Nearly half of Brits are thinking about sustainability when buying clothes

Sustainable shopping is on the rise Nearly half of British consumers (45%) are now thinking about sustainability when shopping for new clothes, according to a recent study by Damart. More people are considering the environment when buying clothes (photo: Adobe Stock) They polled 2,000 UK adults on their attitude to buying from more eco-friendly fashion brands, as well as if and how they get rid of the items they no longer wear. Overall, it was revealed that Brits splash out an average of £415.18 per year on new items of clothing – the equivalent of around £21billion¹ across the UK - and wardrobes are typically home to nine new items that are yet to be worn. Sustainable brands are becoming popular There are currently more than 32,000 UK searches relating to ‘sustainable fashion’ each month, and demand for info on ‘sustainable brands’ specifically is up 21% in the last three months. While seven in ten (72%) admit they’ve held on to some items they no longer wear, when Brits do agree to part-ways with items, Damart’s research also revealed that they’re now doing so via more sustainable methods. Thinking more about our environment Instead of putting items in the bin, nine out of ten (91%) have donated their unwanted clothing to charity in the last year, and eight out of ten (79%) also claim to have recycled their old clothing via their local recycling banks. Half (50%) of Brits have also made use of an in-store, incentive-led recycling scheme. Following the recent revamp of their own eco-friendly collection, Damart also looked into which UK cities are making waves in the right direction when it comes to more sustainable fashion choices. In their research, Norwich came out on top as the ‘most sustainably-minded city’ when it comes to clothes, thanks in part to its very high volume of textiles recycling banks. Newport residents were found to be the lowest spenders on new clothing of all the 32 major UK cities compared in the study, splashing out just £213.96 per year on items additions for their wardrobe, almost half the national average (£415). Nottingham was the city with the most room for improvement though, as just four percent of residents shared that sustainability plays a role in their shopping choices. Alyson Taggart, Product and Publications Director for Damart commented on the findings: “Whilst there is naturally still room for improvement when it comes to sustainability in regard to our fashion choices, it’s encouraging to see that there are a great number of people already making a conscious effort to shop for clothing more sustainably. “As a brand, we’re proud to say we’re taking positive steps to ensure we have sustainable options more readily available for our customers. Our Regeneration range, for example, is a hand-picked selection of beautiful pieces made from recycled materials, and that won’t cost the earth.”