A public policy think tank is calling for a tax on shirts and pants as Australia becomes the biggest consumer of clothing in the world.
The Australia Institute has warned that Australia's shopping addiction is fueling a fast fashion waste crisis as unwanted clothing ends up in landfill.
New research from the Institute has found the average Australian buys 56 new clothing items a year, overtaking the US as the biggest consumer of fashion per capita.
The rise of cheap fashion brands such as Shein and Temu means Australians are paying just $13 on average for a piece of clothing.
Australians pressured to buy more clothes
Rebekah Griffiths, owner of Material Pleasures in Fyshwick, says that Australians should buy good quality and not follow the fashion trends.
"Buy something and develop your style, we can help, you can get advice online, but develop your own sense of style and you won't feel the desire to throw it away," Ms Griffiths said.
Material Pleasures, a second hand and consignment store, has hundreds of customers coming in each week.
"We've got third-generation families; grandma, mum, kids, sometimes even grandkids that come in," Ms Griffiths said.
Canberran Rae Knopik, who runs sustainable work uniform brand Gren, said people are made to feel like they constantly need to buy new clothes.
Ms Knopik said it's only in the last century that we have come to view clothing as a cheap, transitory product.
Clothing used to cost several months' wages, and most people would only have a few items, she said.
"It's only in recent history where clothing has become as cheap as a cup of coffee," she said.
"Unfortunately, it has created this expectation for consumers that that's the norm when in fact, it is not."
Second hand shops unable to keep up
Lindsay Rae, Director of Operations at Canberra Vinnies, said they receive tonnes of clothing donations each week, much of it fast fashion.
She said the amount of goods turning up has dramatically increased, with three quarters of the people they employ working on sorting donations.
"Over the last 10 years the volume of donations has increased by over 300 per cent here in Canberra," Ms Rae said.
"Not all the items that are donated are appropriate for the shop floor, however for the items we can't sell, we have programs in place to recycle as much as we can."
For fashion designer Alice Sutton, shoppers need to shift their mentality and think about where their clothes are coming from.
She designs her own clothing at her studio in Canberra, using Australian-made fabrics and partnering with Indigenous artists.
"None of us are perfect but I think if you do want to have something new, go to an op shop because you can find amazing things that are second hand," she said.
"Try to shift your mind to think 'I don't always need something new'."
That's where shops like Material Pleasures come in; manager Olanka Fombertaux said shopping with them is like a treasure hunt.
"It's guilt free shopping, supporting local business, circular economy, and recycling, giving customers access to great designers at a fraction of the cost," she said.
Minimal recycling of fashion waste
In its report, the Australia Institute recommended a levy on clothing items, investment in recycling centres, and a ban on the export of clothing waste.
More than 200,000 tonnes of clothing end up in Australian landfills each year, equal in weight to almost four Sydney Harbour Bridges.
Only five per cent of clothing waste was recycling in Australia in 2020-21, with the majority exported to developing nations, according to the Institute.
Ms Knopik said she'd like to see greater government intervention in the fashion market, specifically around overconsumption and over production of clothing.
For Canberrans wanting to avoid the fashion waste cycle, Ms Knopik had a few tips.
"We should be buying used first, using our amazing second hand markets that are here in Canberra, our second hand shops, consignment shops," she said.
"But more than that, the number one thing that you can do is go into your closet today, pick out something that perhaps you've never worn or you don't wear often, and wear it.
"This problem of buying is directly linked to us not feeling like our closets can do the jobs that we want them to do, which is to clothe us."
