Stop fast fashion. The European Union is taking measures aimed at reducing clothing purchases and promoting the repair of the ones we have
The European Union aims to curb the production of cheap, low-quality clothing and encourages us to visit cobblers and tailors more often.
We have reached this point because the fashion industry pollutes more than all airplanes and ships combined, estimate environmental activists.
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Manufacturers selling clothes in the EU will be required to make them more durable, easier to repair and recycle.
According to activists, producing a single cotton t-shirt requires 2,700 liters of fresh water - equivalent to an individual's needs over two and a half years.
The fashion industry is the second-largest global consumer of water and contributes to ocean pollution with microplastics.
Under these conditions, the European Commission calls on EU countries to take measures to put an end to the phenomenon called fast fashion.
Vlad Gheorghe, Member of the European Parliament: "The European Union wants textiles to be more durable, in a word, this means they should be easier to use, repair and recycle. They end up in the trash very quickly because they are not reusable, have very poor quality, and consumers are not motivated to reuse them because they paid very little for them".
For some time now, a global trend has been encouraging us to buy clothes less frequently, and if we do buy them, to ensure they are of quality.
This is also why many no longer avoid second-hand clothing stores. Even established firms have products for sale that have been worn or have minor defects.
Tailoring has been reinvented
On the other hand, more and more tailors and retouching workshops have emerged.
Liliana Stanciu, a seamstress: "People come with anything they find in the closet, to change a dress, remove the top part to make it a skirt or vice versa, remove the bottom part to keep it as a blouse. All to wear them again because they have had them for a long time and got tired of them".
In France, a bonus system has been launched to convince consumers to repair their clothes and shoes. The state provides between €6 and €25 for each retouch.
Georgeta Dumont, a Romanian living in France: "In France, the key message in recent years is to buy less, as few products as possible, and of the best quality. And when we have to buy products, we should try to repair them, recondition them, reuse them".
The World Bank estimates that the fashion industry generates nearly 10% of the emissions harming the planet.
