Fashion Faux Pas | S3 Ep3

[00:00:17] Welcome to Fauxi Radio. We are broadcasting from the central campus of Christ University, Bengaluru. Fauxi Radio is brought to you by the Department of Media Studies, Christ University. For all those who are looking for a platform that focuses on communities, commons, climate and communication, this is the place to be. What's more, this station is run by a diverse community of students and dedicated faculty members.

[00:00:47] Tune in to experience hard-hitting interviews, fact-checks and myth-busting, on-ground stories, campus news and more. I am Diyadhanan Jayan, your host for today. In today's episode, Neena Rose Paul and Adweta Pallipad take a deep dive into the waste management processes of the textile industry.

[00:01:14] We see fashion trends changing faster than seasons. This means a huge production of clothes that are often discarded after being used once or twice. The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that around 92 million tonnes of textile waste are produced globally each year. A major concern is the increasing use of synthetic fibres and plastics, which are difficult to recycle.

[00:01:40] Today, 11% of global plastic waste comes from clothing and textiles, yet only 8% of textile fibres in 2023 were made from recycled sources. Around 59% of textile waste in India returns to the industry through reuse, upcycling or recycling, most of which is downcycled, incinerated or landfilled.

[00:02:02] On the other hand, Bengaluru finds that much of the textile waste remains poorly tracked and handled by informal workers in unsafe conditions. As the city's government industry continues to expand, critical questions are emerging about where its waste ultimately ends up. Our student reporter Neena spoke with Dr. Mansi S. from the Institute for Social and Economic Change.

[00:02:26] A researcher who has been closely studying textile waste flows in the city, the gaps in governance and urgent need to rethink how textile waste is managed today. See, initially, we started this study more than a year ago. And then we wanted to capture the value chain, like from the pre-consumer waste to the post-consumer waste, the whole circularity. We just wanted to see what is happening with textile waste.

[00:02:55] Because what we have observed is that in some of the other studies that we were doing, we came to know that textile waste is largely dumped in lake, stormwater drain and, of course, roadside. And a lot of it is also getting mixed with the dry waste. So these were some of the things which we had observed. And we thought we wanted to see how actually it works.

[00:03:19] And, of course, the general observation and some studies which we have seen that a lot of consumerism with respect to textile waste is happening. Right. Just know you mentioned, right, like everybody is into that buying spree of a lot of, you know, clothing. And I think the social media is one of the things which, like nobody wants to be on two different, you know, have a same dress on two different photographs or whatever.

[00:03:48] So especially that is with youngsters. And so that too much of consumerism and this fast fashion. Addressing this challenge demands collective responsibility, bringing together policymakers, producers and consumers to ensure that the city moves towards a future that is both sustainable and accountable. One such initiative is the Hasru Bhatte textile waste management by Hasru Dala. Today we are here at Surya Enterprises, a textile recovery facility near K.A. Puram.

[00:04:19] I see around me tons of textile waste segregated into stacks of bundles kept on top of each other reaching up to the roof. And there are women workers segregating the various kinds of clothes. There are stacks of different kinds of materials like polyester, denim and cotton ready to be upcycled and made into new clothes. More than these are the stacks of downcycling. Looking after this facility, Indumadi is a waste picker turned entrepreneur who works with Hasru Dala to channelize it into recycling.

[00:04:52] Firstly, we segregate clothes to check if they are reusable. The importance of this is that to reduce the textile waste itself. If we keep on buying or taking newer products or creating new products, it just keeps increasing the textile waste rather than decreasing it. So, we check if the clothes are clean and then send them over to the resale markets.

[00:05:22] In certain areas, we also have stalls which help us in understanding how the consumers feel about these clothes and how they think about resale or reusing clothes. Also, this also helps in spreading awareness regarding the same thing, the issue that we have at hand. Next is the upcycling part of the process.

[00:05:47] In Hasru Dala, there are SHG groups of 30 people who have been taught tailoring, specifically designing and tailoring for these kind of clothes that we receive. We separate the clothes that can be used to make bags, pouches and other such products that they make there. We also send over clothes or products that are repairable.

