An estimated 300k tonnes of unwanted clothing hits UK landfills every year. And every year these mountains of textile waste, hidden beneath our feet, grow at a faster rate than they break down. Denim clothing for example, (made from cotton, a natural fibre that takes a long time to break down) can take several decades, or even hundreds of years to decompose. Synthetic materials such as polyester or spandex, can take even longer. And some never truly do. As these underground clothing mountains break down, they're contributing to greenhouse gasses and (in some cases) leaching chemicals and microplastics into the ground. And all the while this is going on, new raw materials are being produced on a daily basis, meaning further consumption and pollution of natural resources. All this paints a pretty bleak picture for our planet
