With 227 million kilos of clothing going to landfill in Australia each year, the award-winning series, WAR ON WASTE, is drawing attention to this crisis with a powerful and thought-provoking Fast Fashion Graveyard activation at this weekend’s Splendour in the Grass festival.
Located opposite the Forum and Comedy Club, the Fast Fashion Graveyard symbolises the discarded clothing items that end up in landfill. With many Australians’ purchasing festival or concert outfits, often from fast fashion retailers, this activation highlights the harsh reality of their fashion choices.
Festival goers are invited to walk through the Fast Fashion Graveyard and read the harrowing fashion waste statistics displayed on the tombstones. The activation aims to encourage festival goers to consider the environmental and social impact of their clothing choices and empower them to be part of the solution.
Australia’s fast fashion waste crisis is just one of the three issues passionate planet advocate and prankster Craig Reucassel investigates during the new season of War on Waste.
War on Waste host, Craig Reucassel, says
“Fast fashion has exploded! We’ve moved to ultra-fast fashion, even though 30% of clothing in the average wardrobe has not been worn in the last year. We’re throwing out 10kg of fashion per person each year. To make only the cotton clothes that we throw out each year, would take as much water as there is in Sydney Harbour. Meanwhile, over 60% of our clothes are made from plastic derived from fossil fuels. Through this activation, we hope to engage the festival community in meaningful conversations about the impact of fast fashion and inspire them to embrace more sustainable and ethical practices. Buy less and wear it longer!”
The Fast Fashion Graveyard will be open from Friday 21 to Sunday 23 July at the Splendour in the Grass festival. Recycled or repurposed materials have been used to create this activation, and following the festival, the materials will be repurposed or recycled.
Fashion waste facts:
1. We are buying and throwing away more fashion than ever!
2. Australians throw away 10kg of fashion per person every year – that’s 227 million kilos of clothing going to landfill just in Australia each year.
3. 30% of which have not been worn in the last year.
4. Over 60% of the clothing we buy are made from plastics like polyester – which are derived from a non-renewable fossil fuel.
5. Ultra-fast fashion has exploded – fast fashion on steroids! Shein introduced 315,000 new styles in a four-month period in 2022.
6. It takes the equivalent of Sydney Harbour in water to produce the amount of cotton clothing we throw out every year.
7. Through fashion waste in Australia, we are chucking out the equivalent of 18,000 litres of oil to landfill every hour!
8. It’s estimated that a third of all fashion produced is never sold and goes to waste
