The Recycle for Cornwall campaign has been developed to raise public awareness of recycling and to provide consumers with a compelling reason to recycle.
Fashion as an industry can have a high impact on the environment as well as the people living in it. Cheap labour process, harmful dyes, and clothing that’s just not designed to last, all have a negative effect on our lives. But there are many companies who are committed to socially and environmentally responsible trade and in their own way are doing something to reduce their impact and make a difference. Whether it is through using organic materials, cutting down on the use of harmful chemicals, promoting fair trade or by making sure they recycle as much as possible and cut down on their packaging waste.
Materials such as organic cotton, hemp and bamboo are wonderfully versatile and the farming and harvesting techniques do not use pesticides or harm supported eco systems. Hemp alone has over 2000 different blends, making it possible to create fabrics that look and feel like silk, perfect for slinky dresses or coarser fabrics for more hard wearing, casual clothing.
No one expects you to completely fill your wardrobe with sustainable outfits but it is worth checking out what options are available to you. The South West boasts a number of companies who are working to lessen the impact of the fashion industry and the clothes look pretty amazing to boot!
Even Topshop’s flagship store, in Oxford Street, London features the ‘Emmeline for Re’ collection which uses items donated to the Salvation Army and breathes new life into them. This is the first time that recycled clothes have been sold by a major high street fashion retailer and we hope that others will follow their lead. 1999 saw the launch of Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development. (TRAID) with its unique link between recycling and fashion retail, TRAID continues to raise money to fund international projects whilst helping to promote recycling and waste reduction in the UK. Through its strong branding, TRAID has been successful in gaining a reputation for being innovative and edgy, appealing to a predominantly young, fashionable and environmentally conscious audience.
The UK also boasts a thriving second hand market which sees over 100,000 tonnes of textiles sent on for reuse and recycling by charity shops. The second hand market allows us to find quirky, individual fashions at bargain prices.
As global awareness of the real price of fashion grows, many consumers as well as some clothing manufacturers are leading the push for more eco- and worker-friendly apparel. Organic cotton growing accounts for only 0.03 percent of the world's cotton, but is expanding. At one Egyptian farm, organic cultivation has boosted cotton yields by more than 30 percent, and the fibre is processed into textiles without any synthetic chemicals.
In 2001, the sportswear manufacturer Nike helped launch Organic Exchange, a network of 55 businesses that aims to expand the use of organic cotton in manufacturing over the next 10 years.
Make a difference TODAY
Next time you buy someone or yourself a piece of clothing buy it from a supplier who takes the environmental impact of their processes into consideration.
Materials such as organic cotton, hemp and bamboo are wonderfully versatile and the farming and harvesting techniques do not use pesticides or harm supported eco systems. Hemp alone has over 2000 different blends, making it possible to create fabrics that look and feel like silk, perfect for slinky dresses or coarser fabrics for more hard wearing, casual clothing. 
Even Topshop’s flagship store, in Oxford Street, London features the ‘Emmeline for Re’ collection which uses items donated to the Salvation Army and breathes new life into them. This is the first time that recycled clothes have been sold by a major high street fashion retailer and we hope that others will follow their lead. 1999 saw the launch of