[00:06:15] For example, if a stitch has come out or something like that, we just send them over and it can be repaired and reused. Lastly, are the clothes which are not recyclable or reusable. These are downcycled. And in our TRF, we largely get these kind of downcyclable clothes which have no other way of getting out of here. And a lot of downcycling materials are more relevant. It challenges downcycling.

[00:06:45] During Bharat Techs, Indumadi represented these waste collectors and was able to present the ideas and impact of her entrepreneurial journey to the Prime Minister. So, hi everyone. My name is Mauna. I work for Hasrudala in Textile Waste Management Project. So, Hasrudala is a non-profit organization which majorly focuses on social justice and inclusivity of waste speakers and their overall livelihoods of waste speakers. Yes.

[00:07:14] So, in that, one such initiative is this textile waste management initiative. We call it as closing the loop of textile waste management. So, it's a project. Through HTE, our textile waste management initiative, we are building a community-led circular economy by strengthening the textile waste collection and the value chain across the city here in Bangalore.

[00:07:38] So, our business model for this initiative is the hub and spoke model in which the TRF is our hub and the dry waste collection center is our spokes. So, in which we are enabling the structured recovery and the dignified green livelihoods for the waste speakers. Across Bangalore, Hasrudala's textile recovery work represents just one approach to the crisis. Other organizations are experimenting with different models.

[00:08:06] Saha Zero Waste focuses on structured waste collection and processing systems. While thrift initiatives like EcoDhaga intervene at the consumption stage by extending the life of garments through thrifting and upcycling. While these models operate on a relatively small scale, they signal an important shift towards a circular fashion economy. The question now is whether such efforts are practical given the rising trend of past fashion today?

[00:08:34] So, unless you make it affordable, then naturally it becomes like that. But for them to make it affordable, it won't work out for them, right? So, that's where they are trying to do whatever they can. So, yeah, it will not be affordable, naturally. It's what is affordable, you will go and buy. You will not really not think about whether it is, you know, eco-friendly or not. I think there's a lot of thought that has to be put into it. And that's when we thought you should come up with a textile waste management policy.

[00:09:05] And that is one thing we thought. Like, that is when everybody would put a thought into it, right? To see, okay, where all can we do? You can involve all the experts and then see what can be done. So, how do you actually define, I mean, what kind of rules should we have? What should be there within a textile waste policy in place? You need to come up with that. Then you need to really strengthen the data because you can't even, you don't even know how much is being generated, right?

[00:09:31] So, you need to really come up with a system where you know how much is being generated, the type of textile waste that is being generated. So, you need to really come up with some data management systems because that will help you to think what you can do. That is one thing we thought. And of course, awareness creation among the people and promoting slow fashion ideas and thoughts and things like that from the consumer point of view.

[00:09:57] And there's a lot of scope for innovation again about how you can reuse, recycle and things like that. So, that is something which we need to adopt. Fast fashion has quietly transformed the way we buy clothes.

[00:10:20] Trends now emerge and disappear at the pace of a social media scroll amplified by influencers and brand collaborations that constantly refresh what we decide to buy. As impulse buying becomes normalized, wardrobes fill up faster than ever before. Making the overflow of clothes into the market not just a business strategy but an almost inevitable outcome of today's consumption culture.

[00:10:48] To better understand the psychology behind these choices, our reporter Adhvita spoke with Kalabalasabramaniam, psychotherapist and founder of Inner Dawn Counseling, about what drives impulse buying and how this affects the textile waste industry. To understand this, I think first we need to understand what is impulse buying. For example, you see a dress online, you buy it immediately. When you feel low, you buy.

[00:11:17] When you feel bored, you buy. When you feel you are stressed, you buy. Maybe a vacation, a date, a celebration, any occasion, you feel the pressure to buy. You experience maybe peer pressure and maybe you want to follow the latest trend. This whole impulse buying process is driven by the dopamine reward system. It means you feel good buying, you feel good wearing the dress and maybe you would put a pictures on Instagram and get likes. Your dopamine system is rewarding you.

