“Discover the 80 Strangest Treasure Troves Unearthed in this Quirky Secondhand Facebook Group!”
However, this is still just a drop in the ocean compared to the size and breadth of the apparel market worldwide. According to Statista, the revenue in the global apparel market is estimated to reach $1.84 trillion. The largest segment of this market is women’s apparel, predicted to be around $0.96 trillion this year.
“The problem is one of economics. With the rise of ultra-fast, ultra-cheap fashion brands, the volume of clothing produced and shipped globally continues to explode, and consumers are offloading more of it after just a few wears,” the BBC explains, noting how one 2023 study found that a large Swedish charity has to pay to have around 70% of donated clothes incinerated due to their low-quality.
“There’s an oversupply of clothes. And it’s lowering the perceived value, and the real value, of everything,” said Liz Ricketts, co-founder and executive director of the non-profit The Or Foundation.
“We treat waste as if it is a free resource. Sure, you might give it away for free, but it takes a tremendous amount of effort and labor and skill to try to re-commodify that thing that you gave away. Reuse is based on the quality and the condition of the individual item, which means that it requires a human touch and a human eye to assess that.”
Post Comment