TRAID's Secondhandfirst Week

TRAID’s #Secondhandfirst Week kicks off next Monday, celebrating one aspect of sustainable fashion: second-hand clothing. Running November 23-29, the campaign will examine the power of the second-hand to change the world by keeping the resources we already have in use and not digging about for new ones.

TRAID charity shops across the UK  are hosting a week of events that will connect people to the profound environmental and social benefits of second-hand. From a talk with author and design activist Professor Kate Fletcher on how we use our clothes to spoken word performances from poet and rapper Potent Whisper; from Plastic Seconds Jewellery Workshop transforming unrecyclable plastics into art objects to screen printing with reclaimed garments with Peckham’s Captured in the Rye, there’s a lot to take part in.

This year, #Secondhandfirst Week coincides with Black Friday, providing a nice counterpoint to the materialistic frenzy the day is associated with. Just as fittingly, it ends on November 29th, the day of the global People’s Climate March in London. This march aims to break last year’s record for the largest climate change mobilisation in history, and TRAID will be there, waving a banner sewn from second-hand textiles.

Sourcing more clothes and goods second-hand reduces consumption, our use of scarce resources, waste and carbon emissions. At the same time, we extend the life-cycle of wearable clothes and other material objects while sourcing things in more interesting and socially beneficial ways like swapping, lending and making.

'#Secondhandfirst is more than a week,’ says  Maria Chenoweth Casey, TRAID’s Chief Executive. ’It’s a philosophy that celebrates and recognises the power of reusing clothes – and other resources – to improve our world, and, it’s a practical way of immediately adopting a more sustainable way of living.’

#Secondhandfirst Week takes place between November 23 – 29 and is a week of events and actions celebrating the power of second-hand to change the world. For information and events, visit www.traid.org.uk/secondhandfirst-week-2015/