A new report from ReLondon and University College London, ‘London’s fashion footprint’, shows for the first time the environmental impact of our fashion habits in the capital, while revealing that buying just a few more second-hand items instead of new could make a real difference to our own personal carbon footprint. Fashion is on track globally to use over a quarter of the world’s carbon budget by 2050[1] so it has a huge impact on our planet and the escalating climate crisis.
‘London’s fashion footprint’ highlights the fact that Londoners get rid of an average 44 items of clothes every year, with around 60% of those getting collected for reuse by councils, charities and textile merchants – and although at least 10% of those collected clothes actually get reused within London, around two-thirds of them end up being sent overseas, mainly due to a lack of demand for second-hand clothes in the UK.
This is why the Love Not Landfill campaign is opening its doors again from 29th June in Angel Central, with its fifth cult pop-up shop featuring the very best of London’s preloved fashion. Known for its perfectly curated collections, this year Love Not Landfill is back with three charities and a clothing rentals platform collaborating with some of London’s most style-savvy influencers to create a shopping experience not to be missed. The collaborations set to draw London’s fashion fans this year are:
Cancer Research UK x @ItsLinaMar
Hurr Collective x @Nantidaintajak
Hurr, an online fashion rentals platform, are joining in for the first time, selling clothes that have been rented out but are now approaching ‘retirement’.
Second-hand shopping is a great way to help young Londoners do their bit to fight climate change. This new research from ReLondon has calculated that Londoners’ clothes habits in 2019 resulted in the production of over 2 million tonnes of damaging greenhouse gas emissions, and Love Not Landfill knows that young Londoners want to do something to help: in a poll from 2021, the campaign found that over 90% of those surveyed were concerned about the impact fast fashion has on the environment, but around a fifth of them said that they weren’t sure what they could do to make a difference. A big part of the answer is: second-hand.
Lizzy Woods from the Love Not Landfill campaign:
“This new report has been an eye-opener for us: Londoners are getting rid of an average of 44 items of clothing a year, but buying around 48 new items. The ‘buy it, wear it, throw it away’ fashion model is playing a huge role in the climate crisis we’re facing, so for the planet’s sake, we can’t keep doing it. There’s an almost endless supply of beautiful, unique second-hand clothes out there to refresh your wardrobe, which is why we’re so excited to be running another pop-up shop at the end of June in Angel Central. We’re encouraging people to come along to find a one-off piece or a whole outfit they love – and importantly we hope this means they no longer need to go shopping for something brand new.”
At this year’s Love Not Landfill pop up in Angel Islington, each influencer has worked with their partner charity to carefully curate a collection of up to 500 pieces from donations. These will be sold at the pop-up with all profits going straight to the charities. Expect designer labels you know and love at affordable prices, plus one-off gems – that is the beauty of pre-loved fashion.
Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, Shirley Rodrigues:
“Clothing and textile production is both resource-intensive and a major contributor to global carbon emissions, with this report laying bare how harmful our shopping habits are. In tackling the climate emergency and preserving our precious natural resources, it is vital that we embrace pre-loved clothing and take better care of the things we already own.
The Mayor and I are proud to support another Love Not Landfill event in London. Events like this help to engage Londoners in the climate emergency and the environmental cost of fast fashion and support the Mayor’s vision for a greener and more prosperous London for all.”
The Love Not Landfill pop-up shop is open from Thursday 29th June to Sunday 2nd July in the ground floor unit located at the Upper Street entrance to Angel Central, London N1 0PS.
Free admission. Opening hours vary:
Thursday 29 June: 11am – 6pm
Friday 30 June: 11am – 7pm
Saturday 1 July: 11am – 7pm
Sunday 2 July: 11am– 5:30pm
