Is a sustainable textile industry possible?

Recently, eerie images have been circulating on social media of used clothing and textiles dumped in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. Over 40,000 tons of fashion clothing from the rich world, clothing that contains up to 70 percent oil-based materials, which can take 200 years to break down, according to environmental expert Franklin Zepada. NRK is one of those who has presented the case and you can read more here.

The textile industry is one of the world's biggest climate and environmental culprits, and the production of new textiles accounts for over 90% of emissions. Unfortunately, fully usable textiles are often thrown away due to over- or faulty production, many clothes never even reach the consumer, and newly purchased clothes are left hanging with the price tag on or only used a few times.

To answer the headline: Yes, we believe a sustainable textile industry is possible, but there is a long way to go, and no one can do it alone. But all the people are going.

• Manufacturers: Must take responsibility for ensuring that what is produced contributes to the smallest possible environmental footprint already in the design phase, thinking circularly. Both by ensuring good quality for long durability, the possibility of repair and reuse, and finally recycling to reuse and reduce the use of natural resources.
• Government influence: Norway should be a pioneer country for a green and circular economy, and has created a strategy for this. This must be facilitated with both incentives and requirements for both manufacturers, stores and consumers. ( Government, 16.06.2021 ).
• Consumer: We Norwegians are at the top in terms of using and throwing away clothes in Europe. Reuse and recycling are not the same, and reusing and taking care of what you already have has a much greater climate benefit. And we as consumers have a lot of power, and should check both how and what the things we buy are made of, and ensure that it is of good quality so that it lasts longer.

Smallmatters wants to be a company that helps make it easy for you as a customer to choose a more environmentally friendly alternative, with high quality and a contemporary design at a reasonable price. We therefore sell directly to you without an expensive intermediary, so that we can have a competitive price for high-quality goods that last a long time. We only produce goods made from existing textiles such as leftovers from others or textile waste that is about to be thrown away, from natural materials that can be recycled and decomposed. In addition, we make products that take care of what you already have😊

We know we are only solving a tiny part of the challenge with the textile industry, but it is important for us to create awareness around the problem so that together we can make a difference♻️💚

Waste is the raw material of the future - and we transform this into a resource without compromising design and quality. In this way, we contribute to reducing litter and consumption.

We would love to hear from you as a customer if there is anything we can do better or differently, only then can we become even better 😀