[00:11:47] But then it doesn't last for long and then you experience the crash. Then you start looking for the next dopamine rush. So you are not planning your purchases or finances. You seek instant gratification. Now where does this lead to? It leads to over consumption. So you may have a wardrobe full of dresses but you feel and believe that you have nothing to wear or nothing suits the occasion or it will not give you the rush that you got used to. So you go for the next bite. Such fast fashion, where does it lead to?

[00:12:15] It leads us to contributing to the problem of textile waste. I think it's a good time for all of us, each and every one of us to really think and consider where this trend of fast fashion is actually taking us. How are we contributing to this environmental degradation? What can you and I change about our approach to this? And truth be told, it is in our hands and it is in our sphere of influence. The story of textile waste stretches far beyond discarded clothes.

[00:12:43] It begins with the choices we make as consumers and moves through the fast-paced cycles of the fashion industry. As consumers, what our usual buying patterns are matter a lot. So we went around Kormangla to ask shoppers a simple question. How often do they actually buy clothes? And what might that say about the way we consume fashion today? My name is Elia and how often I shop.

[00:13:10] To be very honest with you, it's like I keep finding a reason to come and shop, to be honest. It's like each time I have an event and I look through my wardrobe, I feel like I don't really have the right or the perfect outfit for that event. So I end up just going through social media, like come to these shops and I look through dresses. So it's pretty often. My name is Teresa. So I usually come to shops like Westside and Zodio.

[00:13:35] You know, these content creators whenever they put, you know, winter season, autumn season, Valentine's Day. So they release certain kind of edition of dresses and these content creators, they go and review those dresses. That's when I usually come to shops like this. And also if you, I mostly shop online, like in Winthra and all. But if you have some, if you, if you come to very affordable shops like Zodio where you

[00:14:02] will get like pants and everything in a very affordable rates, obviously come here. Yeah, that's it. Hi, I'm Niharika. So talking about shopping, I think I usually shop for clothes when I have somewhere to go, like an outing or some plan. Because sometimes I just feel like I don't want to repeat the clothes I already have. So I end up looking for something new.

[00:14:26] And I don't really shop that much in offline stores though, because most of the time I prefer shopping online because it's easier and there's more variety. And I can just scroll to different options and pick what I like. It's very convenient like that. So overall, I think I don't shop very frequently. Mostly just when I feel like I need something new or when I have an occasion coming up. So hi, my name is Dia.

[00:14:55] And I do buy clothes a lot often because, you know, I'm always surfing on my Instagram. It's always clothes. So I'm like, oh, it's pretty and I should wear this. So I feel like at least two or three times a month I do purchase something or the other. Even right now, I actually have an order pending on Savannah and all. And I have a big like cart list on like every other app that I have. And I mean, at this point, I don't think I don't even know why I need so much clothes. I don't even wear them that often.

[00:15:25] And because of like Instagram and all, you can't really repeat clothes. So I have to buy. That's also the reason. So yeah. Hi, I am Maria. It sounds a bit too much, but shopping is generally my happy place. And whenever I look at my wardrobes, I feel like nothing to wear. That is the time where I go for shopping, even when I have a lot of clothes. I just don't know how to put them together. But I do know how to put them together.

[00:15:53] But I feel that my clothes are not enough. So I go for shopping. Yeah. As we have heard, this ultimately reaches the hands of workers and recyclers tasked with managing what is left behind. From recovery facilities to small-scale circular initiatives, different efforts are emerging to address the challenge of textile waste. But as consumption continues to grow, the larger question remains.

[00:16:20] Can these solutions keep pace with the speed of fashion itself? As we wrap up this episode, one thing becomes clear. Textile waste is not just an industry problem. It's a collective responsibility. Every garment we buy, wear and discard leaves a footprint somewhere along the supply chain. The good news is that change doesn't always begin with large-scale policies or corporate commitments.

[00:16:47] Sometimes it starts with asking simple questions. Do I need this? Who made this? What happens to it when I'm done with it? That brings us to the end of this episode. Thank you for listening to this podcast. As always, stay curious and tune in for more. This episode was edited by Guru Aditya and illustrated by Varnika Singh.

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