Have you heard about Littlewood’s new sustainable fashion initiative?

Have you heard about the new partnership launched with Littlewoods Ireland, Re-Fashion and The Care Trust? Their new initiative is all about encouraging consumers to think circular and help end landfill clothing waste, which is a huge step in creating a more sustainable relationship with fashion.

This customer take back scheme is starting with women’s clothing with successful second-hand fashion specialist Re-Fashion to support making fashion more sustainable. This collaboration will be a first for Re-Fashion in the Irish market, encouraging consumers to reduce the amount of good quality and wearable clothes ending up in landfill by having as many customers as possible to give their unwanted clothes a second life.

So how does it work?

The process is simple:

• Step One: Order a donation bag from Littlewoods Ireland here
• Step Two: Fill it with your pre-loved clothes
• Step Three: Drop it off FREE of charge at any of over 1000 Parcel Connect stores.

Rossa Butler, Managing Director, Littlewoods Ireland, commented: “We recognise the key role that we can take in helping raise awareness towards clothing recycling. It’s important to provide our customers with a sustainable solution while supporting an Irish charity. This partnership with Re-Fashion and The Care Trust will achieve just that.”

As well as encouraging its customers to declutter and donate, this initiative will benefit charity. All proceeds from the sale of the clothing will go to The Care Trust and its beneficiary charities, CRC, Rehab Group and the Mater University Hospital to care for children and adults living with disabilities and serious illnesses and sustainability projects.

Refashion, their partners, are driven by purpose: To reduce fashion's impact on the environment. They resell unwanted clothes to raise money for sustainable causes, funding sustainable fashion projects and encouraging their customers to reuse, remake and repair their clothes:

• Reuse: The single best thing we can do for the planet is to cut down on our consumption of clothes and reuse them.
• Remake: Getting clothes into the hands of upcyclers and makers who can transform them into new items that are often better than the original.
• Repair: Extending the life of garments through proper care and repair reduces the need to buy more over time.

Each year Ireland throws away 63,000 tonnes of textiles. That's more than €60 million worth of used, but wearable, clothing going to waste. But Re-Fashion works to help keep these clothes sustainable.

The societal shift to a greener economy means that more and more Irish people want to reduce the amount of wearable clothes going to waste. This exciting circular economy initiative will give style-conscious shoppers the chance to buy and donate quality pre-loved clothing online, via re-fashion.ie. Since The Care Trust is a not-for-profit charity, all the proceeds generated will go to their 3 beneficiaries, CRC, Rehab Group and Mater University Hospital. 

Steve Lyons, CEO of Re-Fashion, added: “If we’re going to head off a climate emergency, then the way we shop must change. And shoppers are crying out for more sustainable options. So, it makes perfect sense for us to partner with progressive organisations like Littlewoods Ireland and The Care Trust to give Irish shoppers a hassle free, affordable way of getting involved with sustainable fashion.”

According to the Irish Government, the average EU citizen buys 26kg of textiles every year. Almost half of this is eventually dumped in the bin and ends up either incinerated or in landfill. Shockingly, the fashion industry is the second most polluting in the world, after the oil industry.

Climate change is a top priority for all citizens and the European Commission has presented a package of measures designed to make Europe the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050. The Care Trust and its partners support this ambition and believe giving new life to unwanted clothes is an important step towards achieving their shared vision of a Circular Economy and a world where every item of clothing is re-used and kept from being burned or dumped in landfill.