According to the Ministry of Environment, the amount of clothing waste in Korea reached about 84,422 tons as of 2020. In other words, an average of 225 tons of clothing waste is generated every day. Despite this, clothes are easily purchased and thrown away in Korea. Clothing brands constantly reflect the latest trends and are quickly manufactured and distributed, which is called fast fashion. What can we do to solve this problem?

Producing Harmful Substances While Disposing of Clothing

Let us find out how clothing waste affects the environment from Chen Ya-xin’s dissertation, who attends the Graduate School of Chosun University.*

Changes in the role of clothing, the changing concept of consumption, the craze of the fast fashion industry, and the myriad convenient ways to consume are increasing clothing waste. Not only do unnecessary clothes take up much space in the closet, they cause resource waste and environmental pollution. In particular, the main industry causing environmental pollution is fashion; fashion that is produced and consumed based on fickle trends each season. The dust which is produced in the process of producing and disposing of textiles and the excretion of chemical substances by incineration create major environmental pollution. Currently, the two main methods of textile disposal are landfills and incineration. The chemical materials imbued in the clothing’s fabric are not easily disposed of through landfills and generate toxic ingredients during incineration. These harmful toxins contribute to soil, air, and groundwater pollution.

* Chen Ya-xin. "The Effect of Sustainable Factors in Waste Clothing Redesign on Design Quality : Focusing on SERVQUAL model." Doctoral Dissertation. The Korea Graduate School of Chosun University, 2023. Gwangju

Students’ Clothing Consumption

Oh Chae-min/Department of Electronic Engineering: “I like to adorn myself with beautiful items. I buy about one to two pieces of clothes a month. On average, I wear tops for about a year, bottoms and outer clothes for two to three years, and shoes for one to two years as long as there's nothing wrong with them. I dispose of clothes when they are worn out or are discolored.”

Lee Ji-han/Department of English Language & Literature: “When I was young, I was interested in clothes a lot. It’s fun for me to play around with various kinds of clothes. I buy three to four pairs of tops and bottoms per month. Usually, I wear clothes for about four years. I dispose of clothes when I don't wear them anymore because I’m either not into them anymore, the clothes are out of fashion, or the clothes are worn out.

Jin Min-hye/Department of Food Science & Technology: “I’m interested in clothes because I can confidently express myself through clothes, which is really fun for me. On average, I buy five to nine pieces of clothes a month. Usually, I wear clothes for six to seven years and I dispose of them when I lose weight, the clothes wear out, or they become stained.”

Students’ Thoughts on Clothing Waste

Oh: “I think that the trend of fashion is changing quickly because of social media. In addition, the problem of clothing waste is emerging due to fast fashion. However, I think that people have to pin out environmental pollution caused by clothing waste. Many corporations have to use eco-friendly materials actively for making clothes and the legislation to reduce the amount of clothes that is discarded has to be enacted at the national level. Consumers need to change their perceptions to buy only the clothes they need. People actively utilizing methods such as pre-ordering and post-production to reduce wasteful clothes is also a way to solve the clothing waste.”

Lee: “I think that people are sensitive to fashion, so it is natural that clothes are made and distributed to people quickly. It is very convenient to buy clothes at a cheap price and fast speed, but there are a lot of people who don’t wear clothes that are out of fashion. I think it is a way to use the brands which use eco-friendly clothes such as Patagonia.”

Jin: “The clothing waste problem has intensified because of mass production, rapid circulation, and low prices. Consumers dispose of clothes after using a short time according to the trend. It seems to make mass clothing waste and lead to environmental pollution. To solve the clothing waste problem, strengthening education about sustainability, encouraging ethical and environmental consumption, and using recycling and reusing systems will be needed.”

Keep Thinking about Eco-friendly Solutions

Yoon Hye-jeong, who is a member of PRIDECO, shared her experience with reducing clothing waste. PRIDECO can be divided into the words “Pride” and “Eco”, and it means taking pride in living in an eco-friendly way. This organization emphasizes the value of recycling, reusing, and upcycling for resource circulation. She experienced the difference between synthetic fibers and cotton or natural fibers while suffering from an autoimmune disease. Through this experience, she started to study fashion and the environment, and she came to realize that producing less and using natural substances are crucial for the environment. She consequently organized a team called “2ndary” for selling and exchanging second hand clothes. Her team collected, cleaned, and then sold these second hand clothes at a cheap price. Regarding the clothing waste problem, she left words for college students. “I want you to spend your money without being misled by marketing. Learn about the material of clothes and buy it second hand for the environment,” she said. In addition, she hopes students will buy products after critically thinking about whether they are really eco-friendly. For example, vegan leather is made without using any animal products. Nevertheless, it uses polymers like polyurethane and polyvinyl chloride. These materials emit toxic substances when they are incinerated.

Gowa’s Hanbok Upcycling

Gowa[고와] is a JBNU start-up club which was made in April 2023 at Hashtag. Gowa means “fresh and beautiful” in Korean. Kim Yeong-min is the team leader and Lee Min-gyeong is the deputy team leader of this club. This team mainly makes products, such as bags, out of abandoned Hanboks. However, there is a difficulty in upcycling abandoned Hanboks. Kim said “It's difficult to design products with abandoned Hanboks because Hanbok trends are changing quickly. As trends change, abandoned Hanboks are diverse in color and pattern.” They managed to solve this difficulty by giving the products a basic design to ensure quality and simplicity amid the myriad colors, patterns, and fabrics of abandoned Hanboks for the balance of various fabric trends. The leaders at Gowa believe that upcycling is the most practical action to reduce the problem of clothing waste. Kim shared his thoughts about clothing waste. “I hope that many people will pay attention to clothing waste. There are some people who have a prejudice about wearing secondhand products because someone already wore them, but I hope people can overcome this prejudice.” Gowa’s goals are to receive well loved second hand items from customers and to be a JBNU exclusive fashion brand.

Due to fast fashion, environmental pollution is getting worse. Thus proper, conscientious clothing consumption habits are the first step to solving the problem.

| Jo Soo-jin, Cho Min-hyeok Reporters