Ellen MacArthur: It’s time to overhaul high street fashion

We’re setting sail to a brave new fashion world. Join us.

Environmentalist Ellen MacArthur shared some shocking truths with us yesterday in her latest report and we’re still reeling.

50% of high street fashion is disposed of within a year.

We’re now buying more than ever, but the number of times we wear each item has fallen by 20% since 2000.

Just as disturbing is the discovery that tiny plastic-based fibres of synthetic clothing are washed out in the laundry and are swallowed by the fish we eat, so we may have a garnish of old gym-kit in our tuna sandwich.

MacArthur has braved the storms in the seas of the world alone and won, but she’s now taking on the whole fashion industry – a brand new sea full of tempests and murky depths. She won’t be alone this time though. She is building a flotilla of fashion allies including eco-designer Stella McCartney.

We pledge to join her fleet and do all we can to create the vision set out in the report. For us, this will involve:

• Finding the most sustainable and circular brands and bringing them into the light
• Making it sexy to buy for life!
• Helping shoppers find their own style so they need not be swayed by trends
• Campaigning for fast fashion brands to think more circular

Her report makes it clear that change is achievable. At the moment, one of the main problems is that it’s not easy for shoppers to be part of a circular economy. Shopping is currently linear. Clothes come into shops at one end and are dumped in landfill at the other.

As individuals, we can join Ellen’s fleet too. There are many ways you can get involved, such as:

• Buying long-lasting and recyclable clothes
• Repairing your clothes
• Donating your clothes
• Renting your clothes
• Asking companies to do better

One garbage truck of textiles is wasted every second.

We’re with Ellen on this. Let’s join the fleet!

Tara Button is on a mission to change the way the world shops forever. In 2016 her little idea went viral and BuyMeOnce was born. After working ten years in advertising, she's now using her powers for good rather than evil. Tara lives in Hertfordshire with a murderous cat and a husband she gets to laugh at every day. Her first book A Life Less Throwaway is published with Harper Collins in the UK and Penguin Random House in the USA.