Around 11 million tons of clothing and fabric ended up in U.S. landfills in 2018, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. An Alpena student aims to reduce waste and raise awareness on sustainable clothing through a series of local projects.
The Alpena County George N. Fletcher Public Library will be hosting a clothing swap Jan. 4, where people can bring in clothes they'd like to trade from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Olivia Miller is a student at Alpena Community College and an ambassador for EarthEcho, which aims to reduce marine plastic pollution.
She said "fast fashion" has promoted the mass-production of cheap clothes made with synthetic fibers, that can break down into microplastics.
"You look at the price and you're like, 'Oh my gosh, this is great.' But if you don't know like why things are priced a certain way or what things are made out of, it's hard to make responsible decisions about clothing," Miller said.
Donating clothes may seem like a good way to reduce textile waste, but the EPA reports only about 15% of used clothes are actually re-purposed, with everything else being thrown away.
Repairing clothes or finding new uses for fabrics, she said, can prevent unnecessary textile waste.
"If you need to repurpose it, it doesn't do much to take it to the local Goodwill cause it's not like somebody can use something that's beyond repair," Miller said.
Miller will also be launching her sustainable clothing brand "Continual Clothing" at the swap event. Looking forward, she plans to organize a workshop where people can learn how to fix or upgrade their clothes.
