in ski wear to break down
  • 23% of the clothes in the average Londoner’s wardrobe are NEVER worn
  • 70% of snow cover globally could disappear by the year 2100

Top tips for a greener ski habit, from the WhoSki webinar:

  • take the train or drive to the slopes rather than fly
  • take your own water bottle
  • choose a green resort (some are wind- and solar-powered)
  • choose a car-free resort (eg Avoriaz, Les Arcs 1950)
  • use a sustainable travel agent and offset your trip
  • buy good as new secondhand ski clothing – and sell it on when you no longer need it
  • insist on eco-friendly ski and snowboard wax (toxic hydrocarbon waxes leach chemicals into the snow which can end up in the water table)
  • choose a clothing range that uses recycled/eco-friendly materials when buying new (eg Planks, Picture)  – and check whether it can be recycled

Find out more:

To see the WhoSki webinar presentation in full CLICK HERE 
To see a PDF of our presentation CLICK HERE 

If you want to get in contact with us, please email us at info@whoski.com

Happy green skiing!
Sally and Nicola, Co-founders, WhoSki.com.

Be a sustainable student skier

Your uni ski trip is coming up, and you’ve got a small budget and a large social conscience.
Take the easy route to skiing greener, keeping costs down and assuaging your eco guilt: buy your ski essentials SECONDHAND.
Here’s why it’s good for you AND good for the environment.

Keep wintersports clothing out of landfill

Fashion is the second most polluting industry IN THE WORLD (after oil), using vast amounts of water and raw materials to create – let’s face it – far more clothes than we will ever need. Most of them never sell. Many end up in landfill or incineration: a sustainability disaster.
Ski clothing, made of mixed materials (many non-biodegradable) and specialist coatings, is built to last. Yet many skiers and snowboarders wear pants and jacket for a single trip – perhaps they found skiing wasn’t for them, got injured or can’t afford another trip.
Others want a new look for every vacation. And some even buy multiple outfits to wear throughout the ONE week they are away. Yes, really: Instagram, you know? Themed dressing up days, you know?

Make money – do good!

Their waste is your gain – which is where WhoSki.com comes in. We are the dedicated peer-to-peer marketplace that ONLY sells wintersports wear. Focused market means better choice and easier to buy. And we give 10% of our commission on EVERY SALE to teen mental health charity stem4 – so you’re doing good at the same time.
Sustainable fashionistas say that we should all wear every item we own 30 TIMES in order to neutralize its carbon footprint. Tough when you only ski for six days a year – and are sick of the sight of that ski jacket you’ve worn every trip since you were 16.
But remember! A jacket that’s old to you will be new to someone else. So:

  • #PassItOn via WhoSki.com
  • Help keep textiles out of landfill, out of incineration and in circulation
  • Make Livia Firth happy – and cheer up Greta Thunberg too ?
  • Save yourself money (and boost your Folie Douce budget)

And once you’re back from the slopes, save space in your wardrobe and join the circular economy by putting your no longer needed ski and snowboard clothing up for sale – it will help other skiers AND mean you’re schlepping home with less stuff come the end of term.