The clothing industry is extremely polluting, but sustainability is progressing excruciatingly slowly. Too slow according to Nelleke Wegdam from Amsterdam. For years she worked as a marketer for the fashion industry, but now she makes responsible clothing in her own sewing workshop. And with a deposit for trousers and sweaters, she hopes to reduce the waste mountain of discarded textiles.
“It became very uncomfortable,” says Nelleke Wegdam. As a marketeer, she worked for various fashion brands where the main aim is to sell as much clothing as possible. Companies want to become more sustainable, but are stuck in the system, which means that change hardly gets off the ground. But Nelleke was in a hurry and things had to be radically different. That is why she decided to start a sustainable fashion brand herself.
She does things differently with the ‘New Optimist’. The cotton is organically grown or recycled and the sewing workshop is located in Amsterdam. There the collection is sewn and only painted in the right ‘fashion color’ when it is ready. So no large stocks. In addition, people with a distance to the labor market receive sewing training.
But it can always be better. That is why Nelleke’s clothing will soon be sold with a deposit. “We want to recycle the clothes, which are made here with a lot of love,” says Nelleke. This way you keep the lines short and thus control the processing of the old clothing. The deposit must prevent our clothing from ending up on the large rubbish heap.
Marco Mossinkoff doubts whether a deposit on clothing is the solution. The researcher of the AMFI fashion course, part of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, sees it as a drop in the ocean. It’s been tried before but it won’t get off the ground. A sympathetic initiative but too small-scale. Only when the fast-fashion industry takes action can you make the sector more sustainable.
Clothing is an emotional purchase for many people. “You don’t put your discarded clothes in a bag to go shopping for the day,” says Mossinkoff. In order to really change the fashion world quickly, the government will have to take action, he says. “Denim is one of the most polluting raw materials. With extra taxes on jeans you can force companies to do better”.
Grab an Green
More and more North Hollanders are taking action to tackle climate change. Residents change their lifestyle, buy responsibly and insulate their homes. Entrepreneurs see opportunities and break new ground with sustainable products and services. You can see it on TV every Tuesday in the program Pak An Groen.
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