Send your old clothes back to be repurposed

Sustainable fashion and Black Friday don’t mix well. In fact, in recent years, movements aimed at countering or fighting the overconsumption associated with the event have been growing in scale.

One circular economy platform, Teemill, based on the Isle of Wight, is joining in on the phenomenon by inviting consumers to send back clothes they no longer need for a voucher, instead of rushing to online shops and accumulating more.

In the face of climate change, Black Friday is increasingly being called out by those committed to more sustainable fashion.

A genuine resistance to the day has formed in recent years with Green Friday, Giving Tuesday, Artisans Friday and other initiatives designed to raise awareness of the scourge of overconsumption, alternatives and solutions to curb it.

There is little doubt this year there will be even more such initiatives to encourage consumers to look to second-hand, rental or repair when it comes to clothing, or to make a useful, considered purchase at a fair price, part of which will be donated.

Then, there is the question of waste management, and recycling, an issue at a time when mountains of fashion waste are accumulating around the world.

The Teemill platform is launching “Take Back Friday”, which takes a different approach to Black Friday, to save money instead of spending it.

“Black Friday is a symptom of how waste has been woven into the way our world works. Products are designed to be thrown away ...

“We built Teemill’s circular business model to solve that issue. Products are designed from the start to come back and be remade, so instead of creating waste, we create new products from it,” explained co-founder Mart Drake-Knight. –