Industry Players Continue Multi-Pronged Effort to Reduce Fashion’s Impacts

Latest initiatives include circularity advocates and resellers working to end double taxation on secondhand fashion, a sustainable detergent brand’s continued efforts to reduce the impacts of laundry, and a recycled edition of a beloved clog.

Published 3 weeks ago | About a 8 minute read

Image: ThredUp

Coalition launches petition to end US taxes on secondhand sales

Image credit: Burst

American Circular Textiles (ACT) — a coalition of fashion and textile organizations aligned on circularity and sustainable fashion public policy in the US — in partnership with several of its member companies, has launched a nationwide campaign and petition to eliminate double taxation on secondhand goods, repairs and alterations. The petition aims to raise awareness about the unfair burden placed on consumers who choose sustainable and affordable shopping options.

Currently, many states impose sales tax on secondhand items — including clothing, shoes and accessories — subjecting consumers to double taxation. ACT asserts this policy not only discourages sustainable shopping practices but also hinders the growth of the secondhand market, repair options and a circular fashion economy. Upwards of 85 percent of used clothing goes into landfills or incinerators — much of which could instead be resold.

“Consumers’ pocketbooks are stretched thin. Monthly spending on apparel and footwear has risen a whopping 72 percent since January 2020, and more shoppers are turning to secondhand first,” says ACT CEO and founder Rachel Kibbe. “Ending double taxation is not only the fair and just thing to do — it will also spur economic growth and strengthen the trend towards shopping for well-made clothing that can be reused and/or repaired, rather than tossed into the ever-growing piles of apparel waste.”

ACT members and affiliates representing a variety of facets of the circular fashion ecosystem — including America's Best Cleaners, Arrive Recommerce and Project Repat; tech innovators Sortile and unspun; and online fashion resellers Fashionphile, ThredUp and Vestiaire Collective — are participating in the campaign.

“As a leading company of pre-loved luxury fashion, it is crucial for us to support any initiative aiming to remove barriers for circular businesses,” says Samina Virk, US CEO of Vestiaire Collective. “Fair tax policies enhance the viability of secondhand markets, benefiting both the environment and the economy. Moreover, this campaign aligns with our advocacy efforts in France and Europe for new VAT policies to support circular economic models.”

The petition outlines the detrimental effects of double taxation on secondhand goods and calls on lawmakers to take action. By signing the petition, individuals can help create a groundswell of support for ending double taxation on secondhand items to help support more conscientious shopping habits.

"Eliminating the double taxation on secondhand goods is smart policy,” says Alon Rotem, Chief Legal Officer at ThredUp. “It will not only help fuel the circular economy — but it's also a commonsense approach to further empower consumers to make smart, sustainable choices. It's a clear win for the future of fashion and taxpayers who want to do the right thing."

‘Rewearing is Caring’ campaign urges UK consumers to rethink their laundry habits

Lily Cole and the 'Rewear Chair' | Image credit: Ecover

Meanwhile, sustainable cleaning product giant Ecover has partnered with model, writer and sustainability advocate Lily Cole on its new “Rewearing Is Caring” campaign — designed to encourage Brits to rethink their laundry habits by rewearing outfits and washing clothes less to help reduce the environmental impact of over-washing.

“Embracing sustainable fashion means rethinking not only how we produce clothing and what we buy but also how we care for it,” Cole says. “By washing clothes less frequently, we reduce water waste and extend the life of our garments — which is a simple yet powerful step toward a more conscious lifestyle. Sometimes, the best wash is no wash.”

The campaign is underpinned by findings from Ecover’s inaugural Home ECOnomics Report, in partnership with Falmouth University, which explores the environmental impacts of the laundry habits – including water and energy consumption, chemical runoff from detergents, and microplastic shedding from washing machines.

The report reveals how deeply cultural and social expectations have shaped Britain’s laundry habits. Misunderstanding fueled by misguided household traditions and beliefs have led nearly one in five adults (18 percent) to mistakenly believe that washing less often doesn’t impact the planet — which brands including Levi Strauss have worked hard to dispel; and one in ten (11 percent) feel pressured by societal standards to do laundry more frequently, despite being aware of the carbon footprint — which echoes key findings of a recent Chalmers University report that examined the driving forces behind the laundering behaviors of Swedish consumers.

Ecover’s report also found that nearly a quarter (24 percent) of adults lack confidence in following clothing care instructions and over a third (34 percent) do not follow them — leading to the unintended impacts of over-washing including water, energy and textile waste.

Positively, in the last decade, one in five (21 percent) Brits say they have adopted more sustainable laundry habits including increasing the number of wears between washes — with a further six in ten stating they are willing to change their laundry habits to reduce their carbon footprint.

Rewearing Is Caring builds on Ecover’s ongoing “Laundry Against Landfill” campaign and is the latest in efforts to celebrate and inspire more conscious laundry habits including washing at lower temperatures, choosing more thoughtful yet effective cleaning options, and celebrating ‘laundry limbo’ and washing less — even embracing ‘airing’ as an interim step before washing worn outfits, highlighting the chair as an overlooked tool:

Doubling down on this message, Ecover has also launched a prototype "Rewear Chair" — designed to optimally air clothes and reduce unnecessary over-washing — which will be exhibited at Dutch Design Week next month. Ecover and Cole are also hosting “The Capsule Collection” — a pop-up store and panel discussion hosted in partnership with Charity Super.Mkt in London on 26th September, where consumers can shop pre-loved styles in-store and learn how to wash and shop less wastefully via a panel of sustainability and eco-conscious fashion experts.

“We want to encourage the public to embrace sustainable laundry practices and demonstrate the impact of small, thoughtful choices,” an Ecover spokesperson said in a statement.

Crocs’ ‘Keep It Going’ Classic Clog made with 25% recycled Crocs

Image credit: Crocs

Also, casual footwear giant Crocs recently unveiled its latest step toward its circularity goals with the limited-edition Keep It Going Classic Clog. Each shoe is made from 25 percent post-consumer recycled content, created from shoes collected through the brand’s “Old Crocs. New Life” takeback program.

"I want to thank every Crocs fan who brought in or sent back their old Crocs shoes so we could explore ways to give them a new life. This type of circularity program only works when consumers engage and are willing to do some good in the world together,” said Crocs Chief Sustainability Officer Deanna Bratter. “Fueled by our fans, we are making strides in our ambition to create more circular systems of production and consumption — and ultimately, delivering against our commitment to bring Comfort for the Planet.”

Since the launch of the ‘Old Crocs. New Life’ pilot last October and its nationwide expansion in May, the brand has collected Crocs shoes at retail locations across the country and through an online mail-back kit. The brand’s priority is to keep shoes on feet for as long as possible, so gently used Crocs that can still be worn are donated to the nonprofit Soles4Souls. Well-loved Crocs that cannot be kept on feet are processed, sorted and deconstructed into post-consumer recycled materials ready for their next use — in this case, as part of the Keep It Going Classic Clog.

Available now online and in select Crocs retail locations in the US, the Keep It Going Classic Clog is a limited-edition product at the same accessible price point as the Classic Clog.

The launch of the Keep It Going Classic Clog follows Crocs’ recent milestone of achieving 25 percent bio-circular content (which includes plant-based byproducts that would otherwise end up as waste, such as cooking oil from the food industry) across its entire Croslite material portfolio — which accounts for more than 80 percent of the brand’s total footwear materials use — halfway to its goal of reaching 50 percent bio-circular content within its Croslite material by 2030.