Yes to Thrifted, No to Fast Fashion

Did you know that the fashion industry accounts for approximately 10% of global carbon emissions?

Given the fact that almost everyone wears clothes this may not seem so surprising, but what may shock you is that 100 billion new garments are made each year!

Fashion brands encourage people to buy clothes at a much faster rate than ever before, and this results in lower quality garments made in dangerous conditions which are being worn for less time than ever before they are thrown away or donated.

Unfortunately it doesn’t get better once clothing has been worn – 70% of unwanted clothing that gets donated to charity shops ends up in developing nations resulting in dumps such as in the Atacama Desert, Chile.

Here at Friends of the Earth Chester, we want to help you play your part in changing the system.

We need your help with asking our favourite brands to do better with wages and working conditions for garment workers, ensuring they take responsibility for the full life cycle of the garments, and reducing harmful over-production

We have investigated practices for the 3 largest and well-loved fashion brands in Chester – Primark, Next and Marks & Spencer. We found that while they are making some improvements, much more is still needed. Let’s take action.

Email Primark, Next and Marks & Spencer using our template.

The wording in these emails can be tailored to send to any fashion brand so you can ask them to do better…

…and by shopping only for what you need you will be breaking the fast fashion cycle.

In addition to asking brands to do better, you can help reduce the impact of fashion on the planet by reducing the amount of clothing you buy in general, and try to shop in charity shops or second hand where you can.

We understand that ethical brands and second hand clothing can be limited on sizing and affordability, so don’t feel bad if this isn’t an option suitable for you.

Wherever you get your clothes from, make sure to choose garments which you will wear again and again – this will reduce their overall carbon footprint. If everybody limited new clothing purchases to 3 garments per year this would help drastically reduce carbon emissions.

A tip to help with this is to treat buying clothing the same as buying furniture – think of it as an investment into an item you will use and love, regardless of the price.

Sustainable Clothing Shopping Map

There are many ways to shop for clothing more sustainably here in Chester, so we’ve created this Sustainable Clothing Shopping Map to help you say yes to thrifted and no to fast fashion!

Map version 5 (October 2025). If you have suggestions for shops to add to this map please get in touch FOE.chester@gmail.com.

Want to shop from brands who prioritise ethical fashion?

Ethical consumer has up to date information on ethical and sustainable fashion brands within a variety of price ranges.

Threads count – get more out of your clothes

Repair what you wear – mend your clothes to make them last longer

Give Your Best – Donate your pre-loved clothes ethically

Clothing swaps – in Chester these regularly arranged by Grosvenor Museum – the next one is taking place on Saturday 11 October 2025 – details here.

Thrifted Fashion Apps – you can sell and buy secondhand clothing easier than ever before just by using phone. Here’s Pebble magazine’s top ten but there’s more and more popping up all the time.

Want to find out more?

Listen to this Friends of the Earth podcast episode about loving fashion and the planet, with fashion insiders Ros, from repairwhatyouwear.com, and Marie, founder of CONGREGATIONcollective.
Garment Workers Rights